The finite-volume method in computational rheology

The finite volume method (FVM) is widely used in traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and many commercial CFD codes are based on this technique which is typically less demanding in computational resources than finite element methods (FEM). However, for historical reasons, a large number of Computational Rheology codes are based on FEM. There is no clear reason why the FVM should not be as successful as finite element based techniques in Computational Rheology and its applications, such as polymer processing or, more recently, microfluidic systems using complex fluids. This chapter describes the major advances on this topic since its inception in the early 1990’s, and is organized as follows. In the next section, a review of the major contributions to computational rheology using finite volume techniques is carried out, followed by a detailed explanation of the methodology developed by the authors. This section includes recent developments and methodologies related to the description of the viscoelastic constitutive equations used to alleviate the high-Weissenberg number problem, such as the log-conformation formulation and the recent kernel-conformation technique. At the end, results of numerical calculations are presented for the well-known benchmark flow in a 4:1 planar contraction to ascertain the quality of the predictions by this method

Current knowledge and future perspectives of the use of seaweeds for livestock production and meat quality : a systematic review

Research Areas: Agriculture ; Veterinary SciencesABSTRACT - The effects of dietary macroalgae, or seaweeds, on growth performance and meat quality of livestock animal species are here reviewed. Macroalgae are classified into Phaeophyceae (brown algae), Rhodophyceae (red algae) and Chlorophyceae (green algae). The most common macroalga genera used as livestock feedstuffs are: Ascophyllum, Laminaria and Undaria for brown algae; Ulva, Codium and Cladophora for green algae; and Pyropia, Chondrus and Palmaria for red algae. Macroalgae are rich in many nu-trients, including bioactive compounds, such as soluble polysaccharides, with some species being good sources of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. To date, the in-corporation of macroalgae in livestock animal diets was shown to improve growth and meat quality, depending on the alga species, dietary level and animal growth stage. Generally, Ascophyllum nodosum can increase average daily gain (ADG) in ruminant and pig mostly due to its prebiotic activity in animal's gut. A. nodosum also enhances marbling score, colour uniformity and redness, and can decrease saturated fatty acids in ruminant meats. Laminaria sp., mainly Laminaria digitata, increases ADG and feed efficiency, and improves the antioxidant potential of pork. Ulva sp., and its mixture with Codium sp., was shown to improve poultry growth at up to 10% feed. Therefore, seaweeds are promising sustainable alternatives to corn and soybean as feed ingre-dients, thus attenuating the current competition among food-feed-biofuel industries. In addition, macroalgae can hinder eutrophication and participate in bioremediation. However, some challenges need to be overcome, such as the development of large- scale and cost-effective algae production methods and the improvement of algae digestibility by monogastric animals. The dietary inclusion of Carbohydrate-Active enZymes (CAZymes) could allow for the degradation of recalcitrant macroalga cell walls, with an increase of nutrients bioavailability. Overall, the use of macroalgae as feedstuffs is a promising strategy for the development of a more sustainable livestock production.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SpectraNet–53: A deep residual learning architecture for predicting soluble solids content with VIS–NIR spectroscopy

This work presents a new deep learning architecture, SpectraNet-53, for quantitative analysis of fruit spectra, optimized for predicting Soluble Solids Content (SSC, in Brix). The novelty of this approach resides in being an architecture trainable on a very small dataset, while keeping a performance level on-par or above Partial Least Squares (PLS), a time-proven machine learning method in the field of spectroscopy. SpectraNet-53 performance is assessed by determining the SSC of 616 Citrus sinensi L. Osbeck 'Newhall' oranges, from two Algarve (Portugal) orchards, spanning two consecutive years, and under different edaphoclimatic conditions. This dataset consists of short-wave near-infrared spectroscopic (SW-NIRS) data, and was acquired with a portable spectrometer, in the visible to near infrared region, on-tree and without temperature equalization. SpectraNet-53 results are compared to a similar state-of-the-art architecture, DeepSpectra, as well as PLS, and thoroughly assessed on 15 internal validation sets (where the training and test data were sampled from the same orchard or year) and on 28 external validation sets (training/test data sampled from different orchards/years). SpectraNet-53 was able to achieve better performance than DeepSpectra and PLS in several metrics, and is especially robust to training overfit. For external validation results, on average, SpectraNet-53 was 3.1% better than PLS on RMSEP (1.16 vs. 1.20 Brix), 11.6% better in SDR (1.22 vs. 1.10), and 28.0% better in R2 (0.40 vs. 0.31).project NIBAP ALG-01-0247-FEDER-037303, project OtiCalFrut ALG-010247-FEDER-033652info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Annular flow of viscoelastic fluids: Analytical and numerical solutions

This work provides analytical and numerical solutions for the linear, quadratic and exponential Phan–Thien–Tanner (PTT) viscoelastic models, for axial and helical annular fully-developed flows under no slip and slip boundary conditions, the latter given by the linear and nonlinear Navier slip laws. The rheology of the three PTT model functions is discussed together with the influence of the slip velocity upon the flow velocity and stress fields. For the linear PTT model, full analytical solutions for the inverse problem (unknown velocity) are devised for the linear Navier slip law and two different slip exponents. For the linear PTT model with other values of the slip exponent and for the quadratic PTT model, the polynomial equation for the radial location (β) of the null shear stress must be solved numerically. For both models, the solution of the direct problem is given by an iterative procedure involving three nonlinear equations, one for β, other for the pressure gradient and another for the torque per unit length. For the exponential PTT model we devise a numerical procedure that can easily compute the numerical solution of the pure axial flow problemCOMPETE, FEDER and Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through projects PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013 (Strategic Project – LA 25 – 2013-2014), PTDC/EQU-FTT/113811/2009 and PTDC/EME-MFE/113988/2009. LLF and AMA would also like to thank FCT for financial support through the scholarships SFRH/BD/37586/2007 and SFRH/BPD/75436/2010, respectively

Tandem Thio-Michael Addition/Remote Lactone Activation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural-Derived δ-Lactone-Fused Cyclopentenones

Funding Information: We thank the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/120829/2016, SFRH/BD/148211/2019, UIDB/04138/2020, UIDP/04138/2020, PTDC/QUI‐QOR/32008/2017 and GHTM‐UID/04413/2020). The project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 951996. J. A. S. C. thanks the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for Scientific Employment Stimulus 2020/02383/CEECIND. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. ChemSusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.The creation of structurally diverse chemical entities from fairly simple biorefinery products remains a challenge. In this work 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was identified as a key synthon for preparing highly complex cyclopentenones (CP) via tandem 1,4-addition/elimination/remote lactone activation to external O- and N-nucleophiles in δ-lactone-fused-CPs hotspots. This scaffold was also reactive enough to be incorporated into model cysteine-peptides in low concentrations, paving the way to a potential translation generating complexity in the synthesis of small peptides. The new enones also exhibited activity against intraerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum (IC50=1.32 μm).publishersversionpublishe

Farmacovigilância em pacientes com epilepsia em uso de drogas antiepilépticas

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the occurrence of adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs (AED) in chronic epileptic patients in mono or polytherapy. METHOD: We evaluated consecutive patients that met the following inclusion criteria: age of 18 years or older, diagnosis of epilepsy for at least one year, stable dose of AED for at least three months. Patients were asked if they had any adverse event related to the AED. After that, they were interviewed according to a detailed semi-structure questionnaire. We also assessed specifically the adverse events in the last four weeks. The data were analyzed regarding the use of monotherapy x polytherapy, and the presence of probable depression (score >15) according to the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were evaluated, 35 women, mean age 38.3 years; 35 patients were in use of monotherapy and 35 in polytherapy. Only 45 (69.2%) patients spontaneously reported adverse effects. After the formal questionnaire, 63 (97%) patients referred experiencing an adverse event (p15) segundo o CES-D. RESULTADOS: Sessenta e cinco pacientes foram avaliados, 35 mulheres, idade média 38,3 anos; 35 pacientes estavam em uso de monoterapia e 35 em politerapia. Somente 45 (69,2%) pacientes espontaneamente registraram a presença de efeitos adversos. Após o questionário formal, 63 (97%) pacientes tiveram queixas (p<0,001). Dezessete homens e 28 mulheres reportaram eventos adversos (p=0,042). Quando as últimas quatro semanas foram analisadas, os pacientes com provável depressão relataram mais freqüentemente a presença de efeitos adversos (p<0,0001). CONCLUSÃO: Nossos dados sugerem que efeitos adversos são altamente prevalentes quando um questionário detalhado é aplicado e que depressão pode agravar o número e a intensidade de eventos adversos em pacientes com epilepsia utilizando DAE.19820

Distinct roles in autophagy and importance in infectivity of the two ATG4 cysteine peptidases of leishmania major

Macroautophagy in Leishmania, which is important for the cellular remodeling required during differentiation, relies upon the hydrolytic activity of two ATG4 cysteine peptidases (ATG4.1 and ATG4.2). We have investigated the individual contributions of each ATG4 to Leishmania major by generating individual gene deletion mutants (Δatg4.1 and Δatg4.2); double mutants could not be generated, indicating that ATG4 activity is required for parasite viability. Both mutants were viable as promastigotes and infected macrophages in vitro and mice, but Δatg4.2 survived poorly irrespective of infection with promastigotes or amastigotes, whereas this was the case only when promastigotes of Δatg4.1 were used. Promastigotes of Δatg4.2 but not Δatg4.1 were more susceptible than wild type promastigotes to starvation and oxidative stresses, which correlated with increased reactive oxygen species levels and oxidatively damaged proteins in the cells as well as impaired mitochondrial function. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine reversed this phenotype, reducing both basal and induced autophagy and restoring mitochondrial function, indicating a relationship between reactive oxygen species levels and autophagy. Deletion of ATG4.2 had a more dramatic effect upon autophagy than did deletion of ATG4.1. This phenotype is consistent with a reduced efficiency in the autophagic process in Δatg4.2, possibly due to ATG4.2 having a key role in removal of ATG8 from mature autophagosomes and thus facilitating delivery to the lysosomal network. These findings show that there is a level of functional redundancy between the two ATG4s, and that ATG4.2 appears to be the more important. Moreover, the low infectivity of Δatg4.2 demonstrates that autophagy is important for the virulence of the parasite

The influence of abdominal adiposity and physical fitness on obesity status of portuguese adolescents

The aim of this study was to verify the relationship between abdominal adiposity and physical fitness in the obesity status of Portuguese adolescents. BMI, abdominal adiposity, and physical fitness tests from the FITescola® were evaluated in a total of 654 Portuguese adolescents, aged 10-19 years old—male: n = 334 (51%), female: n = 320 (49%). For the final model, BMI was positively related with age (β = 0.25), abdominal adiposity (β = 0.313), horizontal jump (β = −0.100), 40 m maximal velocity (β = 0.274), and aerobic fitness (β = −0.250, R2 = 0.75, F = 382.2, and p = 0.0001). We conclude that higher age and abdominal adiposity are positively related with a higher adolescent BMI. Furthermore, lower horizontal jump distances and worse times on the 40 m maximal velocity were inversely related with a higher adolescent BMI, and lower aerobic fitness was inversely related with a higher adolescent BMI.This research was funded by the National Funds through FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (UIDB/DTP/04045/2020) and the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences of the Douro (grant number NIDEF.21-22).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio