Integrated system for macroalgae production and conversion into biogas

Recently research on energy from macroalgae is being reconsidered driven by the following factors: fuel price increase, CO2 mitigation policies and interest on renewable energy sources after the Kyoto protocol, and need for energy crops not competing with land for food production. However, the commercial expansion of this energy source is limited by its economic feasibility. In this presentation we analyse the development of integrated systems that promote synergies between macroalgae/biogas production and activities such as aquaculture and urban wastewater treatment. The recycling of nutrients and CO2 by macroalgae can be an opportunity to reduce the biomass-biogas production cost. Other advantage is the proximity between biomass production, conversion into energy and its consumption, thus avoiding energy losses and pollution in transportation. Experimental work is underway and includes batch tests to evaluate biodegradability of Ulva spp. and Gracilaria sp. and co-digestion of these macroalgae with sewage sludge from Beirolas wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Furthermore, continuous co-digestion experiments are planned to be carried out in a 30 L experimental reactor to be placed in the same WWTP. The objectives are to reproduce sludge digestion in Beirolas WWTP and evaluate algae/sludge co-digestion performance. Preliminary results indicate methane yields in accordance with similar batch experiments, whereby our CH4 yields per volatile solids added range between 0.14-0.20 m3 CH4 kg-1 VSadded against 0.16-0.27 m3 CH4 kg-1 VSadded [1,2] depending on the algae species and pretreatment. Overall, Ulva sp. shows a better performance over Gracilaria sp. as also confirmed in other experiments [1]

IT governance frameworks: A literature review of Brazilian publications

IT (Information Technology) governance has been a widely studied subject. This has generated different definitions and conceptual models to explain it. We conduct a concept-centric literature review based on a literature reference model. We used three literature frameworks to identify key-variables to evaluate and classify Brazilian IT governance publications. These variables were used to classify 90 Brazilian publications from 2004 to 2012. The authors chose Brazil due to its economic growth and companies’ internationalization on the last years. The organizations are fonder to regulatory and compliance marks due to market visibility, driving them towards IT governance practices due to growing dependence on IT. The frameworks used in the country are usually developed abroad - then verification on how they fit with Brazilian organizations is relevant to business management. The study shows that; the most used methodology is the case study; 90% of the papers were written in Portuguese; the IT alignment is cited, but not evaluated; few cases are related to small and medium business; and decision structures are not discussed. The authors conclude presenting a conceptual model summarizing all the models and Brazilian companies’ particularities

Concurrent training in prepubertal children: an update

This paper affords an update review over the state of art regarding the importance of physical fitness and the significance of different combination approaches between resistance and aerobic training, as well as conditioning methods exercise alone on physical fitness improvements, specifically explosive strength and cardiorespiratory fitness in prepubertal children. The main research conclusions can be summarized as: i) Resistance training can be reliable to improve muscle strength in prepubertal children; ii) A proper and quantifiable exercise frequency and intensity in aerobic training remains unclear; iii) No differences have been found between prepubertal girls and boys on strength and aerobic capacity improvements after intra-session concurrent training, resistance or aerobic training alone; iv) In adults, concurrent resistance and aerobic training seems to be more effective on improvements of aerobic capacity than aerobic training alone; v) Aerobic training biomechanically specific to the concurrent resistance training may minimize adaptation interference when concurrently training; vi) In adolescents, concurrent resistance and aerobic training is equally effective to improve explosive strength compared to resistance training alone, and more efficient in aerobic capacity than resistance training alone; vii) Optimum training sequence was determined by the individual purposes of the training program; viii) Performing aerobic prior to resistance training produces endurance gains, while performing resistance prior to aerobic training appears to be more adequate to obtain strength improvements; ix) In adults, performing concurrent training in different sessions seems to be more effective to improve muscular strength than intra-session concurrent training. These results can be helpful for coaches, teachers and researchers to optimize explosive strength and cardiorespiratory fitness training in sports club and school-based programs, as well as a reliable source for further researches

Ciprofloxacin removal catalysed by conductive carbon materials

Current wastewater treatment technologies are not effective in the removal of pharmaceuticals. In anaerobic bioreactors, the electrons produced during the oxidation of organic matter can potentially be used for the biological reduction of pharmaceuticals. However, these reactions occur generally at a slow rate, due to electron transfer limitations, and might be accelerated through redox mediators (RM). Carbon nanomaterials (CM) have been effective RM in the biological reduction of other pollutants. For instance, CNT@2%Fe were found to increase 76-fold the biological reduction of Acid Orange 10. The magnetic properties of those composites allow their easier recover after the process by using a magnetic field. In this study, CNT and CNT@2%Fe were studied in the anaerobic removal of Ciprofloxacin (CIP). Furthermore, the potential contribution of adsorption and biodegradation processes for CIP removal was assessed. Toxicity assessment is highly important as it is desired that the products formed after the process are not more toxic than the initial compound. Moreover, the evaluation of the possible contribution of nanomaterials used in the process for the final toxic effect of threated solution, is crucial. In this sense, the detoxification of the treated solutions was evaluated towards Vibrio fischeri.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Responsive and In situ-forming chitosan scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications : an overview of the last decade

The use of bioabsorbable polymeric scaffolds is being investigated for use in bone tissue engineering applications, as their properties can be tailored to allow them to degrade and integrate at optimal rates as bone remodelling is completed. The main goal of this review is to highlight the “intelligent” properties exhibited by chitosan scaffolds and their use in the bone tissue engineering field. To complement the fast evolution of the bone tissue engineering field, it is important to propose the use of responsive scaffolds and take advantage of bioinspired materials and their properties as emerging technologies. There is a growing interest and need for new biomaterials, such as “smart”/responsive materials with the capability to respond to changes in the in vivo environment. This review will provide an overview of strategies that can modulate bone tissue regeneration by using in situ-forming scaffolds

Estudo de Caso no Desenvolvimento da Inteligência Artificial do Jogo Bonefighters

O objetivo desse estudo é apresentar e avaliar a performance daferramenta gratuita de inteligência artificial (IA) RAIN AI para a engineUnity 3D, cuja finalidade é facilitar o desenvolvimento de jogos digitais.Voltada para desenvolvedores independentes, que quase sempre contam compouquíssimo tempo e recursos financeiros, ela é capaz de abstrair muito daparte técnica da criação de IA de personagens não jogáveis (NPCs),permitindo que o desenvolvedor foque na elaboração do comportamento emsi. A eficácia da ferramenta frente às outras opções gratuitas disponíveis serádemonstrada com um exemplo de situação de gameplay, utilizando como baseo jogo Informação Omitida, cuja IA foi feita inteiramente com a RAIN AI

Poly(Ethylene glycol) diacrylate iongel membranes reinforced with nanoclays for co2 separation

Despite the fact that iongels are very attractive materials for gas separation membranes, they often show mechanical stability issues mainly due to the high ionic liquid (IL) content (≥60 wt%) needed to achieve high gas separation performances. This work investigates a strategy to improve the mechanical properties of iongel membranes, which consists in the incorporation of montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay, from 0.2 to 7.5 wt%, into a cross-linked poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) network containing 60 wt% of the IL 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C2mim][TFSI]). The iongels were prepared by a simple one-pot method using ultraviolet (UV) initiated polymerization of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and characterized by several techniques to assess their physico-chemical properties. The thermal stability of the iongels was influenced by the addition of higher MMT contents (>5 wt%). It was possible to improve both puncture strength and elongation at break with MMT contents up to 1 wt%. Furthermore, the highest ideal gas selectivities were achieved for iongels containing 0.5 wt% MMT, while the highest CO2 permeability was observed at 7.5 wt% MMT content, due to an increase in diffusivity. Remarkably, this strategy allowed for the preparation and gas permeation of self-standing iongel containing 80 wt% IL, which had not been possible up until now.publishersversionpublishe

Modeling fitness variable responses to training In prepubescent children

The aim of this study was to determine strength and oxygen uptake (VO2max) performances according to different training program intervention design with 8-weeks duration in prepubescent children through a multiple linear regression models. Two hundred and forty-five healthy prepubescent children (aged 10.9 ± 0.5 years) were randomly assigned to a specific training program (strength training only - S; aerobic training only - A; intra-session aerobic and strength training - AS; intra-session strength and aerobic training - SA; or concurrent training performed in different sessions - CT) or a control group (no training regimen - C). It was possible to develop indirect predictive models for each training method, by including each variable pre-training, body fat percentage and body mass index. The models provided explained 82% of variance in the VO2max, 98% in the 1kg ball-throw, 96% in the 3kg ball-throw, 92% in the counter-movement jump, 93% in the standing long jump and 98% in the 20m sprint performances. This novel approach to training evaluation and control aims to provide a tool to allow professionals to calculate changes with a high confidence level (CI 95%), to control gains and to choose the best training methodology to apply according to the defined purposes. The results of this study could be a great support to teachers, coaches and professionals providing important tools to improve the efficacy and individualization of training

Exploring Metabolic Signatures of Ex Vivo Tumor Tissue Cultures for Prediction of Chemosensitivity in Ovarian Cancer

Predicting patient response to treatment and the onset of chemoresistance are still major challenges in oncology. Chemoresistance is deeply influenced by the complex cellular interactions occurring within the tumor microenvironment (TME), including metabolic crosstalk. We have previously shown that ex vivo tumor tissue cultures derived from ovarian carcinoma (OvC) resections retain the TME components for at least four weeks of culture and implemented assays for assessment of drug response. Here, we explored ex vivo patient-derived tumor tissue cultures to uncover metabolic signatures of chemosensitivity and/or resistance. Tissue cultures derived from nine OvC cases were challenged with carboplatin and paclitaxel, the standard-of-care chemotherapeutics, and the metabolic footprints were characterized by LC-MS. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) revealed metabolic signatures that discriminated high-responder from low-responder tissue cultures to ex vivo drug exposure. As a proof-of-concept, a set of potential metabolic biomarkers of drug response was identified based on the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve, comprising amino acids, fatty acids, pyrimidine, glutathione, and TCA cycle pathways. Overall, this work establishes an analytical and computational platform to explore metabolic features of the TME associated with response to treatment, which can leverage the discovery of biomarkers of drug response and resistance in OvC.publishersversionpublishe

Poly(ionic liquid)-based engineered mixed matrix membranes for CO2/H2 separation

Unformatted preprintPoly(ionic liquid)s (PIL) have emerged as a class of versatile polyelectrolites, that can be used to prepare new materials able to achieve superior performances compared to conventional polymers. The combination of PILs with ionic liquids (ILs) may serve as a suitable matrix for the preparation of membranes for gas separation. In this work, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) combining a pyrrolidinium-based PIL, an IL and three highly CO2-selective metal organic frameworks (MOFs) were prepared. The different MOFs (MIL-53, Cu3(BTC)2 and ZIF-8) were used as fillers, aiming to maximize the membranes performance towards the purification of syngas. The influence of different MOFs and loadings (0, 10, 20 and 30 wt.%) on the thermal and mechanical stabilities of the membranes and their performance in terms of CO2 permeability and CO2/H2 ideal selectivity was assessed. The compatibility between the materials was confirmed by SEM-EDS and FTIR spectroscopy. The prepared MMMs revealed to be thermally stable within the temperature range of the syngas stream, with a loss of mechanical stability upon the MOF incorporation. The increasing MOF content in the MMMs, resulted in an improvement of both CO2 permeability and CO2/H2 ideal selectivity. Among the three MOFs studied, membranes based on ZIF-8 showed the highest permeabilities (up to 97.2 barrer), while membranes based on MIL-53 showed the highest improvement in selectivity (up to 13.3). Remarkably, all permeation results surpass the upper bound limit for the CO2/H2 separation, showing the membranes potential for the desired gas separation.This work was partially supported by R&D Units UID/Multi/04551/2013 (Green-it), UID/QUI/00100/2013 (CQE), and the Associated Laboratory Research Unit for Green Chemistry, Technologies and Clean Processes, LAQV which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES(UID/QUI/50006/2013) and co-financed by the ERDF under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007265). Ana R. Nabais, Luísa A. Neves and Liliana C. Tomé acknowledge FCT/MCTES for financial support through project PTDC/CTM-POL/2676/2014, FCT Investigator Contract IF/00505/2014 and Post-doctoral research grant SFRH/BDP/101793/2014, respectively. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 745734