Fractionation of eucalyptus globulus wood by glycerol-water pretreatment: optimization and modeling

A glycerol-organosolv process can be a good alternative for Eucalyptus wood fractionation into its main compounds, improving the enzymatic saccharification of the cellulose. A study of process variables - glycerol−water percent content, temperature, and process time - was carried out using a Box-Behnken experimental design. The cellulose obtained from pretreated solids was recovered almost quantitatively, leading to a solid with a high percentage of cellulose (77 g/100 g of pretreated solid), low lignin content (9 g/100 g of pretreated solid), and 18% of residual hemicellulose in the solid at 200 °C, 56% of glycerol−water and 69 min. The enzymatic saccharification was enhanced achieving 98% cellulose-to-glucose conversion (under conditions: liquid to solid ratio 20 g/g and enzyme loading 20 FPU/g of solid). This study contributes to the improvement of biomass fractionation by exploring an eco-friendly treatment which allows for almost complete wood fractionation into constituents and high levels of glucose recovery available for subsequent yeast fermentation to bioethanol.The authors A. Romani and F. B. Pereira thank to the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for their fellowships (grant number: SFRH/BPD/77995/2011 and SFRH/BD/64776/2009, respectively)

Fabrication, characterization and analysis of a prototype high purity germanium detector for

Experiments searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay in $$^{76}$$Ge are currently achieving the lowest background level and, in connection with the excellent energy resolution of germanium detectors, they exhibit the best discovery potential for the decay. Expansion to a ton scale of the active target mass is presently considered – in this case on-site production of the detectors may be an option. In this paper we describe the fabrication and characterization procedures of a prototype detector with a small p+ contact, which enhances the abilities of the pulse shape discrimination – one of the most important tools for background reduction. Simulations of the shapes of pulses from the detector were carried out and tuned, taking the advantage of the fact that all the parameters of the Ge crystal, cryostat and of the spectroscopic chain were known. As a result, the pulse shape analyses performed on the simulated and measured data agree very well. The worked out method allows to optimize geometry and crystal parameters in terms of pulse shape analysis efficiency, before the actual production of the detectors

Associations between joint effusion in the knee and gene expression levels in the circulation: a meta-analysis

Objective: To identify molecular biomarkers for early knee osteoarthritis (OA), we examined whether joint effusion in the knee associated with different gene expression levels in the circulation. Materials and Methods: Joint effusion grades measured with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and gene expression levels in blood were determined in women of the Rotterdam Study (N=135) and GARP (N=98). Associations were examined using linear regression analyses, adjusted for age, fasting status, RNA quality, technical batch effects, blood cell counts, and BMI. To investigate enriched pathways and protein-protein interactions, we used the DAVID and STRING webtools. Results: In a meta-analysis, we identified 257 probes mapping to 189 unique genes in blood that were nominally significantly associated with joint effusion grades in the knee. Several compelling genes were identified such as C1orf38 and NFATC1. Significantly enriched biological pathways were: response to stress, gene expression, negative regulation of intracellular signal transduction, and antigen processing and presentation of exogenous pathways. Conclusion: Meta-analyses and subsequent enriched biological pathways resulted in interesting candidate genes associated with joint effusion that require further characterization. Associations were not transcriptome-wide significant most likely due to limited power. Additional studies are required to replicate our findings in more samples, which will greatly help in understanding the pathophysiology of OA and its relation to inflammation, and may result in biomarkers urgently needed to diagnose OA at an early stage

A survey on emergency thyroid monitoring strategies and capacities in Europe and comparison with international recommendations

There are ongoing social debates about the risks and benefits of using nuclear reactors to generate electricity. Radiation accidents can occur for different reasons and even be caused deliberately as a result of terrorist actions, and these may affect from a few to thousands of people. After a major release of radioactive iodine as a result of a nuclear accident, large number of potentially affected people may require rapid assessments to determine the degree of thyroid contamination, especially children and young people given that their thyroid is a highly radiosensitive organ and particularly vulnerable to the carcinogenic action of ionising radiation. To date, there is no internationally agreed protocol for measuring 131I in the thyroid of affected persons, especially in children. To address this problem, the Child and Adult Thyroid Monitoring After Reactor Accident (CAThyMARA) project (https://www.eu-neris.net/projects/operra/operra-cathymara.html) focused on post-accidental 131I measurements in the thyroid, giving special attention to children and involved 15 institutions from 12 European countries. One of the Work Packages of the project had the objective to overview existing national plans and means for thyroid monitoring and to review international recommendations about radioiodine monitoring in the thyroid in case of a large scale nuclear accident. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire-based survey was carried out from May to October 2016. The survey results were based on the analysis of the answers of 31 institutions in 18 European countries, which included a wide range of questions related to emergency plan strategies, monitoring strategies for radioiodine in thyroid, dose assessment, etc. In addition, the peer-review literature in this area was reviewed and summarised. The results of the survey together with the current international recommendations about radioiodine monitoring in thyroid could provide important information on existing gaps, which can be used to develop new or update existing guidelines on thyroid monitoring after a nuclear accident. © 201