Avaliação da dinâmica do transporte dos bovinos no Pantanal Sul-Matogrossense.

O presente trabalho visou definir, caracterizar, classificar os modais de transporte de bovinos e avaliar as atuais condições da infra-estrutura logística dos meios de transporte em quatro sub-regiões do Pantanal (Paiaguás, Nhecolândia, Nabileque e Paraguai), através de duas abordagens: a avaliação da dinâmica do transporte e comercialização dos bovinos e a avaliação da dinâmica do transporte fluvial dos bovinos no porto de Ladário, MS. This study aimed define, characterize and classify the modal transport of beef cattle and assess the current conditions of the infrastructure in logistic of transport, in three subregion of Pantanal (Paiaguás, Nhecolandia, Nabileque and Paraguay), through two approaches: the assessment of the dynamics of the transport and marketing of cattle and evaluation of the dynamics of the fluvial transport of cattle in the port of Ladário, MS

Continuous Photocatalytic Antibacterial Activity of AgNPs doped TiO2 Digital Printed on Commercial Porcelain-grès Tiles

Photocatalytic finishing materials, such as tiles or paints, are a productive as well as scientific reality. One of the most interesting photocatalytic material currently on the market is the porcelain stoneware which combines the beauty of a design product with hardness and absence of porosity and thus used for both floors and walls. The Ag- micrometric TiO2 allowed active ceramic slabs to be active under LED lights, bypassing the problem of the UVA radiation. SEM/TEM images in Fig. 1 indicate the full coverage of the porcelain surface (left image), besides a nanometric though heterogenous spreading of the AgNPs on top of the TiO2 matrix (right image). Figure 1. HR-SEM of the Active ceramic surface (left), TEM image of 8% AgNPs-TiO2(center); possible photocatalytic mechanistic pathways in Ag doped TiO2 system (right) An important question concerns the antibacterial action: in fact, today the role of silver is unknown when the metal is physically blocked on a surface and cannot penetrate and therefore interfere at the DNA level in the cellular barrier. The prepared porcelain Ag-TiO2 printed surfaces were tested against E. coli under solar and visible illumination and in the dark. To differenciate the semicondutor behavior and the ions mediated bacterial inactivation mechanism, porinless E. coli were used under band-gap irradiation. Stereomicroscopy analysis showed dead bacteria within 180 and 240 min respectively for normal E. coli and porinless E. coli. Using appropriate quenchers, the bacterial inactivation mechanisms under solar and visible light are proposed

A novel non-invasive device for the assessment of central venous pressure in hospital, office and home

Background: Venous congestion can be quantified by central venous pressure (CVP) and its monitoring is crucial to understand and follow the hemodynamic status of patients with cardio-respiratory diseases. The standard technique for CVP measurement is invasive, requiring the insertion of a catheter into a jugular vein, with potential complications. On the other hand, the current non-invasive methods, mainly based on ultrasounds, remain operator-dependent and are unsuitable for use in the home environment. In this paper, we will introduce a novel, non-invasive device for the hospital, office and home assessment of CVP. Methods: After describing the measurement concept, we will report a preliminary experimental study enrolling 5 voluntary healthy subjects to evaluate the VenCoM measurements’ repeatability, and the system’s capability in measuring small elicited venous pressure variations (2 mmHg), as well as an induced venous hypertension within a pathological range (12÷20 mmHg). Results: The experimental measurements showed a repeatability of ±1mmHg. The VenCoM device was able to reliably detect the elicited venous pressure variations and the simulated congestive status. Discussion and Conclusion: The proposed non-invasive VenCoM device is able to provide a fast and repeatable CVP estimate, having a wide spectrum of potential clinical applications, including the monitoring of venous congestion in heart failure patients and in subjects with renal and hepatic dysfunction, as well as pulmonary hypertension (PH) that can be extended to pneumonia COVID-19 patients even after recovery. The device needs to be tested further on a large sample size of both healthy and pathological subjects, to systematically validate its reliability and impact in clinical setting

Porcelain gres tiles with photocatalytic properties for a better environment

Porcelain gres tiles are characterised by their very low water absorption rate of less than 0.5%, and are manufactured under high pressure by dry-pressing fine processed ceramic raw materials with large proportions of quartz, feldspar and other fluxes. Afterwards, the body of these materials is fired at high temperatures (1200 - 1300\ub0C) in a roller kiln. The final material is characterized by lack of porosity, durability, high breaking and wear resistance properties and a complete frost resistance. In the past decades porcelain gres tiles underwent significant transformations in terms of appearance and size. At the beginning of the industrial productions, porcelain gres tiles were considered as just a technical material characterized by strong resistance to both abrasion and acid attack, almost lack of porosity, but aesthetically not very beautiful. Today thanks to new industrial production methods, both properties and beauty of these materials completely fit the market requests. In particular, the possibility to prepare slabs of large sizes is the new frontier of the building materials. Beside these noteworthy architectural features, new surface properties have been introduced in the last generation of these materials. The present paper reports the research at the base of a new kind of fired tiles able to carry out a specific antibacterial and self-cleaning action and to reduce polluting molecules thanks to its new photocatalytic properties due to the surface presence of photoactive micro-TiO2

Glutathione transferases and glutathionylated hemoglobin in workers exposed to low doses of 1,3-butadiene.

We evaluated glutathione transferase (GST) activities and the levels of glutathionylated hemoglobin in the RBCof 42 workers exposed to 1,3-butadiene in a petrochemical plant, using 43 workers not exposed to 1,3-butadiene and 82 foresters as internal and external controls, respectively. Median 1,3-butadiene exposure levels were 1.5, 0.4, and 0.1 Mg/m3 in 1,3-butadieneexposed workers, in workers not directly exposed to 1,3-butadiene, and in foresters, respectively. In addition, we determined in the peripheral blood lymphocytes of the same individuals the presence of GST polymorphic genes GSTT1 and GSTM1 and the distribution of GSTP1 allelic variants. Comparing the mean values observed in petrochemical workers with those of control foresters, we found a marked decrease of GST enzymatic activity and a significant increase of glutathionylated hemoglobin in the petrochemical workers. A weak but significant negative correlation was found between levels of 1,3-butadiene exposure and GST activity, whereas a positive correlation was found between 1,3-butadiene exposure and glutathionylated hemoglobin. A negative correlation was also observed between GST activity and glutathionylated hemoglobin. No influence of confounders was observed. Using a multiple linear regression model, up to 50.6% and 41.9% of the variability observed in glutathionylated hemoglobin and GST activity, respectively, were explained by 1,3- butadiene exposure, working setting, and GSTT1 genotype. These results indicate that occupational exposure to 1,3-butadiene induces an oxidative stress that impairs the GST balance in RBC, and suggest that GST activity and glutathionylated hemoglobin could be recommended as promising biomarkers of effect in petrochemical workers

Phenol photodegradation in presence of nano or micro-TiO2: performance comparison and study of the different by-products

In the present work the degradation of phenol in water was performed comparing the use of a commercial micro-sized TiO2 (1077 by Kronos) with a nano-TiO2 (P25 by Evonik), as well as with commercially available photoactive porcelain gr\ue9s tiles; in particular, the photoefficiency of the micro-sized sample was evaluated both as powder form and immobilized on tiles, in order to make a comparison and point out the main differences and changes in term of diffusion of the pollutant, absorption, photoactivity and efficiency

Copper NPs decorated titania to improve the photoactivity under visible light: a novel synthesis by high energy US

Different samples of commercial and micrometer TiO2 were decorated with copper nanoparticles by means of high-energy ultrasounds, and they were tested on the photodegradation of VOC\u2019s in gas phase under visible light, studying in particular the effect of the copper amount first, and also the difference performances using a LED lamp at different irradiation power. The results are consistent with the characterization data, showing an increase of the photoactivity and the absorption in the visible spectra with the increase of the copper amount, but only up to a certain value

Micro-sized TiO2 catalyst in powder form and as coating on porcelain grès tile for the photodegradation of phenol as model pollutant for water phase

In presence of TiO2 and irradiation, phenol can be degraded by hydroxyl radicals or directly via photogenerated carriers, as occurs in photocalytic processes. In this work a commercial micro-sized TiO2 sample in powder form and industrially coated on porcelain gr\ue8s tiles were tested in water remediation with phenol as model molecule. Firstly, we investigated the behaviour of the commercial micro-sized TiO2 comparing the results with reference nano-sized catalyst in the phenol photodegradation process, widely studied in the last decades. Following the phenol concentration as well as the main intermediates formation over time by HPLC analysis, and the mineralization by TOC analysis, we presented results about the photocatalytic behaviour in terms of adsorption, by-products formation, and reaction rate at different phenol starting concentrations. In particular, with the photocatalytic tiles, phenol photodegradation percentage is almost the same at 15 ad 25 ppm (78% and 73% respectively), and much lower at 50 ppm (46%) after 6 hours of test