SWINE WASTE PHYTOREMEDIATION USING DUCKWEED (Landoltia punctata, Les & Crawford) IN A FULL SCALE PLANT

Banner Apresentado em Congresso: 11th International Conference, Heraklion, Crete, Greece PhytotechnologiesThe large amount of nitrogen and phosphorous compounds found in pig manure has caused ecological imbalances, with eutrophication of major river basins in the producing regions. Therefore, the aquatic macrophytes group named duckweeds (Araceae; Lemnoideae) have been successfully used for phytoextraction and rhizodegradation of nutrient and heavy metals from swine waste, generating further a biomass with high protein content. The present study evaluated the phytoremediation of nitrogen and phosphorus from swine waste using the duckweed Landoltia punctata and also their protein biomass production as by-product

Programa de habitação/reabilitação do centro histórico de São Luís do Maranhão, Brasil (2000-2003)

A cidade de São Luís, capital do Estado do Maranhão, situada na região nordeste do Brasil, possui um valioso acervo de arquitetura civil, remanescente dos séculos XVIII e XIX. Esse legado arquitetônico, que se concentra na Praia Grande e Desterro, bairros mais antigos da cidade, compõe hoje o centro histórico de São Luís, tombado (classificado) pelo governo federal e estadual e inscrito, em 1997, na Lista de Patrimônio Mundial. No século XX, o Maranhão passou por um longo período de estagnação econômica, e a partir de 1950, com a expansão urbana da cidade, a população abandonou a área mais antiga para residir em outros bairros da cidade. Como conseqüência, os sobrados e solares que antes abrigavam a elite, uma vez abandonados, foram, ao poucos, se transformando em ruínas. Para reverter o processo de arruinamento de alguns imóveis, foi elaborado o Programa de Habitação no Centro Histórico de São Luís, executado no período de 2000 a 2003, pelo governo do estado, como o objetivo de reabilitar prédios históricos de propriedade do governo do estado, para habitação e comércio, considerando a vocação da área e os investimentos em infra-estruturas já efetuados. Foram reabilitados cinco sobrados edificados nos séculos XVIII e XIX, em estado precário de conservação, que tiveram seus espaços internos transformados em lojas no pavimento térreo, e apartamentos nos pavimentos superiores, somando no total 18 lojas e 30 apartamentos. Os apartamentos foram destinados, por meio de sorteio, a funcionários públicos do estado. Para participar do Programa, os candidatos tinham que trabalhar no centro histórico, não possuir imóveis na cidade e ganhar até cinco salários mínimos. Numa avaliação mais geral, o Programa teve aprovação da maioria dos seus usuários.The city of São Luís, capital of Maranhão, located in northeastern Brazil, has a valuable collection of civil architecture, remnants of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This architectural legacy, mainly in Praia Grande and Desterro, the oldest neighborhoods of the city, belonging to the historic center of São Luís, classified by the national and state governments, being included in the World Heritage List, in 1997. In the twentieth century, Maranhão went through a long period of economic stagnation, and from 1950 with the expansion of the town, the population moves from the old center area to other city neighborhoods. As a result, houses that once sheltered the nobility, were abandoned, and are gradually turning into ruins. To reverse the degradation process, it was implemented the Programa de Habitação, directed to the Historic Center of São Luís, between 2000 and 2003 by the state government, aimed to: rehabilitate historic buildings owned by the state government, converting them into housing and shops, according to the specificity of the surrounding area and to the infrastructures investment already made. Five houses from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a critical conservation state were rehabilitated, being their spaces converted into shops on the ground floor and apartments on upper floors. In total, 18 shops and 30 apartments were created. The apartments were allocated, through a gamble, to state public officials. To participate in the program, applicants had to work in the historical city center, not owning any property in the city, and earn monthly up to five times the minimum salary. From a general assessment, the program was positively appreciated by most users

Membrane interactions of S100A12 (Calgranulin C)

S100A12 (Calgranulin C) is a small acidic calcium-binding peripheral membrane protein with two EF-hand structural motifs. It is expressed in macrophages and lymphocytes and highly up-regulated in several human inflammatory diseases. In pigs, S100A12 is abundant in the cytosol of granulocytes, where it is believed to be involved in signal modulation of inflammatory process. In this study, we investigated the interaction of the porcine S100A12 with phospholipid bilayers and the effect that ions (Ca2+, Zn2+ or both together) have in modifying protein-lipid interactions. More specifically, we intended to address issues such as: (1) is the protein-membrane interaction modulated by the presence of ions? (2) is the protein overall structure affected by the presence of the ions and membrane models simultaneously? (3) what are the specific conformational changes taking place when ions and membranes are both present? (4) does the protein have any kind of molecular preferences for a specific lipid component? To provide insight into membrane interactions and answer those questions, synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and surface plasmon resonance were used. The use of these combined techniques demonstrated that this protein was capable of interacting both with lipids and with ions in solution, and enabled examination of changes that occur at different levels of structure organization. The presence of both Ca2+ and Zn2+ ions modify the binding, conformation and thermal stability of the protein in the presence of lipids. Hence, these studies examining molecular interactions of porcine S100A12 in solution complement the previously determined crystal structure information on this family of proteins, enhancing our understanding of its dynamics of interaction with membranes

Using full-scale duckweed ponds as the finish stage for swine waste treatment with a focus on organic matter degradation

Artigo Publicado em: IWA - Water Science & TechnologyThe rapid increase in the number of swine has caused pronounced environmental impacts worldwide, especially on water resources. As an aggregate, smallholdings have an important role in South American pork production, contributing to the net diffusion of pollution. Thus, duckweed ponds have been successfully used for swine waste polishing, mainly for nutrient removal. Few studies have been carried out to assess organic matter degradation in duckweed ponds. Hence, the present study evaluated the efficiency of two full-scale duckweed ponds for organic matter reduction of swine waste on small pig farms. Duckweed ponds, in series, received the effluent after an anaerobic biodigester and storage pond, with a flow rate of 1 m3 day 1. After 1 year of monitoring, an improvement in effluent quality was observed, with a reduction in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD), respectively, of 94.8 and 96.7%, operating at a loading rate of approximately 27 kgBOD ha 1 day 1 and 131 kgCOD ha 1 day 1. Algae inhibition due to duckweed coverage was strongly observed in the pond effluent, where chlorophyll a and turbidity remained below 25 μg L 1 and 10 NTU. Using the study conditions described herein, duckweed ponds were shown to be a suitable technology for swine waste treatment, contributing to the environmental sustainability of rural areas

Linear Holographic Hard Wall Model for Glueballs and the Pomeron

In this work we propose a linear holographic hard wall model, modifying the original model by introducing anomalous dimensions for the glueball operators so that we obtain a linear Regge trajectory. We match this Regge trajectory with that of the pomeron with a precision better than $1\%$. The glueball masses obtained in this way are in good agreement with lattice data.Comment: 14 pages, 1 table, 2 figure

Influence of interface potential on the effective mass in Ge nanostructures

The role of the interface potential on the effective mass of charge carriers is elucidated in this work. We develop a new theoretical formalism using a spatially dependent effective mass that is related to the magnitude of the interface potential. Using this formalism we studied Ge quantum dots (QDs) formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) and co-sputtering (sputter). These samples allowed us to isolate important consequences arising from differences in the interface potential. We found that for a higher interface potential, as in the case of PECVD QDs, there is a larger reduction in the effective mass, which increases the confinement energy with respect to the sputter sample. We further understood the action of O interface states by comparing our results with Ge QDs grown by molecular beam epitaxy. It is found that the O states can suppress the influence of the interface potential. From our theoretical formalism we determine the length scale over which the interface potential influences the effective mass

Plurality Voting: the statistical laws of democracy in Brazil

We explore the statistical laws behind the plurality voting system by investigating the election results for mayor held in Brazil in 2004. Our analysis indicate that the vote partition among mayor candidates of the same city tends to be "polarized" between two candidates, a phenomenon that can be closely described by means of a simple fragmentation model. Complex concepts like "government continuity" and "useful vote" can be identified and even statistically quantified through our approach.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure