Bibliometric studies on emissions from diesel engines running on alcohol/diesel fuel blends. A case study about noise emissions

The growing demand for fossil fuels, the rise in their price and many environmental concerns strengthen the incessant search for fuel alternatives. Recently, traffic noise has been described as a threat to human health and the environment, being responsible for premature deaths. In this context, the usage of alcohol/diesel fuel blends in diesel engines has gained increasing impact as a substitute fuel for use in internal combustion engines. Moreover, alcohol can be derived from environmentally friendly processes, i.e., fermentation. Furthermore, alcohols can enhance combustion characteristics due to a rise of the oxygen concentration, thus decreasing major emissions such as soot and reducing knock. The commonly used alcohols blended with diesel fuel are methanol and ethanol, recently followed by butanol. In contrast, there are very few studies about propanol blends; however, emissions reduction (including noise) could be remarkable. In the present work, an analytical literature review about noise and exhaust emissions from alcohol/diesel fuel blends was performed. The literature review analysis revealed a continuous increase in the number of publications about alcohol/diesel fuel blend exhaust emissions since 2000, confirming the growing interest in this field. However, only few publications about noise emission were found. Then, an experimental case study of noise emitted by an engine running on different alcohol (ethanol, butanol and propanol)/diesel fuel blends was presented. Experimental results showed that although diesel fuel provided the best results regarding noise emissions, butanol displayed the least deviation from that of diesel fuel among all tested alcohol blends. It may be concluded that tested alcohol/diesel fuel blends in general, and butanol blends in particular, could be a promising alternative to diesel fuel, considering noise behavior

CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms in relation to tumour characteristics and early breast cancer related events among 652 breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND: CYP2C8/9 polymorphisms may influence breast cancer-free survival after diagnosis due to their role in the metabolism of tamoxifen, paclitaxel, and other chemotherapy. cytochrome P450 (CYP)2C8/9 metabolise arachidonic acid to epoxyeicosatrienoic acids, which enhance migration and invasion in vitro and promote angiogenesis in vivo. We aimed to investigate the frequency of CYP2C8/9 polymorphisms in relation to breast tumour characteristics and disease-free survival. METHODS: A prospective series of 652 breast cancer patients from southern Sweden was genotyped for CYP2C8*3, CYP2C8*4, CYP2C9*2, and CYP2C9*3. Blood samples and questionnaires were obtained pre- and postoperatively. Clinical information and tumour characteristics were obtained from patients' charts and pathology reports. RESULTS: Frequencies of CYP2C8/9 polymorphisms were similar to healthy European populations. Significantly less node involvement (P=0.002) and fewer PR+ tumours (P=0.012) were associated with CYP2C8*4. Median follow-up was 25 months and 52 breast cancer-related events were reported. In a multivariate model, CYP2C8/9*3/*1*/*2/*1 was the only factor associated with increased risk for early events in 297 tamoxifen-treated, ER-positive patients, adjusted HR 2.54 (95%CI 1.11-5.79). The effect appeared to be driven by CYP2C8*3, adjusted HR 8.56 (95%CI 1.53-51.1). CONCLUSION: Polymorphic variants of CYP2C8/9 may influence breast tumour characteristics and disease-free survival in tamoxifen-treated patients

Accelerated inbreeding depression suggests synergistic epistasis for deleterious mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

Epistasis may have important consequences for a number of issues in quantitative genetics and evolutionary biology. In particular, synergistic epistasis for deleterious alleles is relevant to the mutation load paradox and the evolution of sex and recombination. Some studies have shown evidence of synergistic epistasis for spontaneous or induced deleterious mutations appearing in mutation-accumulation experiments. However, many newly arising mutations may not actually be segregating in natural populations because of the erasing action of natural selection. A demonstration of synergistic epistasis for naturally segregating alleles can be achieved by means of inbreeding depression studies, as deleterious recessive allelic effects are exposed in inbred lines. Nevertheless, evidence of epistasis from these studies is scarce and controversial. In this paper, we report the results of two independent inbreeding experiments carried out with two different populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The results show a consistent accelerated inbreeding depression for fitness, suggesting synergistic epistasis among deleterious alleles. We also performed computer simulations assuming different possible models of epistasis and mutational parameters for fitness, finding some of them to be compatible with the results observed. Our results suggest that synergistic epistasis for deleterious mutations not only occurs among newly arisen spontaneous or induced mutations, but also among segregating alleles in natural populationsWe acknowledge the support by Uvigo Marine Research Centre funded by the “Excellence in Research (INUGA)” Programme from the Regional Council of Culture, Education and Universities, with co-funding from the European Union through the ERDF Operational Programme Galicia 2014-2020. This work was funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (CGL2016-75904-C2-1-P), Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2016-037) and Fondos Feder: “Unha maneira de facer Europa.” SD was founded by a predoctoral (FPI) grant from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, SpainS

Associations between Screen Time and Physical Activity among Spanish Adolescents

Excessive time in front of a single or several screens could explain a displacement of physical activity. The present study aimed at determining whether screen-time is associated with a reduced level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in Spanish adolescents living in favorable environmental conditions. or more to total screen-time showed a 64% (OR = 0.61, 95% CI, 0.44–0.86) increased risk of failing to achieve the recommended adolescent MVPA level. Participation in organized physical activities and sports competitions were more strongly associated with MVPA than screen-related behaviors.No single screen-related behavior explained the reduction of MVPA in adolescents. However, the total time accumulated through several screen-related behaviors was negatively associated with MVPA level in boys. This association could be due to lower availability of time for exercise as the time devoted to sedentary screen-time activities increases. Participation in organized physical activities seems to counteract the negative impact of excessive time in front of screens on physical activity

Bioconversion of Agro-Residues into Microbial Oil-Based Oleochemicals Employing Packed Bed Bioreactor

Lignocellulosic waste-streams are resources worth investigating to produce value-added bioproducts due to their low-cost, renewability, versatility, and abundance. This study evaluated five Zygomycota strains as potential oleaginous microorganisms for direct bioconversion of cakes derived from the vegetable-oil-milling industry into microbial oil. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) conditions in tray bioreactors revealed that temperature, moisture content, and substrate affected lipid production and fatty acids composition. Employing SSF, under optimal conditions (30 °C, 65% initial moisture content), and substrate supplementation with nitrogen sources increased lipid productivity 1.1-fold on palm kernel cake (PKC) substrate. Supplementation strategies using glycerol, molasses, or mineral solution did nοt favor lipid production. When cotton seed cake (CoSC) was applied, C. echinulata was able to produce 304.1 mg/gfs of biomass with a lipid content of 40.2% (w/w) in tray bioreactors. Scaling-up SSF using CoSC in packed bed reactors led to the highest biomass production (320.5 mg/gfs), while lipids production was unaffected. Then, microbial oil was enzymatically converted into polyol esters achieving the highest conversion yield of 80% after 2 h. Physicochemical properties of polyol esters demonstrated their potential utilization as biolubricants. The present study showed the perspective of bioconverting industrial side streams into microbial oil and a route for sustainable synthesis of oleochemicals