First approaches for hydrogen production by the depolarized electrolysis of SO2 using phosphoric acid doped polybenzimidazole membranes

Renewable energy storage and conversion is nowadays a major target for the scientific community. Their conversion into hydrogen is a clear and clean alternative for their storage. This work shows, for the first time, the results of the SO2 depolarized electrolysis for hydrogen production at high temperature (120–170 °C) using phosphoric acid doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes. A standard and a thermally cure PBI membrane doped with phosphoric acid were used for manufacturing the MEA of two electrolyzers. The benefit of the temperature was demonstrated but an unexpected behavior occurs at voltages higher than 0.8 V when temperature increases. Moreover, the thermally cured membrane shows a superior performance as compared with the standard one. Production of sulfur by reduction of SO2 becomes an important drawback and advices not operating above 130 °C. Results show that PBI membranes doped with phosphoric acid are suitable for high temperature operation for the sulfur dioxide depolarized electrolysis. Increasing temperature is beneficial up to a certain value of potential, showing a considerable influence in the charge transfer resistance of the system.El almacenamiento y conversión de energía renovable es hoy en día un objetivo importante para la comunidad científica. Su conversión en hidrógeno es una alternativa clara y limpia para su almacenamiento. Este trabajo muestra, por primera vez, los resultados de la electrólisis despolarizada con SO 2 para la producción de hidrógeno a alta temperatura (120-170 °C) utilizando ácido fosfóricoMembranas de polibencimidazol dopado (PBI). Se utilizaron una membrana PBI estándar y una de curado térmico dopada con ácido fosfórico para fabricar el MEA de dos electrolizadores. Se demostró el beneficio de la temperatura pero se presenta un comportamiento inesperado a voltajes superiores a 0.8 V cuando la temperatura aumenta. Además, la membrana curada térmicamente muestra un rendimiento superior en comparación con la estándar. La producción de azufre por reducción de SO 2 se convierte en un inconveniente importante y aconseja no operar por encima de 130 °C. Los resultados muestran que las membranas de PBI dopadas con ácido fosfórico son adecuadas para operaciones a alta temperatura para la electrólisis despolarizada con dióxido de azufre . El aumento de la temperatura es beneficioso hasta cierto valor de potencial, mostrando una influencia considerable en laresistencia de transferencia de carga del sistema

Characterization of PBI/Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes for the SO2 Depolarized Electrolysis at High Temperature

In this work, polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with different graphene oxide (GO) contents (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 wt %) as organic filler have been prepared. The X-ray diffraction confirms the incorporation of the filler into the polymeric membrane. The composite GO-based PBI membranes show better proton conductivity at high temperature (110–170 °C) than the pristine one. Moreover, the hydrophobicity of the PBI membranes is also improved, enhancing water management. The chemical stability demonstrates the benefit of the incorporation of GO in the PBI matrix. What is more, the composite PBI-based membranes show better phosphoric acid retention capability. For the first time, the results of the SO2-depolarized electrolysis for hydrogen production at high temperature (130 °C) using phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with the different GO contents are shown. The benefit of the organic filler is demonstrated, as H2SO4 production is 1.5 times higher when the membrane with a content of 1 wt % of GO is used. Moreover, three times more hydrogen is produced with the membrane containing 2 wt % of GO compared with the non-modified membrane. The obtained results are very promising and provide open research for this kind of composite membranes for green hydrogen production by the Westinghouse cycleEn este trabajo se han preparado membranas de polibencimidazol (PBI) con diferentes contenidos de óxido de grafeno (GO) (0,5, 1,0, 2,0 y 3,0% en peso) como relleno orgánico. La difracción de rayos X confirma la incorporación del relleno en la membrana polimérica. Las membranas PBI compuestas basadas en GO muestran una mejor conductividad de protones a alta temperatura (110–170 °C) que la prístina. Además, también se mejora la hidrofobicidad de las membranas de PBI, mejorando la gestión del agua. La estabilidad química demuestra el beneficio de la incorporación de GO en la matriz de PBI. Además, las membranas compuestas basadas en PBI muestran una mejor capacidad de retención de ácido fosfórico. Por primera vez, los resultados del SO 2-electrólisis despolarizada para la producción de hidrógeno a alta temperatura (130 °C) utilizando membranas de polibencimidazol dopado con ácido fosfórico (PBI) con los diferentes contenidos de GO. Se demuestra el beneficio del relleno orgánico, ya que la producción de H 2 SO 4 es 1,5 veces mayor cuando se utiliza la membrana con un contenido del 1 % en peso de GO. Además, se produce tres veces más hidrógeno con la membrana que contiene 2 % en peso de GO en comparación con la membrana no modificada. Los resultados obtenidos son muy prometedores y abren la posibilidad de investigar este tipo de membranas compuestas para la producción de hidrógeno verde por el ciclo de Westinghouse

Environmental Epigenetics and Obesity

In recent years, increasing interest on the effects of dietary components on epigenetic processes and, consequently, on the regulation of gene expression and metabolic responses has led clinical efforts worldwide to approach obesity. When inadequate, food consumption leads to chronic and non-communicable diseases (CNCD) including obesity. Among the dynamic changes in cellular responses by nutritional interventions, epigenetic control represents a master regulator underlying both positive and negative effects of diet on body mass, including DNA methylation, histone post-translational modifications and microRNA expression signatures. Indeed, mechanistical studies of the relationship between environment, diet and differential epigenetic landscapes are gaining attention on functional pathways involved in cell growth, DNA-repair, lipogenesis, senescence, inflammation, tumor suppression, apoptosis and oncogenesis. Being the dynamic interplay between epigenetics and obesity so complex, moreover considering a detrimental environment context, this chapter will discuss the state-of-the-art evidence showing the pollution impact on the different epigenetic mechanisms regulating an obese phenotype, and how these molecular events determine the organic interplay upon metabolic alterations, and finally we will introduce recent epidrugs and biocompounds of therapeutic interests due to their potential to modulate and even revert obesity-inducing epigenetic mechanisms

Enhance access to pulmonary rehabilitation with a structured and personalized home-based program—reabilitAR: protocol for real-world setting

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Home-based models represent one of the solutions to respond to the poor accessibility of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) services in patients with chronic respiratory disease (CRD). The main goal of this protocol is to present the implementation of the first nationwide home-based PR program—reabilitAR—in Portugal and the strategies to assess its benefits in patients with CRD. The program consists of 2 phases: a 12-week intensive phase and a 40-week maintenance phase (total: 52 weeks, 1 year). The intervention in both phases is composed of presential home visits and phone-call follow ups, including exercise training and the self-management educational program Living Well with COPD. Dyspnea, impact of the disease, emotional status, and level of dyspnea during activities of daily living are used as patient-reported outcomes measures. A one-minute sit-to-stand test is used as a functional outcome, and the number of steps as a measure of physical activity. To ensure safety, fall risk and the cognitive function are assessed. Data are collected at baseline, at 12 weeks, at 26 weeks and at 52 weeks. This is the first nationwide protocol on enhancing access to PR, providing appropriate responses to CRD patients’ needs through a structured and personalized home-based program in Portugal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Platinum Recovery Techniques for a Circular Economy

Platinum and other metals are very scarce materials widely used in the energy and transportation sector among other sectors. Obtaining Platinum is becoming more difficult due to its scarcity on earth and because of the high amount of energy and water used for its extraction. In this regard, the recycling of platinum is necessary for sustainable technologies and for reaching a circular economy towards this expensive and rare metal. Conventional methods for platinum recycling make use of enormous amounts of energy for its recovery, which makes them not very attractive for industry implementation. Furthermore, these processes generate very toxic liquid streams and gas wastes that must be further treated, which do not meet the green environmental point of view of platinum recycling. Consequently, new advanced technologies are arising aiming to reach very high platinum recovery rates while being environmentally friendly and making a huge reduction of energy use compared with the conventional methods. In this review, conventional platinum recovery methods are summarized showing their limitations. Furthermore, new and promising approaches for platinum recovery are reviewed to shed light on about new and greener ways for a platinum circular economyEl platino y otros metales son materiales muy escasos ampliamente utilizados en el sector de la energía y el transporte, entre otros sectores. La obtención de platino es cada vez más difícil debido a su escasez en la tierra y por la gran cantidad de energía y agua que se utiliza para su extracción. En este sentido, el reciclaje de platino es necesario para tecnologías sostenibles y para alcanzar una economía circular hacia este metal caro y raro. Los métodos convencionales para el reciclaje del platino utilizan enormes cantidades de energía para su recuperación, lo que los hace poco atractivos para su implementación en la industria. Además, estos procesos generan corrientes líquidas muy tóxicas y desechos gaseosos que deben tratarse más, que no cumplen con el punto de vista ambiental verde del reciclaje de platino. Como consecuencia, Están surgiendo nuevas tecnologías avanzadas con el objetivo de alcanzar tasas de recuperación de platino muy altas, al mismo tiempo que son respetuosas con el medio ambiente y reducen enormemente el uso de energía en comparación con los métodos convencionales. En esta revisión, se resumen los métodos convencionales de recuperación de platino mostrando sus limitaciones. Además, se revisan enfoques nuevos y prometedores para la recuperación de platino para arrojar luz sobre formas nuevas y más ecológicas para una economía circular de platin

A qualitative study of patient and carer experiences with home respiratory therapies: long-term oxygen therapy and home mechanical ventilation

© 2021 Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)Studies exploring the experience of patients receiving home respiratory therapies (HRT), such as long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) and home mechanical ventilation (HMV), are still limited. This study focused on patients' and carers' experience with LTOT and HMV. An exploratory, cross-sectional qualitative study, using semi-structured focus groups, was carried out with 18 patients receiving HRT (median 71y, 78% male, 56% on both LTOT and HMV) and 6 carers (median age 67y, 67% female). Three focus groups were conducted in three regions of Portugal. Thematic analysis was performed by two independent researchers. Patients' and carers' experience was reflected in seven major topics, linked to specific time points and settings of the treatment: Initial symptoms/circumstances (n = 41), Prescription (n = 232), Implementation (n = 184), Carer involvement (n = 34), Quality of life impact (n = 301), Health care support/navigability (n = 173) and Suggestions (n = 14). Our findings demonstrate a general good perception of the HRT by patients and carers recognizing a significative quality of life impact improvement, while identifying specific points where improvements in healthcare are needed, particularly about navigability issues, articulation between the hospital, primary care and homecare teams, especially regardingprescriptionrenewal. This knowledge is crucial to promote a long-term HRT adherence and to optimize HRT delivery in line with patients' experience, needs, and values. Moreover, these key points can inform the development of a specific patient-reported experience measure (PREM) for patients on HRT, which is not currently available, and foster a more integrated respiratory care model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

(Correcting) misdiagnoses of asthma: A cost effectiveness analysis

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: The prevalence of physician-diagnosed-asthma has risen over the past three decades and misdiagnosis of asthma is potentially common. Objective: to determine whether a secondary-screening-program to establish a correct diagnosis of asthma in those who report a physician diagnosis of asthma is cost effective.Method: Randomly selected physician-diagnosed-asthmatic subjects from 8 Canadian cities were studied with an extensive diagnostic algorithm to rule-in, or rule-out, a correct diagnosis of asthma. Subjects in whom the diagnosis of asthma was excluded were followed up for 6-months and data on asthma medications and heath care utilization was obtained. Economic analysis was performed to estimate the incremental lifetime costs associated with secondary screening of previously diagnosed asthmatic subjects. Analysis was from the perspective of the Canadian healthcare system and is reported in Canadian dollars.Results: Of 540 randomly selected patients with physician diagnosed asthma 150 (28%; 95%CI 19-37%) did not have asthma when objectively studied. 71% of these misdiagnosed patients were on some asthma medications. Incorporating the incremental cost of secondary-screening for the diagnosis of asthma, we found that the average cost savings per 100 individuals screened was $35,141 (95$4,588-$69,278).Conclusion: Cost savings primarily resulted from lifetime costs of medication use averted in those who had been misdiagnosed.This work was funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Canada and the University Of Ottawa Division Of Respiratory Medicine

De la presencialidad a la virtualidad en las actividades físico-deportivas: Un nuevo desafío.

Introduction. The technological development achieved in recent years and its expansion to different areas of science, led to its extension to the area of ​​physical culture and sports, incorporating its benefits and repercussions. Goal. Systematize the preceding theories related to the application of ICTs in the teaching-learning process of physical activities-sports in the virtual modality. Methodology. A descriptive, non-experimental methodology based on the Systematic Review of the Literature was used, through theoretical methods, which approached the search criteria related to the subject. Results. 1. It is demonstrated that technological resources have been transformed into educational supports, enabling virtual education to generate competencies that are currently required 2. Virtual education through ICTs constitutes a transforming agent of the teaching-learning process, allowing the development of cognitive skills that have a positive impact on students by being more active, having their own reasoning, criteria and thinking. 3. The practice of physical-sports activities in virtual mode should not be limited only to the enhancement of physical abilities themselves, but also to the strengthening of thought. 4. Virtuality constitutes a challenge for teachers and professionals of physical activity and sports due to the need to create safe spaces for dialogue and reflection, through sports, games and adapted physical activity 5. Leading actions are proposed to systematize the use of ITc in the context of physical-sports activities. Conclusions. Virtual education has become an agent of positive transformation of the teaching-learning process, constituting an essential opportunity in the context of the practice of physical activities - sports, systematizing its value, for the acquisition of cognitive and motor skills, as well as for the development of motivation, logical and creative thinking.Introducción.  El desarrollo tecnológico alcanzado en los últimos años y su expansión a diferentes áreas de las ciencias, generaron que se extendiera al área de la cultura física y el deporte, incorporando sus beneficios y repercusiones. Objetivo. Sistematizar las teorías precedentes relacionadas con la aplicación de las TICs en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de las actividades físicas- deportivas en la modalidad virtual. Metodología. Se utilizó una metodología descriptiva, no experimental basada en la Revisión Sistemática de la Literatura, mediante métodos teóricos, que acercaron los criterios de búsquedas relacionados con el tema. Resultados. 1. Queda demostrado que los recursos tecnológicos se han transformado en apoyos educativos, posibilitando que la educación virtual genere competencias que son requeridas actualmente 2. La educación virtual mediante las TICs, constituye un agente transformador del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, permitiendo el desarrollo de competencias cognitivas que repercuten positivamente en los estudiantes al ser más activos, tener razonamiento, criterio y pensamiento propios. 3. La práctica de actividades físicas- deportivas en modalidad virtual no debe estar limitada únicamente a la potenciación de las capacidades físicas propiamente, sino también al fortalecimiento del pensamiento. 4. La virtualidad, constituye un reto para los docentes y profesionales de la actividad física y el deporte por la necesidad de crear espacios seguros de diálogo y reflexión, a través del deporte, el juego y la actividad física adaptada 5. Se proponen acciones conducentes a sistematizar el uso de las TISc en el contexto de las actividades físicas -deportivas. Conclusiones. La educación virtual se ha convertido en un agente de transformación positiva del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, constituyendo una oportunidad esencial en el contexto de la práctica de actividades físicas -deportivas, sistematizándose su valía, para la adquisición de competencias cognitivas y motrices, así como para el desarrollo de la motivación, el pensamiento lógico y creativo

The Portuguese model of home respiratory care: healthcare professionals’ perspective

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Patients' and carers' views regarding the Portuguese model of home respiratory care were recently described, yet the complementary perspective of healthcare professionals (HCPs) is still to be investigated. Thus, this study explored HCPs experience in the management of patients needing home respiratory therapies (HRT), and their perspective about the Portuguese model. A phenomenological descriptive study, using focus groups, was carried out with 28 HCPs (median 42 y, 68% female) with distinct backgrounds (57% pulmonologists, 29% clinical physiologists, 7% physiotherapists, 7% nurses). Three focus groups were conducted in three regions of Portugal. Thematic analysis was performed by two independent researchers. HCPs have in general a positive view about the organization of the Portuguese model of home respiratory care, which was revealed in four major topics: Prescription (number of references, n = 171), Implementation and maintenance (n = 162), Carer involvement (n = 65) and Quality of healthcare (n = 247). Improvements needed were related to patients' late referral, HRT prescription (usability of the medical electronic prescription system and renewals burden), patients' education, access to hospital care team, lack of multidisciplinary work and articulation between hospital, primary and home care teams. This study describes the perspective of HCPs about the Portuguese model of home respiratory care and identifies specific points where improvements and reflections are needed. This knowledge may be useful to decision makers improve the current healthcare model.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio