First international proficiency testing for laboratory performance on Xylella fastidiosa detection

A proficiency test (PT) to evaluate the performance of laboratories involved in molecular and serological detection of X. fastidiosa was carried out in early 2017; 35 laboratories from EU/non- EU Countries tested 4 different methods to purify DNA, conventional and qPCR assays, and 2 ELISA tests. The number of resultant positive agreement/negative agreement/positive deviation/negative deviation was used to determine the laboratory performance (i.e. accuracy 100%). The overall results showed that all laboratories were able to correctly diagnose X. fastidiosa in the blind samples containing the highest X. fastidiosa concentrations, whereas the performance of several laboratories was negatively affected by the lack of detection in the samples with the lowest concentrations, both through molecular and serological tests. Accuracy level of 100% (laboratory conformed to the PT) was successfully recovered in the majority of the laboratories performing qPCR and PCR assays on DNA purified using at least 2 of the 4 tested protocols. The use of automated platform ensured higher laboratory performance. As expected, results of the ELISA tests generated lower performance values in the majority of the laboratories, due to the lack of detection of positive samples containing the lowest the bacterial concentration. This study provides a good overview on the laboratory performance for the diagnostics currently used in the EPPO countries and indicate useful improvements that laboratories can adopt to achieve a better performance

FERRAMENTAS DE APOIO AO ENSINO DE COMPONENTES DE CIRCUITOS ELÉTRICOS, ELETRÔNICOS E MAGNÉTICOS COM USO DE REALIDADE AUMENTADA

Nesta pesquisa, notamos que com a evolução da tecnologia muito disso é desperdiçado ao não ser trazido à sociedade, porém, muitas empresas nos dias atuais veem apresentando mudanças. Cada vez mais podemos notar a presença desta evolução, começou no ano de 1968, com o engenheiro eletricista Ivan Sutherland. O seu invento o Head-mounted display (HMD) é considerado até hoje o marco da tecnologia. Tal capacete tinha promessa de simular sem grandes qualidades de imagem um ambiente em realidade virtual. Com este intuito em mente, pretendemos propiciar aos discentes de engenharia que possuem em seu percurso aulas relacionadas a circuitos elétricos, eletrônicos e magnéticos um conteúdo interativo para obter uma maior experiência de aprendizado através do uso da realidade aumentada. Sabendo o nosso obtivo, usamos de modelo à metodologia utilizada pela grande empresa de jogos eletrônicos Nintendo – ao introduzir no mercado no ano de 2010 o dispositivo Nintendo 3DS e os cartões AR (sigla do inglês Augmented reality) – começamos o nosso projeto, a base foi a utilização dos códigos QR (sigla do inglês Quick Response) e imagens tridimensionais projetadas no smartphone trazendo assim portabilidade. Para a criação dos códigos QR é necessário o uso do aplicativo ARmedia (Augmented reality media), este que possui dois segmentos: a de desenvolvimento onde as imagens 3D que foram formuladas com o auxilio do aplicativo Sketchup criaram vida na realidade aumentada; o segundo segmento é para o publico alvo, estes que utilizarão o aplicativos para capturar os códigos QR grafados nos cartões. Após todos os testes e diversas frustrações felizmente foi possível arquitetar os códigos QR, mesmo com à falta de recurso disponível no nosso país, recentemente, um software SightSpace foi criado, possibilitando a finalização do projeto. Gostaríamos de ressaltar que este tema esta em grande desenvolvimento, pois como vemos nas redes sociais e noticiários em pouco tempo o assunto e pesquisas cresceram de forma exorbitante, de tal modo que seja possível brevemente a finalização do mesm

Morphologically and compositionally tuned lithium silicate nanorods as high-performance carbon dioxide sorbents

The effective capturing of carbon dioxide using regenerable high capacity sorbents is a prerequisite for industrial applications aiming at CO2 capture and sequestration. The removal of CO2 directly from chemical reaction environments at high temperature is a less energy intensive method of its separation with the added benefit of improved efficiency in equilibrium limited reactions. However, the separation of CO2 at the typical reaction temperatures of 573-1073 K is a challenging task due to the non-availability of absorbents with kinetics comparable to reaction rates. Moreover their poor durability due to sintering and particle growth on prolonged use at high temperature is also an impediment to their practical application. Herein, we demonstrate the development of an efficient CO2 absorbent material, made of Li4SiO4 nanorods, with ultrafast sorption kinetics as well as remarkable durability. These nanorods enabled easier surface reaction with CO2 due to shorter diffusion pathways for lithium from the bulk to the surface of the rods permitting extremely fast absorption of CO2. Furthermore, the compositional tuning of the materials helped to realize absorbents with extraordinary CO2 absorption rates of 0.72 wt% s-1 at 100% CO2/923 K. The exceptional performance of these absorbents at lower temperatures (573-823 K) as well as lower CO2 pressures (0.15 atm) demonstrates their potential in practical CO2 separation applications. © 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry

Germanium-incorporated lithium silicate as highly efficient low-temperature sorbents for CO2 capture

© 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Carbon dioxide emission from massive point sources such as industries and power plants is perceived to be a major contributor towards global warming and associated climate changes. Although lithium silicate has the highest capacity for CO2sorption (8 mmol g-1), it is kinetically limited during the sorption process, particularly at temperatures below 500 °C. Herein, we report a facile strategy for the development of germanium-incorporated lithium silicate composites, which display enhanced CO2absorption capacity as well as kinetics in the temperature range of 150-680 °C. The absorption capacity of 324 mg g-1at the rate of 117 mg g-1min-1was measured at 680 °C, and 49 mg g-1at the rate of 36 mg g-1min-1was measured at 300 °C for samples with a Si:Ge molar ratio of 1:0.183. This study thus highlights the possibility of employing germanium-incorporated lithium silicates for the absorption of CO2at a wide range of temperatures, including the in situ removal of CO2from chemical and petrochemical reactions, such as the water-gas shift reaction occurring at low temperature ranges of 150-450 °C, that has hitherto been not possible with pure Li4SiO4

Modern microwave methods in solid state inorganic materials chemistry: from fundamentals to manufacturing

No abstract available

Enhanced hydrogen production from thermochemical processes

To alleviate the pressing problem of greenhouse gas emissions, the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies is necessary. One potentially viable approach for replacing fossil fuels is the development of a H2 economy. Not only can H2 be used to produce heat and electricity, it is also utilised in ammonia synthesis and hydrocracking. H2 is traditionally generated from thermochemical processes such as steam reforming of hydrocarbons and the water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction. However, these processes suffer from low H2 yields owing to their reversible nature. Removing H2 with membranes and/or extracting CO2 with solid sorbents in situ can overcome these issues by shifting the component equilibrium towards enhanced H2 production via Le Chatelier's principle. This can potentially result in reduced energy consumption, smaller reactor sizes and, therefore, lower capital costs. In light of this, a significant amount of work has been conducted over the past few decades to refine these processes through the development of novel materials and complex models. Here, we critically review the most recent developments in these studies, identify possible research gaps, and offer recommendations for future research