Modelling storm responses on a high-energy coastline with XBeach

The XBeach model has been used to simulate the morphological impacts of storms on sandy and gravel beaches. Taking as a case study Rossbeigh Spit located on the high-energy coast of western Ireland, the study reported here tests the capacity of XBeach to reproduce barrier breaching during a storm in December 2008. It demonstrates that predictions of the breaching event agree reasonably well with observations. However, the main focus of the paper is to establish using the model results, site-specific critical wave and water level conditions giving rise to dune erosion, overwashing and breaching. By deriving simple-to-use expressions to define hydrodynamic thresholds the study advances the ability to predict the impacts of infrequent and rarely observed storm events and is considered to provide useful coastal management tool for assessing the vulnerability of sandy barriers to breaching high-energy during storms

Carbon Materials Derived from Cyano-Based IL@ZIF-8 Composites for CO2 Sorption Separation Systems

Additionally, this work was partially supported by the Asso- ciate Laboratory for Green Chemistry, LAQV, which is funded by national funds from FCT/MCTES (LA/P/00 08/2020) .The sorption capacity and selectivity of pre- and post-carbonized cyano-based metal-organic framework (MOF) composite materials (cyano-based IL@ZIF-8) were investigated for the first time. The influence of the ionic liquid (IL) loading and number of cyano groups in the IL anion on a materials gas sorption separation performance was studied. Sorption-desorption equilibrium isotherms of CO2, CH4, and N2 were measured at 303 K in the ZIF-8, cyano-based IL@ZIF-8 composites and their derived carbon materials. The IL loading did not significantly affect the gas uptake of the carbon materials, while for the composites its main contribution was on the increase of the selectivity. The number of cyano groups in the anion played a key role in the sorption capacity and selectivity performance as it directly affects the N content and textural properties. The carbon material obtained from ZIF-8 (C_ZIF-8) precursor showed the best sorption capacity for all gases, just being surpassed by the C_15%[C6MIM][B(CN)4]@ZIF-8 carbon up to 1 bar. In terms of selectivity performance, carbons based on [C6MIM][B(CN)4]@ZIF-8 composites revealed to be equally or more selective than C_ZIF-8, increasing up to 65% between 0 and 1 bar depending on the mixture. The composites produced and their respective carbons demonstrated a promising application as sorbents for post-combustion CO2 separation systems.publishersversionpublishe

A_4-based neutrino masses with Majoron decaying dark matter

We propose an A_4 flavor-symmetric SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1) seesaw model where lepton number is broken spontaneously. A consistent two-zero texture pattern of neutrino masses and mixing emerges from the interplay of type-I and type-II seesaw contributions, with important phenomenological predictions. We show that, if the Majoron becomes massive, such seesaw scenario provides a viable candidate for decaying dark matter, consistent with cosmic microwave background lifetime constraints that follow from current WMAP observations. We also calculate the sub-leading one-loop-induced decay into photons which leads to a mono-energetic emission line that may be observed in future X-ray missions such as Xenia.Comment: 16 pages, 6 eps figures. Minor corrections. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Efeito da matéria orgânica (liter e séston) na metanogênese de um lago amazônico impactado por efluentes da lavagem da bauxita.

Este estudo investigou, em laboratório, o efeito da adição de matéria orgânica (litter e séston) na atividade metanogênica de amostras de sedimento do lago Batata (Oriximiná, PA; 1° 30? S e 56° 20? W). Durante 11 anos, cerca de 25.000 m3 de efluentes da lavagem de bauxita foram lançados, diariamente, assoreando 30% da área total do lago. Este efluente formou uma camada superior a 10 cm sob a superfície do sedimento natural. Para a realização dos experimentos, foram coletados 18 perfis (10 cm de água do lago + 10 cm de sedimento) na área impactada e não impactada do lago. As amostras foram separadas em 3 grupos: controle (sem adição de suplemento de carbono), grupo 1 (adição de 50 mg de séston) e grupo 2 (adição de 270 mg de litter). A concentração de metano na área natural foi signifi cativamente (Kruskall-Wallis; p < 0,05) maior que àquela mensurada na área impactada. Por sua vez, a adição de carbono causou um aumento significativo (Kruskall-Wallis; p < 0,05) na atividade metanogênica, o que resultou em elevadas concentrações de metano nas amostras dos grupos 1 e 2.Paine

Early Debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR) in patients with suspected acute infection after hip or knee arthroplasty - safe, effective and without negative functional impact

Introduction: Debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR) is known to be effective in treating acute periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). However, deciding to perform additional surgery in the early postoperative period may be challenging as there is the concern of adding morbidity and clinical presentation is often subtle. We mean to assess the impact of early DAIR on final functional outcome. Methods: A case-control comparison was performed between patients that underwent DAIR for suspected PJI between 2010-2016 and controls randomly selected (1:2 ratio) from a list of primary joint replacements. Patients were matched for anatomic site, age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, body mass index and follow-up time. The outcome of surgical treatment and complications were assessed and Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) or Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) were performed. Results: Thirty-eight cases were included at a mean follow-up of 42 months. Infection was not confirmed in one patient. There was one infection related-death and three other cases of treatment failure that required a two-stage revision. Overall success rate was 89.2%. There were no significant patient reported differences regarding final functional outcome between both groups: pain 91±6 vs. 87±13; other symptoms 90±8 vs. 90±9; activities of day living 86±8 vs. 85±14; sport 63±13 vs. 57±16; quality of life 78±17 vs. 76±16. Discussion: These findings support that DAIR for suspected acute PJI is safe, effective and causes no impact on final functional results. Thus, a low threshold for assuming infection and subsequent DAIR may safely be adopted in the early postoperative period.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Uso de diferentes gonadotrofinas na indução de estro em cabras Toggenburg.

Use of different gonadotrophins to induce estrus in Toggenburg goats