Optimization of cultivation conditions for extracellular lipase production by Yarrowia lipolytica using response surface method

A wild strain of Yarrowia lipolytica, identified as LMI 91, was isolated from an oleaginous Brazilian fruit called pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb), which is a native species of the Brazilian savannah and which acts as a potent lipase producer. The present study examined the effects of certain factors, such as the combination of casein and meat peptones, as well as the initial pH of a culture medium in lipase produced by Y. lipolytica LMI 91. Experiments were conducted within a low concentration of olive oil, at a temperature of 30°C and a fermentation time of 60 h, under orbital shaking. The response surface methodology was used to determine the optimum concentration of the constituents’ composition. A 22 experimental design with four axial points and three central points was employed in the optimization experiments, and interactive regression analysis was performed to obtain the optimum concentration. The experimental values were found to be in accordance with the predicted values, presenting a correlation coefficient of 0.866. The maximum lipase activity (13.0 U/mL) was obtained by peptone mixture of 70 g/L (1:1) and an initial pH of 5.0.Keywords: Yarrowia lipolytica, wild strain, extracellular lipase, fermentation, optimizationAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(17), pp. 2270-227

Nematode assemblages in a nature reserve with historical pollution

Nematodes, and especially nematode communities, have significant potential as bio-indicators. The present studyaimed to assess the nematode community structure of several sites with different historical pollution. Long-term polluted municipal waste-, tar- and sludge- sites were compared with less disturbed annex sites. At each site heavy metal and PAHs concentrations were measured together with soil texture classes, pH and total organic matter. Identification of three hundred nematodes at each location resulted in the discrimination of 63 genera from 32 different families of which the Cephalobidae, Belonolaimidae, Tylenchidae, Hoplolaimidae, Belonolaimidae and Plectidae were the most abundant families. The sampling sites harbour significantly different nematode communities and significant differences of life-strategy-related parameters (cp-groups, MI indexes) wereobserved. The significant augmentation of the proportion of the cp 2 nematodes in historically-polluted sites was especially informative. Omitting the cp 1 group from the MI (=MI2-5) better reflects putative historical pollution-induced community changes. However, the current study did not reveal significant relationships between historical pollution and the feeding type composition, or the Shannon-Wiener diversity. The observed results are critically assessed in the light of possible flaws such as sampling and analyzing limitations

Organism-sediment interactions govern post-hypoxia recovery of ecosystem functioning

Hypoxia represents one of the major causes of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning loss for coastal waters. Since eutrophication-induced hypoxic events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, understanding the response of ecosystems to hypoxia is of primary importance to understand and predict the stability of ecosystem functioning. Such ecological stability may greatly depend on the recovery patterns of communities and the return time of the system properties associated to these patterns. Here, we have examined how the reassembly of a benthic community contributed to the recovery of ecosystem functioning following experimentally-induced hypoxia in a tidal flat. We demonstrate that organism-sediment interactions that depend on organism size and relate to mobility traits and sediment reworking capacities are generally more important than recovering species richness to set the return time of the measured sediment processes and properties. Specifically, increasing macrofauna bioturbation potential during community reassembly significantly contributed to the recovery of sediment processes and properties such as denitrification, bedload sediment transport, primary production and deep pore water ammonium concentration. Such bioturbation potential was due to the replacement of the small-sized organisms that recolonised at early stages by large-sized bioturbating organisms, which had a disproportionately stronger influence on sediment. This study suggests that the complete recovery of organism-sediment interactions is a necessary condition for ecosystem functioning recovery, and that such process requires long periods after disturbance due to the slow growth of juveniles into adult stages involved in these interactions. Consequently, repeated episodes of disturbance at intervals smaller than the time needed for the system to fully recover organism-sediment interactions may greatly impair the resilience of ecosystem functioning.

Psychological morbidity, social intimacy, physical symptomatology, and lifestyle in adult children of divorced parents

This study assessed the relationships between psychological morbidity, social intimacy, perception of the parental relationship, lifestyle and physical symptomatology as well as the contributors of physical symptomatology, in adult children of divorced parents. Participants answered the Physical Symptom Questionnaire, the Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale, the Lifestyle Questionnaire, the Social Intimacy Scale and The Perception of the Parental Relationship Scale. Results revealed that older participants showed lower levels of anxiety, depression and stress and that male participants perceived the parental relationship as better when compared to females. There was a negative association between depression and the duration of parental divorce. Adult children with greater physical symptoms and more anxious showed less social intimacy. The latter was associated with a less healthy lifestyle. As expected less physical symptomatology was associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Anxiety was the only variable that contributed to physical symptomatology. Intervention should be gender sensitive and focus early on on the identification of psychological morbidity, social intimacy, healthy behaviors, and physical symptomatology, in adult children whose parents are in the process of divorcing.(undefined

A dataset of criteria on the use of thermal insulation solutions in building facades located in Norway, Portugal and Italy

The building sector is responsible for a significant percentage of the energy consumption in Europe. The level of thermal insulation of the building envelope leads to decrease energy consumption, thus contributing towards a sustainable and efficient built environment. As a result, the choice of the most suitable thermal insulation solution to be applied both in new construction and in retrofitting of building facades is fundamental for a satisfactory thermal performance of the building. Nevertheless, the thermal insulation solution should not be chosen considering only the thermal performance, but rather based on a set of performance parameters (i.e., water resistance, fire performance, impact on the environment and human health, among others) and climate-related requirements. This data article includes a dataset on criteria adopted in three European countries (namely Norway, Portugal, and Italy) considering a PESTE analysis (i.e., criteria related to Political, Economic, Social, Technological, and Environmental questions). The main objective was to evaluate the knowledge and perception of people living and/or working in these countries about the use and the performance of thermal insulation solutions in building facades. To this aim a questionnaire was developed within the scope of the EEA Granted EFFICACY research project (November 2022 – February 2023), whose overall objective is to create a database that serves as a reference for the choice of thermal insulation solutions to be applied in building facades for thermal and energy performances optimization. This database contributes to systemize criteria and can be extended by other researchers or professionals in the area, as well as in other countries

Durability assessment of external thermal insulation composite systems in urban and maritime environments

External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) are multilayer solutions which provide an enhanced thermal performance to the building envelope. However, significant anomalies can be detected on ETICS facades, in some cases shortly after the application of these systems. This study intends to evaluate and compare the durability of six commercially available ETICS after two years of outdoor exposure at both urban and maritime conditions in Portugal. The systems were characterized by means of non-destructive testing (i.e., visual and microscopic assessment, water transport properties, thermal conductivity, surface roughness), thus allowing to evaluate the performance loss throughout natural aging. The bio-susceptibility and aesthetic properties (color and gloss) were also investigated. Results showed that the performance and durability of the complete system is significantly affected by the rendering system formulation. The lime-based specimens obtained the highest rate of mold development after one year of aging in a maritime environment, becoming considerably darker and with lower surface gloss. Fungal analysis of this darkish stained area indicated the presence of mold species of the genera Alternaria, Didymella, Cladosporium and Epicoccum, and yeasts of the genera Vishniacozyma and Cystobasidium. An increase of both capillary water absorption and water vapor permeability was also registered for the aged lime-based specimens. Acrylic-based systems obtained lower capillary water absorption after aging and greater dirt deposition on their surfaces, especially in urban conditions. These systems had also higher color variation and surface gloss decrease and slightly higher mold growth, when compared with those aged in a maritime environment. Finally, no mold growth was detected on the silicate-based specimens after two years of aging. However, these specimens obtained higher capillary water absorption and lower vapor permeability after aging, possibly leading to moisture accumulation within the system. Results contribute towards the development of ETICS with enhanced performance and durability.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Durability assessment of external thermal insulation composite systems in urban and maritime environments

Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for funding the research project PTDC/ECI-EGC/30681/2017 (WGB_Shield – Shielding building facades for cities revitalization. Triple resistance to water, graffiti and biocolonization of external thermal insulation systems), the research units CERIS ( UIDB/04625/2020 ), CERENA ( UIDB/04028/2020 ) and iBB ( UIDP/04565/2020 ), the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy – i4HB ( LA/P/0140/2020 ), and the Ph.D. scholarship 2020.05180.BD (J. L. Parracha). The authors also acknowledge CIN, Saint-Gobain and Secil for the material supply and the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) for the meteorological data. Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for funding the research project PTDC/ECI-EGC/30681/2017 (WGB_Shield – Shielding building facades for cities revitalization. Triple resistance to water, graffiti and biocolonization of external thermal insulation systems), the research units CERIS (UIDB/04625/2020), CERENA (UIDB/04028/2020) and iBB (UIDP/04565/2020), the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy – i4HB (LA/P/0140/2020), and the Ph.D. scholarship 2020.05180.BD (J. L. Parracha). The authors also acknowledge CIN, Saint-Gobain and Secil for the material supply and the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) for the meteorological data. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier B.V.External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS) are multilayer solutions which provide an enhanced thermal performance to the building envelope. However, significant anomalies can be detected on ETICS facades, in some cases shortly after the application of these systems. This study intends to evaluate and compare the durability of six commercially available ETICS after two years of outdoor exposure at both urban and maritime conditions in Portugal. The systems were characterized by means of non-destructive testing (i.e., visual and microscopic assessment, water transport properties, thermal conductivity, surface roughness), thus allowing to evaluate the performance loss throughout natural aging. The bio-susceptibility and aesthetic properties (color and gloss) were also investigated. Results showed that the performance and durability of the complete system is significantly affected by the rendering system formulation. The lime-based specimens obtained the highest rate of mold development after one year of aging in a maritime environment, becoming considerably darker and with lower surface gloss. Fungal analysis of this darkish stained area indicated the presence of mold species of the genera Alternaria, Didymella, Cladosporium and Epicoccum, and yeasts of the genera Vishniacozyma and Cystobasidium. An increase of both capillary water absorption and water vapor permeability was also registered for the aged lime-based specimens. Acrylic-based systems obtained lower capillary water absorption after aging and greater dirt deposition on their surfaces, especially in urban conditions. These systems had also higher color variation and surface gloss decrease and slightly higher mold growth, when compared with those aged in a maritime environment. Finally, no mold growth was detected on the silicate-based specimens after two years of aging. However, these specimens obtained higher capillary water absorption and lower vapor permeability after aging, possibly leading to moisture accumulation within the system. Results contribute towards the development of ETICS with enhanced performance and durability.publishersversionpublishe