ENERGETIC AND ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF WASTE GLYCEROL COGENERATION IN BRAZIL

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Glycerol is an important by-product of biodiesel production. It is used in many industrial segments, but the increasing production of this chemical has become an issue of concern. Many studies have been done to give new applicability to this product; a promising field is the usage of glycerol for energy production. Therefore, this study evaluates the technical and economic feasibility of a new and potential proposal at the national level, the generation of electricity and heat, through a cogeneration system using glycerol. The results demonstrate the viability of this proposal, since the payback on capital invested obtained was approximately 4 years, with the possibility of reduction to 3 years when installed in regions with low infrastructure.284691698Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Seeking the Real Adam Smith and Milton Friedman

In this paper we will analyze the relationship between free market principles and ethics through an exploration of how too many business managers often approach the ideas of Adam Smith and Milton Friedman. In doing so, we aim to provide a thoughtful foundation for future discussions of how we ought to navigate this intersection. We briefly examine questions such as: What is the relationship between the “best” economy in terms of efficiency and the common good for society? Is pursuing one’s individual economic advantage the same as promoting the general interest? As we analyze and discuss these questions, specifically in the context of Smith and Friedman, we also make some alternative normative assertions, grounded in social welfare, about adopting a broader societal perspective for the purpose of business

Patients with ischaemic, mixed and nephrotoxic acute tubular necrosis in the intensive care unit – a homogeneous population?

INTRODUCTION: Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) is usually studied as a single entity, without distinguishing between ischaemic, nephrotoxic and mixed aetiologies. In the present study we evaluated the characteristics and outcomes of patients with ATN by aetiological group. METHOD: We conducted a retrospective comparison of clinical features, mortality rates and risk factors for mortality for the three types of ATN in patients admitted to the general intensive care unit of a university hospital between 1997 and 2000. RESULTS: Of 593 patients with acute renal failure, 524 (88%) were classified as having ATN. Their mean age was 58 years, 68% were male and 52% were surgical patients. The overall mortality rate was 62%. A total of 265 patients (51%) had ischaemic ATN, 201 (38%) had mixed ATN, and 58 (11%) had nephrotoxic ATN. There were no differences among groups in terms of age, sex, APACHE II score and reason for ICU admission. Multiple organ failure was more frequent among patients with ischaemic (46%) and mixed ATN (55%) than in those with nephrotoxic ATN (7%; P < 0.0001). The complications of acute renal failure (such as, gastrointestinal bleeding, acidosis, oliguria and hypervolaemia) were more prevalent in ischaemic and mixed ATN patients. Mortality was higher for ischaemic (66%; P = 0.001) and mixed ATN (63%; P = 0.0001) than for nephrotoxic ATN (38%). When ischaemic ATN patients, mixed ATN patients and all patients combined were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression, the independent factors for mortality identified were different except for oliguria, which was the only variable universally associated with death (odds ratio [OR] 3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.64–5.49 [P = 0.0003] for ischaemic ATN; OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.04–3.68 [P = 0.036] for mixed ATN; and OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.60–3.76 [P < 0.001] for all patients combined]). CONCLUSION: The frequency of isolated nephrotoxic ATN was low, with ischaemic and mixed ATN accounting for almost 90% of cases. The three forms of ATN exhibited different clinical characteristics. Mortality was strikingly higher in ischaemic and mixed ATN than in nephrotoxic ATN. Although the type of ATN was not an independent predictor of death, the independent factors related to mortality were different for ischaemic, mixed and all patients combined. These data indicate that the three types of ATN represent different patient populations, which should be taken into consideration in future studies

Survivorship of Anopheles darlingi (Diptera: Culicidae) in Relation with Malaria Incidence in the Brazilian Amazon

We performed a longitudinal study of adult survival of Anopheles darlingi, the most important vector in the Amazon, in a malarigenous frontier zone of Brazil. Survival rates were determined from both parous rates and multiparous dissections. Anopheles darlingi human biting rates, daily survival rates and expectation of life where higher in the dry season, as compared to the rainy season, and were correlated with malaria incidence. The biting density of mosquitoes that had survived long enough for completing at least one sporogonic cycle was related with the number of malaria cases by linear regression. Survival rates were the limiting factor explaining longitudinal variations in Plasmodium vivax malaria incidence and the association between adult mosquito survival and malaria was statistically significant by logistic regression (P<0.05). Survival rates were better correlated with malaria incidence than adult mosquito biting density. Mathematical modeling showed that P. falciparum and P. malariae were more vulnerable to changes in mosquito survival rates because of longer sporogonic cycle duration, as compared to P. vivax, which could account for the low prevalence of the former parasites observed in the study area. Population modeling also showed that the observed decreases in human biting rates in the wet season could be entirely explained by decreases in survival rates, suggesting that decreased breeding did not occur in the wet season, at the sites where adult mosquitoes were collected. For the first time in the literature, multivariate methods detected a statistically significant inverse relation (P<0.05) between the number of rainy days per month and daily survival rates, suggesting that rainfall may cause adult mortality

Integrated analysis of climate, soil, topography and vegetative growth in Iberian viticultural regions

The Iberian viticultural regions are convened according to the Denomination of Origin (DO) and present different climates, soils, topography and management practices. All these elements influence the vegetative growth of different varieties throughout the peninsula, and are tied to grape quality and wine type. In the current study, an integrated analysis of climate, soil, topography and vegetative growth was performed for the Iberian DO regions, using state-of-the-art datasets. For climatic assessment, a categorized index, accounting for phenological/thermal development, water availability and grape ripening conditions was computed. Soil textural classes were established to distinguish soil types. Elevation and aspect (orientation) were also taken into account, as the leading topographic elements. A spectral vegetation index was used to assess grapevine vegetative growth and an integrated analysis of all variables was performed. The results showed that the integrated climate-soil-topography influence on vine performance is evident. Most Iberian vineyards are grown in temperate dry climates with loamy soils, presenting low vegetative growth. Vineyards in temperate humid conditions tend to show higher vegetative growth. Conversely, in cooler/warmer climates, lower vigour vineyards prevail and other factors, such as soil type and precipitation acquire more important roles in driving vigour. Vines in prevailing loamy soils are grown over a wide climatic diversity, suggesting that precipitation is the primary factor influencing vigour. The present assessment of terroir characteristics allows direct comparison among wine regions and may have great value to viticulturists, particularly under a changing climate

Targeted apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells through mitochondrial dysfunction in response to Sambucus nigra agglutinin

Ovarian carcinoma (OC) patients encounter the severe challenge of clinical management owing to lack of screening measures, chemoresistance and finally dearth of non-toxic therapeutics. Cancer cells deploy various defense strategies to sustain the tumor microenvironment, among which deregulated apoptosis remains a versatile promoter of cancer progression. Although recent research has focused on identifying agents capable of inducing apoptosis in cancer cells, yet molecules efficiently breaching their survival advantage are yet to be classified. Here we identify lectin, Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) to exhibit selectivity towards identifying OC by virtue of its specific recognition of α-2, 6-linked sialic acids. Superficial binding of SNA to the OC cells confirm the hyper-sialylated status of the disease. Further, SNA activates the signaling pathways of AKT and ERK1/2, which eventually promotes de-phosphorylation of dynamin-related protein-1 (Drp-1). Upon its translocation to the mitochondrial fission loci Drp-1 mediates the central role of switch in the mitochondrial phenotype to attain fragmented morphology. We confirmed mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization resulting in ROS generation and cytochrome-c release into the cytosol. SNA response resulted in an allied shift of the bioenergetics profile from Warburg phenotype to elevated mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, altogether highlighting the involvement of mitochondrial dysfunction in restraining cancer progression. Inability to replenish the SNA-induced energy crunch of the proliferating cancer cells on the event of perturbed respiratory outcome resulted in cell cycle arrest before G2/M phase. Our findings position SNA at a crucial juncture where it proves to be a promising candidate for impeding progression of OC. Altogether we unveil the novel aspect of identifying natural molecules harboring the inherent capability of targeting mitochondrial structural dynamics, to hold the future for developing non-toxic therapeutics for treating OC

Emergence and Evolution of Cooperation Under Resource Pressure

We study the influence that resource availability has on cooperation in the context of hunter-gatherer societies. This paper proposes a model based on archaeological and ethnographic research on resource stress episodes, which exposes three different cooperative regimes according to the relationship between resource availability in the environment and population size. The most interesting regime represents moderate survival stress in which individuals coordinate in an evolutionary way to increase the probabilities of survival and reduce the risk of failing to meet the minimum needs for survival. Populations self-organise in an indirect reciprocity system in which the norm that emerges is to share the part of the resource that is not strictly necessary for survival, thereby collectively lowering the chances of starving. Our findings shed further light on the emergence and evolution of cooperation in hunter-gatherer societies.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Project CSD2010-00034 (SimulPast CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010) and HAR2009-06996; from the Argentine National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET): Project PIP-0706; from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research: Project GR7846; and from the project H2020 FET OPEN RIA IBSEN/66272