4,928 research outputs found
Nutrient absorption in lambs fed diets containing different amounts of phosphorus
Objective. Evaluate the effect of increasing P intake on nutrient digestibility, and compare the true and apparent absorption coefficients of P and Ca in lambs. Materials and methods. Twenty-four Santa Ines sheep, with an average weight of 33.6 ± 1.6 kg, were distributed into four treatments (0, 2, 4 and 6 g/day of supplementary P) with forage: concentrate ratio of 70:30. The study of apparent nutrient digestibility was conducted during the first week, using the total feces collection method. During the second week, after injection of 7.4 MBq of 32P and 7.7 MBq of 45Ca, apparent (AAC) and true (TAC) absorption coefficients of P and Ca were determined. The lambs were kept in metabolic cages. Results. The increase in P intake did not affect (p>0.05) dry matter, crude protein, NDF or ADF digestibility, but the TAC of P and Ca and mineral matter digestibility decreased. The AAC was not affected (p=0.10). A cubic relationship was observed between P intake and TAC (TAC=2.16â1.95X+0.55X2-0.04X3; R2=0.38) and linear relationship with the TAC of Ca (TAC=0.559â0.03X; R2=0.26). TAC and AAC values were different (p<0.001). Conclusions. The increase in P intake doesnât impact organic matter digestibility, but does affect P and Ca absorption. Apparent digestibility is not a reliable parameter to determine the efficiency of P and Ca absorption
Assessment of physical vulnerability of buildings and analysis of landslide risk at the municipal scale: application to the Loures municipality, Portugal
This study offers a semi-quantitative assessment
of the physical vulnerability of buildings to landslides in a
Portuguese municipality (Loures), as well as the quantitative
landslide risk analysis computed as the product of the
landslide hazard by the vulnerability and the economic value
of the buildings. The hazard was assessed by combining the
spatiotemporal probability and the frequencyâmagnitude relationship
of the landslides. The physical vulnerability assessment
was based on an inquiry of a pool of European landslide
experts and a sub-pool of landslide experts who know
the study area, and the answersâ variability was assessed with
standard deviation. The average vulnerability of the basic geographic
entities was compared by changing the map unit
and applying the vulnerability to all the buildings of a test
site, the inventory of which was listed on the field. The economic
value was calculated using an adaptation of the Portuguese
Tax Services approach, and the risk was computed
for different landslide magnitudes and different spatiotemporal
probabilities. As a rule, the vulnerability values given by
the sub-pool of experts who know the study area are higher
than those given by the European experts, namely for the
high-magnitude landslides. The obtained vulnerabilities vary
from 0.2 to 1 as a function of the structural building types and
the landslide magnitude, and are maximal for 10 and 20m
landslide depths. However, the highest risk was found for the
landslides that are 3m deep, because these landslides combine
a relatively high frequency in the Loures municipality
with a substantial potential damage.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Recommended from our members
Production of Natural Pigments by Penicillium brevicompactum Using Agro-Industrial Byproducts
The demand for natural pigments for industrial applications has significantly increased. Penicillium brevicompactum was recently reported as a promising pigments producer using submerged fermentation and a synthetic culture medium containing lactose. In this work, pigment production by P. brevicompactum was studied under different fermentation conditions, namely, submerged fermentation with free (SmF) and immobilized mycelium (SmFi), and solid-state fermentation (SSF). The potential of culture media composed of agro-industrial byproducts (cheese-whey (CW) and corn steep liquor (CSL)) was investigated for the first time as low-cost alternatives to pigment production by P. brevicompactum. The fungus showed great adaptability to the different culture media and types of fermentation, being able to synthesize pigments under all the tested conditions. A culture medium composed of 34.6 g/L of CW and 8 g/L of CSL proved to be the most suitable alternative to the synthetic medium, especially under SmF and SmFi. Our data also show that different mixtures of pigments (yellow, orange, and red) can be produced depending on the medium composition and the type of fermentation. Additionally, the immobilization and reuse of biomass to produce pigments by P. brevicompactum were demonstrated for the first time, suggesting the possibility of operating under repeated batch mode at an industrial scale
Surface photochemistry: photodegradation study of pyrene adsorbed onto microcrystalline cellulose and silica
Ground-state diffuse reflectance, time resolved laser-induced luminescence, diffuse reflectance laser flash-photolysis transient absorption and chromatographic techniques were used to elucidate the photodegradation processes of pyrene adsorbed onto microcrystalline cellulose and silica. Ground-state diffuse reflectance showed that on both substrates low concentrations display absorption of pyrene monomers. At high concentrations spectral changes attributed to aggregate formation were observed. Laser induced fluorescence showed that pyrene onto microcrystalline cellulose mainly presents fluorescence from monomers, while for silica, excimer-like emission was observed from low surface loadings (greater than or equal to 0.5 mumol g(-1)). Transient absorption and photodegradation studies were performed at concentrations where mainly monomers exist. On silica, pyrene presents transient absorption from its radical cation. On microcrystalline cellulose both radical cation, radical anion and pyrene triplet-triplet absorption were detected. Irradiation followed by chromatographic analysis showed that pyrene decomposes on both substrates. For pyrene on microcrystalline cellulose 1-hydroxypyrene was the main identified photoproduct since in the absence of oxygen further oxidation of 1-hydroxypyrene was very slow. For pyrene on silica photodegradation was very efficient. Almost no 1-hydroxypyrene was detected since in the presence of oxygen it is quickly oxidized to other photooxidation products. On both substrates, pyrene radical cation is the intermediate leading to photoproducts and oxygen it is not involved in its formation
Multi-site clinical assessment of Complete Revitalens MPDS in 2981 contact lens wearers across Europe and USA
(MPDS), Complete Revitalens (RevitaLens OcuTec in the US Market), for soft contact lens care in a large
âreal practiceâ setting.
Method: This is an international multi-center, open-label assessment carried out in 10 countries across
Europe and in the USA. Up to 10 subjects who were currently wearing soft contact lenses for at least 1
year and using a MPS as a lens care system were included at each investigational site.
Results: Data were collected from 996 European and 1985 American wearers, 75% of those patients wore
silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Approximately 94% found the new MPDS âsomewhat more effectiveâ
to âmuch more effectiveâ in keeping contact lenses feeling clean and 88% found the new MPDS to be
somewhat more effective to much more effective in keeping their lenses feeling comfortable in the
evening. Over 93% reported an improvement in vision clearness in the evening after approximately 1
month while using the new MPDS. Wearers with grade 2, 3 or 4 of severity decreased by 11.3, 6.4 and
9.8% over 1 month period for redness, burning and irritation, respectively. After approximately 1 month
83% of wearers declared that they would prefer to use the new MPDS.
Conclusions: Over 88% felt their lenses were somewhat to much more comfortable at the end-of-day and
94% found the new MPDS to be somewhat to much more effective in keeping their lenses feeling clean
compared to their previous care system.The authors wish to thank the eye care practitioners participating in this study across Europe and USA. The D'Ellis Group for the statistical support and Rafael Guerrero and Will Heydorn from Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. for their contributions in planning and coordinating the European and American branches of the study, respectively. The authors declare no proprietary or financial interest in any of the materials mentioned in this article. This study has been sponsored by Abbott Medical Optics Inc. These results were presented to the American Academy of Optometry Boston, 12-15th, 2011
Elemental mapping of Portuguese ceramic pieces with a full-field XRF scanner based on a 2D-THCOBRA detector
UID/FIS/04559/2020In this work, we present a novel application of the full-field energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) imaging system based on a MicroPattern Gaseous Detector (2D-THCOBRA) in the cultural heritage field. The detector has an intrinsic imaging capability with spatial resolution of 400ÎŒmFWHM, and is energy sensitive, presenting an energy resolution of approximately 1keVFWHM at 5.9keV. The full-field XRF scanner based on the 2D-THCOBRA detector allows mapping the distribution of elements in large area samples with high detection efficiency (75 % at 5.9keV), being a very promising choice for elemental mapping analysis of large area cultural heritage samples. In this work, we have demonstrated the imaging capabilities of the full-field XRF scanner and used it to assess the restoration of a Portuguese faience piece.publishersversionpublishe
- âŠ