Water and wastewater management and biomass to energy conversion in a meat processing plant in Brazil ? a case study.

1. Introduction; 2. Case study ? Meat processing plant; 3. Water and wastewater management; 4. Biomass-to-energy actions; 5. Conclusions

Thermal stability and decomposition kinetics of NdNiO3− δ at 1 bar of O2

Despite the interest in rare-earth nickelates for applications, their processing under 1 bar of oxygen pressure is still challenging. In this work, we report the co-precipitation synthesis, thermal stability and thermally driven decomposition of NdNiO3 phase, in order to determine the synthesis parameters towards a pure perovskite phase. We concluded that using a 1% molar excess of Nd during preparation and posterior annealing at around 900 °C at 1 bar of O2 yields an almost pure NdNiO3−δ phase (with a hexagonal Nd2O3 phase below 0.6% molar), with an oxygen deficiency of δ = 0.082 ± 0.001. The decomposition of the NdNiO3−δ phase into Nd4Ni3O10 and NiO was found to start above 900 °C. On further heating, above 1050 °C, the Nd4Ni3O10 decomposes into Nd2NiO4 and NiO phases. Structural parameters and Raman spectra are provided for the NdNiO3, Nd4Ni3O10 and Nd2NiO4 compounds.The authors would like to acknowledge Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) through projects NORTE/01/0145/FEDER/028538, CERN/FIS-PAR/0005/2017, CERN/FIS-TEC/0003/2019, PTDC/FIS-MAC/29454/2017 and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under PT2020 Partnership Agreement: CQVR: UIDB/QUI/00616/2020; IFIMUP-IN: Norte-070124-FEDER-000070; NECL: NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-022096, UID/NAN/50024/2019. P. Machado and J. Oliveira acknowledge FCT through Ph.D. Grants SFRH/BD/108509/2015 and SFRH/BD/146886/2019 respectively. A special acknowledgment is made to CEMUP for XPS measurements

Thermochemical and catalytic conversion technologies for the development of Brazilian biomass utilization

The social, economic, and environmental impacts of climate change have been shown to affect poorer populations throughout the world disproportionally, and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–2021 has only exacerbated the use of less sustainable energy, fuel, and chemical sources. The period of economic and social recovery following the pandemic presents an unprecedented opportunity to invest in biorefineries based on the pyrolysis of agricultural residues. These produce a plethora of sustainable resources while also contributing to the economic valorization of first-sector local economies. However, biomass-derived pyrolysis liquid is highly oxygenated, which hinders its long-term stability and usability. Catalytic hydrogenation is a proposed upgrading method to reduce this hindrance, while recent studies on the use of nickel and niobium as low-cost catalysts, both abundant in Brazil, reinforce the potential synergy between different economic sectors within the country. This review gathers state-of-the-art applications of these technologies with the intent to guide the scientific community and lawmakers alike on yet another alternative for energy and commodities production within an environmentally sustainable paradigm

Percepções da família do recém–nascido hospitalizado sobre a comunicação de más notícias

Bad news is any information that could affect the individual perception about himself and his futures. The aim of this study was to describe the family perception of bad news communication given by healthcare professionals about hospitalized infant. It’s an exploratory descriptive study, in a qualitative research, developed with neonatal intensive care unit neonate’s families at a university hospital. The dates were analyzed by Bardin theory. The categories were: bad news contends; the way the news were informed; the professional attitudes to message transmission and the professional bad news communication strategies. The results show the healthcare practice development that could incorporate family into interventions, using a communication with symmetric relationship between family and professional.Una mala notícia es cualquier información que afecta la percepción de la persona sobre sí mismo y su futuro. El objetivo fue describir como la família percibe la comunicación de una mala notícia que fué dada por el equipo de salud sobre el recién nacido hospitalizado. Estudio descriptivo exploratório de naturaleza cualitativa, realizado en un hospital universitário, con famílias de recién nacidos internados en la U.T.I neonatal. Los datos fueron analisados segundo Bardin. Las categorías emergidas fueron: al contenido de la mala notícia, la forma de transmission, la actitud de los profesionales al trasmitir el mensaje y sobre el uso de estratégias de comunicación utilizada por los profesionales al dar una mala notícia. El resultado lleva, para el desarrollo de una práctica del equipo de salud, para que incorpore la família en sus intervenciones, haciendo uso de una comunicación que posibilite una relación simétrica entre la família y el profesional.A má notícia é qualquer informação que afeta a percepção do indivíduo sobre si mesmo e o seu futuro. O objetivo foi descrever como a família percebe a comunicação da má notícia dada pela equipe de saúde sobre o recém-nascido hospitalizado. Estudo descritivo qualitativo, realizado em um hospital universitário, com famílias de recém-nascidos internados na UTI neonatal. Os dados foram analisados segundo Bardin. As categorias emergidas foram: o conteúdo da má notícia; a forma que a notícia foi transmitida; as atitudes dos profissionais para transmissão da mensagem; e o uso de estratégias de comunicação da má notícia pelos profissionais. O resultado aponta para o desenvolvimento de uma prática da equipe de saúde que incorpore a família nas suas intervenções, fazendo uso de uma comunicação que possibilite uma relação simétrica entre família e profissional

Dispersão de machos estéreis de Ceratitis capitata (Wied.) em pomar comercial de manga (Mangifera indica L.) na região Sudoeste da Bahia.

O cultivo de manga é a principal opção econômica do pólo de fruticultura de Anagé, Região Sudoeste da BA. As moscas-das-frutas são pragas quarentenárias e se constituem nos principais problemas fitossanitários da região. Em conformidade com os princípios da Produção Integrada de Frutas, a Técnica do Inseto Estéril (TIE) apresenta-se como uma estratégia de manejo vantajosa e de baixo impacto ambiental. Estudos sobre dispersão de moscamed (Ceratitis capitata Wied.) estéril são necessários para gerar subsídios à implantação da TIE no Brasil. Esse trabalho teve por objetivos estimar a capacidade de dispersão de machos moscamed estéril em pomar comercial de manga e a sua sobrevivência em campo. Cerca de 18.000 machos estéreis de moscamed, linhagem TSL Viena 8, procedentes de Mendonza, Argentina, foram liberados no centro do pomar de 20 ha, às 06h00. Para a recaptura, foram utilizadas armadilhas Jackson, dispostas a cada 25m nas direções N, S, L, O, NO, NE. SO e SE, totalizando 80 armadilhas, num raio máximo de 250 m. No 1º, 3º, 5º, 7º, 9º e 11º dia da liberação, as armadilhas foram expostas às 8h00 e retiradas após uma hora, sendo levadas a uma sala escura, sob lâmpada negra, para contagem de machos estéreis e selvagens. Foram recapturados apenas 22 machos estéreis (0,12%) em 16 armadilhas (20,0%) no primeiro dia após a liberação, sendo que nos demais dias a recaptura foi nula. As recapturas ocorreram principalmente nas armadilhas a sudoeste do ponto de liberação, à distância mínima de 25 metros (SO, NE, NO, SE) e máxima de 250 metros (S). Boa parte dos adultos (40%) foi recapturada num raio de 50m do ponto de liberação. A distância média de dispersão foi de 157,0 m/dia e a área abrangida foi de 29.008,33 m²/dia. A sobrevivência dos machos em campo foi insatisfatóri

Trends in legal and illegal trade of wild birds: a global assessment based on expert knowledge

Wildlife trade is a profitable economic activity. Birds are among the most heavily traded animals worldwide, with numerous species threatened by pet trade. Information on both legal and illegal aspects of trade and consumer demand is difficult to obtain across different countries, particularly given substantial socio-economic and cultural variation. Focusing on consumer demand in each country, we conducted a global survey among 105 international experts on bird conservation to identify expected trends, drivers and market characteristics of legal and illegal wild-caught pet bird trade. Our results suggest that future trends in legal bird trade will be mostly driven by socio-cultural motivations and intentional demand for wild-caught, rather than captive-bred birds. Bird popularity and rarity are the main factors expected to influence the choice of which bird species will be the most traded legally. Percentage of rural population was the main national-level socio-economic predictor for legal bird trade in the future. Demand for future illegal trade is expected to be driven by bird popularity and particular species identity. Experts consider illegal trade to be sustained mainly by consumers from higher socio-economic and educational backgrounds. Human population growth rate was the main national-level socio-economic predictor of illegal trade expected for the future. Legislation enforcement remains a critical issue in wildlife trade. Expanding trade networks and socio-economic changes continue to incorporate new regions into the wildlife trade. Investigating the multidimensional and synergistic determinants of wildlife trade will thus help address potential detrimental impacts bird trade might cause on biodiversity.This research was funded by FEDER Funds through the Operational Competitiveness Factors Program “COMPETE”, and by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) within the framework of project “PTDC/AAG-GLO/0463/2014-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016583”. A.N. acknowledges the support of the Darwin Initiative. J.R. acknowledges the support from FCT through Grant ICETA 2017-38 within project “PTDC/AAG-GLO/0463/2014-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016583”. L.R. and C.C. acknowledge support from the FCT through Grants SFRH/BPD/93079/2013 and SFRH/BPD/84422/2012, respectively

Pool boiling of nanofluids on biphilic surfaces: An experimental and numerical study

This study addresses the combination of customized surface modification with the use of nanofluids, to infer on its potential to enhance pool-boiling heat transfer. Hydrophilic surfaces patterned with superhydrophobic regions were developed and used as surface interfaces with different nanofluids (water with gold, silver, aluminum and alumina nanoparticles), in order to evaluate the effect of the nature and concentration of the nanoparticles in bubble dynamics and consequently in heat transfer processes. The main qualitative and quantitative analysis was based on extensive post-processing of synchronized high-speed and thermographic images. To study the nucleation of a single bubble in pool boiling condition, a numerical model was also implemented. The results show an evident benefit of using biphilic patterns with well-established distances between the superhydrophobic regions. This can be observed in the resulting plot of the dissipated heat flux for a biphilic pattern with seven superhydrophobic spots, δ = 1/d and an imposed heat flux of 2132 w/m2. In this case, the dissipated heat flux is almost constant (except in the instant t* ≈ 0.9 when it reaches a peak of 2400 W/m2), whilst when using only a single superhydrophobic spot, where the heat flux dissipation reaches the maximum shortly after the detachment of the bubble, dropping continuously until a new necking phase starts. The biphilic patterns also allow a controlled bubble coalescence, which promotes fluid convection at the hydrophilic spacing between the superhydrophobic regions, which clearly contributes to cool down the surface. This effect is noticeable in the case of employing the Ag 1 wt% nanofluid, with an imposed heat flux of 2132 W/m2, where the coalescence of the drops promotes a surface cooling, identified by a temperature drop of 0.7 °C in the hydrophilic areas. Those areas have an average temperature of 101.8 °C, whilst the average temperature of the superhydrophobic spots at coalescence time is of 102.9 °C. For low concentrations as the ones used in this work, the effect of the nanofluids was observed to play a minor role. This can be observed on the slight discrepancy of the heat dissipation decay that occurred in the necking stage of the bubbles for nanofluids with the same kind of nanoparticles and different concentration. For the Au 0.1 wt% nanofluid, a heat dissipation decay of 350 W/m2 was reported, whilst for the Au 0.5 wt% nanofluid, the same decay was only of 280 W/m2. The results of the numerical model concerning velocity fields indicated a sudden acceleration at the bubble detachment, as can be qualitatively analyzed in the thermographic images obtained in this work. Additionally, the temperature fields of the analyzed region present the same tendency as the experimental results.This work was funded by Portuguese national funds of FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) through the base funding from the following research units: UIDB/00532/2020 (Transport Phenomena Research Center, CEFT), UIDB/04077/2020 (MEtRICs) and UIDP/04436/2020. The authors are also grateful for the funding of FCT through the projects LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-030171/NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030171 (PTDC/EME-SIS/30171/2017), funded by COMPETE2020, NORTE2020, PORTUGAL2020 and FEDER. The authors also acknowledge FCT for partially financing the research under the framework of the project UTAP-EXPL/CTE/0064/2017, financiado no ambito do Projeto 5665-Parcerias Internacionais de Ciencia e Tecnologia, UT Austin Programme. Mr Pedro Pontes also acknowledgesFCT for his fellowship ref. SFRH/BD/149286/2019

Wildfire selectivity for land cover type: does size matter ?

Previous research has shown that fires burn certain land cover types disproportionally to their abundance. We used quantile regression to study land cover proneness to fire as a function of fire size, under the hypothesis that they are inversely related, for all land cover types. Using five years of fire perimeters, we estimated conditional quantile functions for lower (avoidance) and upper (preference) quantiles of fire selectivity for five land cover types - annual crops, evergreen oak woodlands, eucalypt forests, pine forests and shrublands. The slope of significant regression quantiles describes the rate of change in fire selectivity (avoidance or preference) as a function of fire size. We used Monte-Carlo methods to randomly permutate fires in order to obtain a distribution of fire selectivity due to chance. This distribution was used to test the null hypotheses that 1) mean fire selectivity does not differ from that obtained by randomly relocating observed fire perimeters; 2) that land cover proneness to fire does not vary with fire size. Our results show that land cover proneness to fire is higher for shrublands and pine forests than for annual crops and evergreen oak woodlands. As fire size increases, selectivity decreases for all land cover types tested. Moreover, the rate of change in selectivity with fire size is higher for preference than for avoidance. Comparison between observed and randomized data led us to reject both null hypotheses tested (a = 0.05) and to conclude it is very unlikely the observed values of fire selectivity and change in selectivity with fire size are due to chance.Funding: This paper was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/40398/2007. JMCP participated in this research under the framework of research projects ‘‘Forest fire under climate, social and economic changes in Europe, the Mediterranean and other fire-affected areas of the world (FUME)’’, EC FP7 Grant Agreement No. 243888. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip