Influence of casting condition on the anisotropy of the fracture properties of Steel Fibre Reinforced Self-Compacting Concrete (SFRSCC)

Identification of the tensile constitutive behaviour of Fibre Reinforced Concrete (FRC) represents an important aspect of the design of structural elements using this material. Although an important step has been made with the introduction of guidance for the design with regular FRC in the recently published fib Model Code 2010, a better understanding of the behaviour of this material is still necessary, mainly for that with self-compacting properties. This work presents an experimental investigation employing Steel Fibre Self-Compacting Concrete (SFRSCC) to cast thin structural elements. A new test method is proposed for assessing the post-cracking behaviour and the results obtained with the proposed test method are compared with the ones resulted from the standard three-point bending tests (3PBT). Specimens extracted from a sandwich panel consisting of SFRSCC layers are also tested. The mechanical properties of SFRSCC are correlated to the fibre distribution by analysing the results obtained with the different tests. Finally, the stress-crack width constitutive law proposed by the fib Model Code 2010 is analysed in light of the experimental results.This work is part of the research project QREN number 5387, LEGOUSE, involving the companies Mota-Engil, CiviTest, the ISISE/University of Minho and PIEP. The first author would like to thank the FCT for the financial support through the PhD Grant SFRH/BD/64415/2009. The authors would like to express their sincere gratitude and appreciation to Ibermetais, Secil and SIKA, for supplying, respectively, the fibres, the cement and the super-plasticizer, respectively

Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses - Restrospective review of 20 years

Objectivo: Analisar as características clinico-patológicas, tratamento e prognóstico do carcinoma adenóide quístico (CAQ) das fossas nasais e seios perinasais. Material e Métodos: Estudo retrospetivo de doentes com diagnóstico de CAQ de fossas nasais e seios perinasais do Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa desde 1997 até 2016. Resultados: Foram obtidos 30 doentes, sendo 60% do sexo feminino. A idade média foi de 65 anos. O sintoma mais frequente foi obstrução nasal e o sinal mais comum foi tumefacção do palato duro. 63% dos doentes apresentavam tumor localmente avançado. O seio maxilar foi o mais atingido (87%). A invasão óssea foi a mais frequentemente identificada. Todos os doentes realizaram cirurgia com radioterapia adjuvante. Os doentes que apresentaram recorrência (50%) foram maioritariamente tratados com radioterapia. Conclusão: O CAQ das fossas nasais e seios perinasais apresenta habitualmente mau prognóstico. O tratamento cirúrgico é limitado pela recorrência local comum e tardia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Assessment of Arthrobacter viscosus as reactive medium for forming permeable reactive biobarrier applied to PAHs remediation

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are significant environmental contaminants as they are present naturally as well as anthropogenically in soil, air and water. In spite of their low solubility, PAHs are spread to the environment, and they are present in surface water, industrial effluent or groundwater. Amongst all remediation technologies for treating groundwater contaminated with PAHs, the use of a permeable reactive biobarrier (PRBB) appears to be the most cost-effective, energy efficient, and environmentally sound approach. In this technology, the microorganisms are used as reactive medium to degrade or stabilize the contaminants. The main limits of this approach are that the microorganisms or consortium used for forming the PRBB should show adequate characteristics. They must be retained in the barrier-forming biofilm, and they should also have degradative ability for the target pollutants. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the viability of Arthrobacter viscosus as bioreactive medium for forming PRBB. Initially, the ability of A. viscosus to remove PAHs, benzo[a]anthracene 100 μM and phenanthrene 100 μM was evaluated operating in a batch bench-scale bioreactor. In both cases, total benzo[a]anthracene and phenanthrene removals were obtained after 7 and 3 days, respectively. Furthermore, the viability of the microorganisms was evaluated in the presence of chromium in a continuous mode. As a final point, the adhesion of A. viscosus to sepiolite forming a bioreactive material to build PRBB was demonstrated. In view of the attained results, it can be concluded that A. viscosus could be a suitable microorganism to form a bioreactive medium for PAHs remediation.This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER Funds (Project CTM 2011-25389). Marta Pazos received financial support under the Ramon y Cajal programme and Marta Cobas under the final project master grant "Campus do Mar Knowledge in depth"

Bioremoval of diethylketone by the synergistic combination of microorganisms and clays : uptake, removal and kinetic studies

The performance of two bacteria, Arthrobacter viscosus and Streptococcus equisimilis, and the effect of the interaction of these bacteria with four different clays on the retention of diethylketone were investigated in batch experiments. The uptake, the removal percentages and the kinetics of the processes were determined. S. equisimilis,by itself, had the best performance in terms of removal percentage, for all the initial diethylketone concentrations tested: 200, 350 and 700 mg/L. The uptake values are similar for both bacteria. A possible mechanism to explain the removal of diethylketone includes its degradation by bacteria, followed by the adsorption of the intermediates/sub-products by the functional groups present on the cells surfaces. The assays performed with bacteria and clays indicated that the uptake values are similar despite of the clay used, for the same microorganism and mass of clay, but in general higher values are reached when S. equisimilis is used, compared to A. viscosus. Kinetic data were described by pseudo-first and pseudo-second order models.The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this project by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal and co-funding by FSE (programme QREN-POPH). Cristina Quintelas thanks FCT for a post-doc grant. The authors would like also to thank Minas de Barqueiros, S. A., Prof. Rui Boaventura (FEUP-Portugal) and Prof. Isabel Correia Neves (Dep Quimica, UM, Portugal) who gently offered the clays

Kinetics of biodegradation of diethylketone by Arthrobacter viscosus

The performance of an Arthrobacter viscosus culture to remove diethylketone from aqueous solutions was evaluated. The effect of initial concentration of diethylketone on the growth of the bacteria was evaluated for the range of concentration between 0 and 4.8 g/l, aiming to evaluate a possible toxicological effect. The maximum specific growth rate achieved is 0.221 h-1 at 1.6 g/l of initial diethylketone concentration, suggesting that for higher concentrations an inhibitory effect on the growth occurs. The removal percentages obtained were approximately 88%, for all the initial concentrations tested. The kinetic parameters were estimated using four growth kinetic models for biodegradation of organic compounds available in the literature. The experimental data found is well fitted by the Haldane model (R2 = 1) as compared to Monod model (R2 = 0.99), Powell (R2 = 0.82) and Loung model (R2 = 0.95). The biodegradation of diethylketone using concentrated biomass was studied for an initial diethylketone concentration ranging from 0.8–3.9 g/l in a batch with recirculation mode of operation. The biodegradation rate found followed the pseudo-second order kinetics and the resulting kinetic parameters are reported. The removal percentages obtained were approximately 100%, for all the initial concentrations tested, suggesting that the increment on the biomass concentration allows better results in terms of removal of diethylketone. This study showed that these bacteria are very effective for the removal of diethylketone from aqueous solutions.The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this project by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT), Ministerio da Ciencia e Tecnologia, Portugal and Fundo Social Europeu (FSE). Cristina Quintelas thanks FCT for a Post-Doc grant

Gender, school and academic year differences among Spanish university students at high-risk for developing an eating disorder: An epidemiologic study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of the university population at high-risk of developing an eating disorder and the prevalence of unhealthy eating attitudes and behaviours amongst groups at risk; gender, school or academic year differences were also explored.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study based on self-report was used to screen university students at high-risk for an eating disorder. The sample size was of 2551 university students enrolled in 13 schools between the ages of 18 and 26 years. The instruments included: a social-demographic questionnaire, the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI), the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), the Symptom Check List 90-R (SCL-90-R), and the Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). The sample design is a non-proportional stratified sample by academic year and school. The prevalence rate was estimated controlling academic year and school. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate adjusted associations between gender, school and academic year.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Female students presented unhealthy weight-control behaviours as dieting, laxatives use or self-induced vomiting to lose weight than males. A total of 6% of the females had a BMI of 17.5 or less or 2.5% had amenorrhea for 3 or more months. In contrast, a higher proportion of males (11.6%) reported binge eating behaviour. The prevalence rate of students at high-risk for an eating disorder was 14.9% (11.6–18) for males and 20.8% (18.7–22.8) for females, according to an overall cut-off point on the EDI questionnaire. Prevalence rates presented statistically significant differences by gender (p < 0.001) but not by school or academic year.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of eating disorder risk in university students is high and is associated with unhealthy weight-control practices, similar results have been found in previous studies using cut-off points in questionnaires. These results may be taken into account to encourage early detection and a greater awareness for seeking treatment in order to improve the diagnosis, among students on university campuses.</p

Avaliação do uso de resíduo de serragem de pedra Cariri (RSPC) para produção de concretos convencionais

No estado do Ceará, na região do Cariri, um minério calcário laminado, comercialmente conhecido como pedra Cariri, é muito explorado. Os processos de exploração e beneficiamento desse minério são causas da geração de resíduos. Um dos tipos de resíduo gerado é o decorrente da serragem de pedra Cariri, denominado de resíduo de serragem de pedra Cariri (RSPC). Nesta pesquisa, avalia-se a viabilidade do uso de RSPC como substituição parcial do cimento na produção de concretos convencionais. Foram determinadas as características químicas e físicas do RSPC. A influência foi avaliada através das propriedades mecânicas (resistência à compressão axial e diametral) e parâmetros de durabilidade (absorção por imersão e por sucção capilar). Foram produzidos 9 traços, variando a relação a/c (0,45; 0,55; 0,65) e os teores de substituição (0%, 10% e 20%) do cimento. Os resultados demonstram que a utilização de RSPC no concreto proporcionou uma redução nas resistências à compressão e à tração por compressão diametral. Entretanto, em relação aos parâmetros de durabilidade, os concretos com RSPC apresentaram comportamento compatível com os concretos de referência. De um modo geral, do ponto de vista técnico, o RSPC não proporcionou resultados satisfatórios para aplicação em concreto

Drivers of genetic diversity in secondary metabolic gene clusters within a fungal species

Drivers of genetic diversity in secondary metabolic gene clusters within a fungal speciesFilamentous fungi produce a diverse array of secondary metabolites (SMs) critical for defense, virulence, and communication. The metabolic pathways that produce SMs are found in contiguous gene clusters in fungal genomes, an atypical arrangement for metabolic pathways in other eukaryotes. Comparative studies of filamentous fungal species have shown that SM gene clusters are often either highly divergent or uniquely present in one or a handful of species, hampering efforts to determine the genetic basis and evolutionary drivers of SM gene cluster divergence. Here, we examined SM variation in 66 cosmopolitan strains of a single species, the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Investigation of genome-wide within-species variation revealed 5 general types of variation in SM gene clusters: nonfunctional gene polymorphisms; gene gain and loss polymorphisms; whole cluster gain and loss polymorphisms; allelic polymorphisms, in which different alleles corresponded to distinct, nonhomologous clusters; and location polymorphisms, in which a cluster was found to differ in its genomic location across strains. These polymorphisms affect the function of representative A. fumigatus SM gene clusters, such as those involved in the production of gliotoxin, fumigaclavine, and helvolic acid as well as the function of clusters with undefined products. In addition to enabling the identification of polymorphisms, the detection of which requires extensive genome-wide synteny conservation (e.g., mobile gene clusters and nonhomologous cluster alleles), our approach also implicated multiple underlying genetic drivers, including point mutations, recombination, and genomic deletion and insertion events as well as horizontal gene transfer from distant fungi. Finally, most of the variants that we uncover within A. fumigatus have been previously hypothesized to contribute to SM gene cluster diversity across entire fungal classes and phyla. We suggest that the drivers of genetic diversity operating within a fungal species shown here are sufficient to explain SM cluster macroevolutionary patterns.National Science Foundation (grant number DEB-1442113). Received by AR. U.S. National Library of Medicine training grant (grant number 2T15LM007450). Received by ALL. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı´fico e 573 Tecnológico. Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (grant number NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER-000013). Received by FR. Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do 572 Estado de São Paulo. Received by GHG. National Institutes of Health (grant number R01 AI065728-01). Received by NPK. National Science Foundation (grant number IOS-1401682). Received by JHW. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio