Discrete Formulation for Multi-objective Optimal Design of Produced Water Treatment

Produced Water is naturally occurring water that is brought to the surface during the extraction of the oil and gas and it constitutes the largest waste stream in the oil and gas industry. In offshore platforms, the majority of the produced water is discharged into the ocean, threatening marine life. The treatment of produced water is attractive, not only to meet regulations but to secure a potential source of fresh water. The design of water treatment should consider economic, environmental, and social aspects. This paper presents a discrete model for the evolution of oil droplet distribution due to breakage and coalescence phenomena. The discrete model combined with a superstructure representation for process design results in a mixed integer non-linear program which is solved using a nature-inspired meta-heuristic optimization method

The interaction between the renin-angiotensin system and peroxisome proliferator activated receptors: A hypothesis including the participation of mitochondria in aging

The objective of improving health is intimately associated with preventing and delaying age-related diseases. Nutritional and pharmacological approaches aimed at retarding aging are uncovering mechanisms, whose definitive roles in cell and tissue physiology need to be defined. In this article we hypothesize that peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR)-modulation is a pivotal process that underlies the association between mitochondria and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in aging. This hypothesis is based on several lines of evidence suggesting that: a) mitochondrial function and oxidant production are active participants in the aging process; b) PPARs, by regulating mitochondrial function and uncoupling proteins (UCP), seem to play a major role in the age-retarding effects of caloric restriction; c) RAS inhibition delays the deleterious effects of aging and also upregulates PPARs; and d) a number of physiological and molecular events that occur in experimental caloric restriction, and experimental and clinical RAS inhibition, involve changes in mitochondrial functions.Fil: de Cavanagh, E. M. V.. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Piotrkowski, Barbara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad Medicina. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Fraga, César Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad Medicina. Instituto de Bioquímica y Medicina Molecular; Argentin

Adverse Childhood Events and Health Biomarkers: A Systematic Review

Background: This systematic review aimed to summarize evidence reporting epigenetic and/or neuro-immuno-endocrine embedding of adverse childhood events (ACEs) in children, with a particular focus on the short-term biological effect of those experiences. Methods: A search was conducted in PsycINFO®, PubMed®, Isi Web of Knowledge and Scopus, until July 2019, to identify papers reporting the short-term biological effects of exposure to ACEs. Results: The search identified 58 studies, that were included in the review. Regarding exposure, the type of ACE more frequently reported was sexual abuse (n = 26), followed by life stressors (n = 20) and physical abuse (n = 19). The majority (n = 17) of studies showed a positive association between ACEs and biomarkers of the immune system. Regarding DNA methylation 18 studies showed more methylation in participants exposed to ACEs. Two studies presented the effect of ACEs on telomere length and showed that exposure was associated with shorter telomere length. Conclusion: Overall the associations observed across studies followed the hypothesis that ACEs are associated with biological risk already at early ages. This is supporting evidence that ACEs appear to get “under the skin” and induce physiological changes and these alterations might be strongly associated with later development of disease.This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Program Competitiveness and Internationalization and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education under the projects BioAdversity: How childhood social adversity shapes health: The biology of social adversity (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-016838; Reference info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/9471 - RIDTI/PTDC/DTP-EPI/1687/2014/PT), HIneC: When do health inequalities start? Understanding the impact of childhood social adversity on health trajectories from birth to early adolescence (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029567; Reference info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/9471 - RIDTI/info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/9471 - RIDTI/PTDC/SAU-PUB/29567/2017/PT017/PT). It is also supported by the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006862; Reference info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UID/DTP/04750/2013/PT), PhD Grants info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/POR_NORTE/SFRH/BD/108742/2015/PT (to SSo) and SFRH/BD/103726/2014 (to VR) co-funded by FCT and the Human Capital Operational Programme (POCH/FSE Program); FCT Investigator contract info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/CEEC IND 2017/CEECIND/01516/2017/CP1406/CT0001/PT (to SF). We also thank the support of the LIFEPATH project funded by the European Commission (Horizon 2020 Grant No. 633666)

What about vaginal extraction of the kidney? results of an online survey

PURPOSE: We aimed to characterize surgeons opinion about the vaginal extraction of the kidney after transperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy. Matherial and Methods: A 9-item questionnaire was published online (Survey Monkey TM) and publicized via email to a multidisciplinary pool of surgeons in Portugal. Data was collected and statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 21.0. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty nine inquiries were sent, 154 surgeons completed the questionnaires (response rate of 43.0%). Fifty five point eight percent of the participants would choose the transvaginal approach for themselves or for a close relative. The most stated arguments were a better cosmesis (29.0%) expectancy of lower post operative pain (26.0%) and lower rate of incisional hernias (23.0%). Defenders of the transabdominal procedure justified with an expectancy of lower complication rate (39%), namely impairment of sexual function and fertility (22%). The female gender and the familiarity with transvaginal surgery were the stronger predictors of the option for this approach (70.6% vs 48.5%; p=0,016 and 85.3% vs 46.6%; p <0.001 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Contrasting with similar surveys published on transvaginal NOTES, the vaginal specimen extraction after conventional laparoscopic nephrectomy was fairly accepted by the inquired surgeons.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chromophoric azo reagents for amino acid and peptide labeling

Four carboxylic azo dyes are presented as new markers with spectroscopic absorption peaks ranging from 400 to 500 nm for amino acid and peptide labeling at their N-terminus. Labeling can also be performed at side chain residues as it is exemplified with lysine and serine.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia

An artificial neural network approach to recognise kinetic models from experimental data

The quantitative description of the dynamic behaviour of reacting systems requires the identification of an appropriate set of kinetic model equations. The selection of the correct model may pose substantial challenges as there may be a large number of candidate kinetic model structures. In this work, a model selection approach is presented where an Artificial Neural Network classifier is trained for recognising appropriate kinetic model structures given the available experimental evidence. The method does not require the fitting of kinetic parameters and it is well suited when there is a high number of candidate kinetic mechanisms. The approach is demonstrated on a simulated case study on the selection of a kinetic model for describing the dynamics of a three-component reacting system in a batch reactor. The sensitivity of the approach to a change in the experimental design and to a change in the system noise is assessed

Demographics and outcomes of hepatitis B and D: A 10-year retrospective analysis in a Swiss tertiary referral center.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major global health challenge with approximately 250-350 million chronically infected individuals. An improved understanding of the demographic features and outcomes of chronic HBV infection and hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection in low-endemic areas may improve prevention, early identification and management both at individual and community levels. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment rates and outcomes of adult patients with chronic HBV infection with or without HDV coinfection examined at Lausanne University Hospital, Switzerland over a 10-year period. We analyzed the medical records of all adult patients with chronic HBV and HDV infection examined in our center between 2007 and 2016. Liver-related outcome was defined as the occurrence of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation or liver-related death. Analyses were performed using logistic regression and results were reported as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Of 672 consecutive patients, 421 (62.6%) were male, median age was 36 years (interquartile range, 28-46 years), and 233 (34.7%) were of African origin. The prevalence of HDV coinfection was 7.1% and the proportion of anti-HDV-positive patients with detectable HDV RNA was 70.0%. In multivariate analysis, HDV coinfection was the strongest predictor for liver-related outcome (OR 6.06, 95% CI 2.93-12.54, p&lt;0.001), followed by HBeAg positivity (OR 2.47, 95% CI 1.30-4.69, p = 0.006), age (OR per 10-year increase 2.03, 95% CI 1.63-2.52, p&lt;0.001) and sex (OR for female 0.39, 95% CI 0.22-0.71, p = 0.002). The predictive accuracy of the multivariate model was high (receiver operator characteristic area under the curve 0.81). This retrospective study underscores the importance of migration in the epidemiology of chronic hepatitis B in low-endemic areas. HDV coinfection, HBeAg positivity and age predicted liver-related outcomes while female sex had a protective effect