Development and assessment of an over-expanded engine to be used as an efficiency-oriented range extender for electric vehicles

A range extender (RE) is a device used in electric vehicles (EVs) to generate electricity on-board, enabling them to significantly reduce the number of required batteries and/or extend the vehicle driving range to allow occasional long trips. In the present work, an efficiency-oriented RE based on a small motorcycle engine modified to the efficient over-expanded cycle, was analyzed, tested and simulated in a driving cycle. The RE was developed to have two points of operation, ECO: 3000 rpm, very high efficiency with only 15 kW; and BOOST: 7000 rpm with 35 kW. While the ECO strategy was a straightforward development for the over-expansion concept (less trapped air and a much higher compression ratio) the BOOST strategy was more complicated to implement and involved the need for throttle operation. Initially the concepts were evaluated in an in-house model and AVL Boost® (AVL List Gmbh, Graz, Austria), and proved feasible. Then, a BMW K75 engine was altered and tested on a brake dynamometer. The running engine proved the initial concept, by improving the efficiency for the ECO condition in almost 40% in relation to the stock engine and getting well over the required BOOST power, getting to 35 kW, while keeping an efficiency similar to the stock engine at the wide open throttle (WOT). In order to protect the engine during BOOST, the mixture was enriched, while at ECO the mixture was leaned to further improve efficiency. The fixed operation configuration allows the reduction, not only of complexity and cost of the RE, but also the set point optimization for the engine and generator. When integrated as a RE into a typical European light duty vehicle, it provided a breakthrough consumption reduction relatively to existing plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in the market in the charge sustaining mode. The very high efficiency of the power generation seems to compensate for the loss of efficiency due to the excess electricity production, which must be stored in the battery. The results indicate that indeed it is possible to have an efficient solution, in-line with the electric mobility sustainability paradigm, which can solve most of the shortcomings of current EVs, notably those associated with batteries (range, cost and charging time) in a sustainable way.This Research was funded by MIT-Portugal EDAM, FCT, ERDF through Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade-COMPETE and National funds through PIDDAC, Project references MIT-Pt/EDAM-SMS/0030/2008 (MOBI-MPP-Assessment and Development of Integrated Systems for Electric Vehicles of the), UID/EMS/04077/2019 (MEtRICs -Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Centre Strategig Project) and grant numbers SFRH/BPD/89553/2012 (F.P. Brito) and SFRH/BSAB/142994/2018 (J Martins). AVL LIST GmbH provided free of charge an AVL Boost license through the University Partnership Program

Transplante autólogo de células estaminais em leucemiamielóide aguda: factores com Influência na sobrevida: experiência de 13 anos de uma Instituição

© Ordem dos MédicosWe report our results of autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) in patients with AML during the last 13 years. Between August 1990 and December 2003, 42 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) received an autologous SCT. Patients were classified as standard risk if first complete remission (CR) was induced after one or two chemotherapy regimens and the white blood cell count at presentation was below 50,000/mL (n=12), while patients requiring more than two induction regimens to attain first CR and with CR2 ou more advanced disease and/or had a higher white blood cell count at presentation were defined as high risk (n=30). Twenty one patients were transplanted in first CR. The median patient age was 24 years (range, 2-56 years), and the median time interval from diagnosis to autologous SCT was 9 months (range 3-87 months). The conditioning regimen for SCT consisted of busulfan (BU) 16 mg/kg and melfalan (MEL) 180 mg/m2 (BUMEL) in 17 (40%) patients and busulfan 16 mg/kg and VP-16 60 mg/kg (BUVP16) in 22 (52%) patients. Three patients received a different conditioning regimen with BCNU 300 mg/m2, VP16 2 g/m2 and melphalan 160 mg/m2 (BEM). Twenty five (60%) patients received bone marrow (BM), 11 (26%) patients received peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and 6 patients (14%) received BM plus PBSC. With a median follow-up of 7 years, the 13 year overall survival (OS) and diseasefree survival (DFS) of all patients is 52% and 40%, respectively. In univariate analysis, males had a significantly superior DFS than females (55% vs 22%, p=0.003), and patients younger than 15 years of age had significantly superior OS and DFS than older patients (50% vs 35%, p=0.05; and 50% vs 28%, p=0.03, respectively). Patients with FAB M3 subtype also had a superior OS than the other FAB subtypes (100% vs 44%, p=0.05). There was a strong statistical correlation between risk group and survival. In fact, the patients with standard risk had a superior OS and DFS than those with high risk disease (67% vs 23%, p=0.0004; and 50% vs 27%, p=0.01, respectively). When patients with FAB M3 disease were excluded from the analysis, the group with standard risk continue to have a superior OS and DFS (67% vs 13%, p=0.008; and 50% vs 14%, p=0.02, respectively). We conclude that autologous SCT is an effective treatment in AML with the possibility of long survivorship, particularly in patients with standard risk disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gold nanoparticles functionalised with stable, fast water exchanging Gd3+ chelates as high relaxivity contrast agents for MRI

Gold nanoparticles functionalized with Gd3+ chelates displaying fast water exchange, superb pH stability and inertness towards transmetalation with Zn2+ have been prepared and characterized as a new high relaxivity (29 mM-1s-1, 30 MHz, 25 ºC) Contrast Agent potentially safe for in vivo MRI applications. The Lipari-Szabo treatment for internal rotation was used to evaluate the effect of linker flexibility on the relaxivity of the gold nanoparticles. The relaxivity is limited by chelate flexibility. The effect of fast water exchange on the relaxivity of gold nanoparticles functionalized with Gd3+ chelates is also addressed in this communication.Fundação para a Ciência e TecnologiaProjecto PTDC/QUI/70063/2006PhD grant SFRH/BD/63994/2008 to Miguel FerreiraRede Nacional de RMN REDE/1517/RMN/2005 for the acquisition of the Varian VNMRS 600 NMR spectrometer in Coimbra and the Bruker Avance-3 400 Plus in BragaB. Mousavi and L. Helm acknowledge financial support by the Swiss National Science Foundation.COST D38 Actio

Trait interactions effects on tropical tree demography depend on the environmental context

Although functional traits are defined based on their impact on demographic parameters, trait-demography relationships are often reported as weak. These weak relationships might be due to disregarding trait interactions and environmental contexts, which should modulate species trait-demography relationships. We applied different models, including boosted regression tree (BRT) models, to investigate changes in the relationship between traits and demographic rates of tropical tree species in plots along an elevational gradient and among time intervals between censuses, analyzing the effect of a strong drought event. Based on a large dataset of 18,000 tree individuals from 133 common species, distributed among twelve 1-ha plots (habitats) in the Atlantic Forest (Brazil), we evaluated how trait interactions and the environmental context influence the demographic rates (growth, mortality, and recruitment). Functional traits, trait-trait, and trait-habitat interactions predicted demography with a good fit through either BRTs or linear mixed-models. Changes in growth rates were best related to size (diameter), and mortality rates to habitats, while changes in recruitment rates were best related to the specific leaf area. Moreover, the influence of traits differed among time intervals, and for demographic parameters, habitat affected growth and mortality by interacting with diameter. Here, we provide evidence that trait-demography relationships can be improved when considering the environmental context (space and time) and trait interactions to cope with the complexity of changes in the demography of tropical tree communities. Thus, to expand predictions of demography based on functional traits, we show that it is useful to fully incorporate the concept of multiple trait-fitness optima, resulting from trait interactions in different habitats and growth conditions.We thank the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) for the scholarships conceded to the first author (CNPq 141781/2016-5 and CAPES 88881.189491/2018-01) and for the productivity fellowship to FAMS (CNPq 310168/2018-0). This study was financed by research funding of the projects: “Functional Gradient” (Biota/FAPESP 03/12595-7), “PELD/BIOTA” and “ECOFOR” (Processes 2012/51509-8 and 2012/51872-5, within the BIOTA/FAPESP Program), “EcoSpace” (Edital Universal CNPq 459941/2014-3), “Sustainable Landscapes Brazil” project (US Forest Service, USAID, US Department of State and EMBRAPA), and “Sustainable Landscapes” (NASA-Goddard). This study was also supported by CNPq (PELD CNPq 403710/2012-0), British Natural Environment Research Council/NERC (NE/K016431/1) and FAPESP as part of a doctoral fellowship (FAPESP 11/11604-0). CPC was financed by the Estonian Research Council (PSG293)

Sugarcane bagasse delignification with potassium hydroxide for enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis

The optimization of an alkaline pretreatment process for the delignification of sugarcane bagasse (SCB) to enhance the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis was performed according to the Doehlert uniform shell design. In this experimental design, the effect of two factors—potassium hydroxide (KOH) concentration and autoclaving time at 121 C (1 atm)—on cellulose, hemicellulose, or the total polysaccharide and lignin content in SCB was evaluated. This response surface methodology revealed that KOH concentration is the factor that most influences the chemical characteristics of treated SCB (SCBt), with optimal conditions for the highest delignification being KOH in the range 5–10% (w/v) and an autoclaving time of 35 min, which provides an average of 97% total polysaccharides without inhibitor accumulation (furfural, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural) and #5% lignin. SCBt samples from two pretreatment conditions (KOH 3.25% – 13 min; KOH 10% – 35 min) were selected, based on the greatest delignification (70–74%) and polysaccharide availability (95–97%) after pretreatment, and further hydrolysed for fermentable sugar production. High sugar yields were obtained from both the pretreated samples (866 to 880 mg sugar per g biomass, respectively) in contrast with the 129 mg sugar per g raw biomass obtained from untreated SCB. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of KOH alkali pretreatments, which improves the overall digestibility of raw SCB polysaccharides from about 18% up to 91%. However, harsh alkali treatment (KOH 10%) is the most effective if the highest glucose/xylose ratio in the final sugar-rich hydrolysate is the aim. Hence, the use of sugar-rich hydrolysates obtained from SCBt as the carbon source for industrial purposes may provide a sustainable and economic solution for the production of bio-based added-value products, such as second generation (2G) bioethanol

Ga[NO2A-N-(alfa-amino)propionate] chelates: synthesis and evaluation as potential tracers for 68Ga3+ PET

The availability of commercial 68Ge/68Ga cyclotron-independent 68Ga3+ generators is making Positron Emission Tomography (PET) accessible to most hospitals, which is generating a surge of interest in the design and synthesis of bi-functional chelators for Ga3+. In this work we introduce the NO2A-N-(alfa-amino)propionic acid family of chelators based on the triazacyclononane scaffold. Complexation of the parent NO2A-N-(alfa-amino)propionic acid chelator and of a low molecular weight (model) amide conjugate with Ga3+ was studied by 1H and 71Ga NMR. The Ga3+ chelate of the amide conjugate shows pH-independent N3O3 coordination in the pH range 3-10 involving the carboxylate group of the pendant propionate arm in a 6 member chelate. For the Ga[NO2A-N-(alfa-amino)propionate] chelate, a reversible pH-triggered switch from Ga3+ coordination to the carboxylate group to coordination to the amine group of the propionate arm, was observed upon pH increase/decrease in the pH range 4-6. This phenomenon can conceivably constitute the basis of a physiological pH sensor. Both complexes are stable in the physiological range. The [67Ga][NO2A-N-(alfa-benzoylamido)propionate] chelate was found to be stable in human serum. Biodistribution studies of the 67Ga3+-labeled pyrene butyric acid conjugate NO2A-N-(alfa-pyrenebutanamido)propionic acid revealed that, despite its high lipophilicity and concentration-dependent aggregation properties, the chelate follows mainly renal elimination with very low liver/spleen accumulation and no activity deposition in bones after 24 hours. Facile synthesis of amide conjugates of the NO2A-N-(alfa-amino)propionic acid chelator, serum stability of the Ga3+chelates and fast renal elimination warrant further evaluation of this novel class of chelators for PET applications.This work was financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal: PEst-C/QUI/UI0686/2013; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037302; PTDC/QUI/70063/2006; grant SFRH/BD/63994/2009 to Miguel Ferreira and sabbatical grant SFRH/BSAB/1328/2013 to J. A. Martins; Rede Nacional de RMN (REDE/1517/RMN/2005) for the acquisition of the Varian VNMRS 600 NMR spectrometer at the University of Coimbra and the Bruker Avance-3 400 Plus at the University of Minho in Braga. We also acknowledge the COST Action TD1004 “Theragnostics Imaging and Therapy”

Metagenómica en la identificación de microorganismos que producen biodeterioro: patrimonio edificado con arquitectura en tierra, Vale Histórico Paulista (São Paulo, Brasil)

El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar resultados obtenidos mediante análisis por metagenómica como herramienta novedosa para la identificación taxonómica de hongos y bacterias a partir de biofilms en paredes de arquitectura en tierra (“pau-a-pique”, “taipa de pilão” y adobe), de edificaciones históricas del Vale Histórico Paulista, representativas del período colonial brasileño, Se extrajo el DNA total de los biofilms, que fue amplificado mediante primers específicos para regiones variables de los genes 16S y 18S ribosomal, y luego secuenciado obteniéndose bibliotecas del amplificado. El programa QIIME reveló la diversidad taxonómica en los distintos sustratos. Los géneros más abundantes de bacterias fueron: Aciditerrimonas, Blastococcus, Geodermatophilus, Arthrobacter, Micromonospora, Nocardioides, Propionibacterium, Pseudonocardia, Rubrobacter, Solirubrobacter, Thermoleophilum, Sphingobacterium, Sphaerobacter, Streptococcus, Gemmatimonas, Methylobacterium, Microvirga, Sphingomonas, Massilia, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Los géneros más abundantes de hongos: Passalora, Lacazia, Anisomeridium, Poliblastia, Hypocrea, Verrucaria, Caloplaca, Chaetomella, Meyerozima, Humicola, Oxyporus, Coriolopsis, Rhodotorula, Sporidiobolus, Trichosporon, Mucor, Syncephalastrum. Este trabajo es el primer reporte de comunidades microbianas a partir de paredes hechas con técnicas de arquitectura en tierra con el uso de metagenómica

Unexpected Changes in the Population of Coordination Isomers for the Lanthanide Ion Complexes of DOTMA–Tetraglycinate

[Abstract] Lanthanide complexes with DOTA–tetraglycinate (DOTA-(gly)4) heavily favor the square antiprismatic (SAP) coordination isomer in aqueous solution, a structural feature that has made them useful as water-based paraCEST agents. In an effort to create amide-based paraCEST agents with rapid water exchange rates, we prepared the analogous tetraglycinate complexes with DOTMA, a ligand known to favor the twisted square antiprismatic (TSAP) coordination structures. Unexpectedly, NMR investigations show that the LnDOTMA–(gly)4 complexes, like the LnDOTA–(gly)4 complexes, also favor the SAP isomers in solution. This observation led to density functional theory (DFT) calculations in order to identify the energy terms that favor the SAP structures in lanthanide complexes formed with macrocyclic DOTA– and DOTMA–tetraamide ligands. The DFT calculations revealed that, regardless the nature of the ligand, the TSAP isomers present more negative hydration energies than the SAP counterparts. The extent to which the TSAP isomer is stabilized varies, however, depending on the ligand structure, resulting in different isomeric populations in solution.Estados Unidos. National Institutes of Health; CA115531Estados Unidos. National Institutes of Health; EB015908Estados Unidos. National Institutes of Health; EB004582Estados Unidos. Robert A. Welch Foundation; AT-584Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; CTQ2013-43243-PMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad; CTQ2015-71211-RED

Complexes of bifunctional DO3A-N-(α-amino)propinate ligands with Mg(II), Ca(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), and lanthanide(III) ions: thermodynamic stability, formation and dissociation kinetics, and solution dynamic NMR studies

The thermodynamic, kinetic, and structural properties of Ln3+ complexes with the bifunctional DO3A-ACE4− ligand and its amide derivative DO3A-BACE4− (modelling the case where DO3A-ACE4− ligand binds to vector molecules) have been studied in order to confirm the usefulness of the corresponding Gd3+ complexes as relaxation labels of targeted MRI contrast agents. The stability constants of the Mg2+ and Ca2+ complexes of DO3A-ACE4− and DO3A-BACE4− complexes are lower than for DOTA4− and DO3A3−, while the Zn2+ and Cu2+ complexes have similar and higher stability than for DOTA4− and DO3A3− complexes. The stability constants of the Ln(DO3A-BACE)− complexes increase from Ce3+ to Gd3+ but remain practically constant for the late Ln3+ ions (represented by Yb3+). The stability constants of the Ln(DO3A-ACE)4− and Ln(DO3A-BACE)4− complexes are several orders of magnitude lower than those of the corresponding DOTA4− and DO3A3− complexes. The formation rate of Eu(DO3A-ACE)− is one order of magnitude slower than for Eu(DOTA)−, due to the presence of the protonated amine group, which destabilizes the protonated intermediate complex. This protonated group causes the Ln(DO3A-ACE)− complexes to dissociate several orders of magnitude faster than Ln(DOTA)− and its absence in the Ln(DO3A-BACE)− complexes results in inertness similar to Ln(DOTA)− (as judged by the rate constants of acid assisted dissociation). The 1H NMR spectra of the diamagnetic Y(DO3A-ACE)− and Y(DO3A-BACE)− reflect the slow dynamics at low temperatures of the intramolecular isomerization process between the SA pair of enantiomers, R-Λ(λλλλ) and S-Δ(δδδδ). The conformation of the Cα-substituted pendant arm is different in the two complexes, where the bulky substituent is further away from the macrocyclic ring in Y(DO3A-BACE)− than the amino group in Y(DO3A-ACE)− to minimize steric hindrance. The temperature dependence of the spectra reflects slower ring motions than pendant arms rearrangements in both complexes. Although losing some thermodynamic stability relative to Gd(DOTA)−, Gd(DO3A-BACE)− is still quite inert, indicating the usefulness of the bifunctional DO3A-ACE4− in the design of GBCAs and Ln3+-based tags for protein structural NMR analysis.This research was funded by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (Projects NKFIH K-128201, K-134694, and FK-134551)

A Leishmania-specific hypothetical protein expressed in both promastigote and amastigote stages of Leishmania infantum employed for the serodiagnosis of, and as a vaccine candidate against, visceral leishmaniasis

Background: LiHyV is an antigenic hypothetical protein present in both promastigote and amastigote stages of Leishmania infantum, which was recently identified by an immunoproteomic approach. A recombinant version of this protein (rLiHyV) was evaluated as a diagnostic marker for canine VL (CVL). In addition, the prophylactic efficacy of the rLiHyV protein, and two of its CD8+ T cell epitopes, has been analyzed in a murine model of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Methods: Initially, the rLiHyV protein was evaluated by an ELISA technique for the serodiagnosis of CVL. Secondly, vaccines composed of the recombinant protein and both chemically synthesized peptides, combined with saponin as an adjuvant; were administered subcutaneously into BALB/c mice. The cellular and humoral responses generated by vaccination were evaluated. In addition, the parasite burden and immune response were studied 10 weeks after L. infantum infection. Results: The rLiHyV protein was recognized by antibodies of VL dogs. No cross-reactivity was obtained with sera from dogs vaccinated with a Brazilian commercial vaccine, with sera from animals infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, Babesia canis and Ehrlichia canis, or those from non-infected animals living in an endemic area for leishmaniasis. After challenge with L. infantum, spleen cells of BALB/c mice vaccinated with rLiHyV/saponin stimulated with parasite antigens showed a higher production of IFN-γ, IL-12 and GM-CSF, than the same cells obtained from mice vaccinated with the individual peptides, or mice from control (inoculated with saline or saponin) groups. This Th1-type cellular response observed in rLiHyV/saponin vaccinated mice was accompanied by the induction of parasite-specific IgG2a isotype antibodies. Animals immunized with rLiHyV/saponin showed significant reductions in the parasite burden in the liver, spleen, bone marrow and in the lymph nodes draining the paws relative to control mice. Conclusions: The present study showed for the first time that the L. infantum LiHyV protein could be considered as a vaccine candidate against L. infantum infection, as well as a diagnostic marker for CVL.This work was supported by grants from Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia em Nanobiofarmacêutica (INCT-Nanobiofar), FAPEMIG (CBB-APQ-00819-12), and CNPq (APQ-472090/2011-9, RHAE-456287/2012-4, APQ-482976/2012-8, and APQ-488237/2013-0). MACF is a grant recipient of FAPEMIG/CAPES. EAFC and APF are grant recipient of CNPq.Peer Reviewe