Co-firing of biomass with coals Part 1. Thermogravimetric kinetic analysis of combustion of fir (abies bornmulleriana) wood

The chemical composition and reactivity of fir (Abies bornmulleriana) wood under non-isothermal thermogravimetric (TG) conditions were studied. Oxidation of the wood sample at temperatures near 600 A degrees C caused the loss of aliphatics from the structure of the wood and created a char heavily containing C-O functionalities and of highly aromatic character. On-line FTIR recordings of the combustion of wood indicated the oxidation of carbonaceous and hydrogen content of the wood and release of some hydrocarbons due to pyrolysis reactions that occurred during combustion of the wood. TG analysis was used to study combustion of fir wood. Non-isothermal TG data were used to evaluate the kinetics of the combustion of this carbonaceous material. The article reports application of Ozawa-Flynn-Wall model to deal with non-isothermal TG data for the evaluation of the activation energy corresponding to the combustion of the fir wood. The average activation energy related to fir wood combustion was 128.9 kJ/mol, and the average reaction order for the combustion of wood was calculated as 0.30

Open access essentials: how you can go open access with CIAT?

What is Open Access? Are you uncertain as to what it’s all about and what you can you do to enhance access to your research results? This seminar will give you an overview and update of CGIAR and CIAT’s open access policy, legal context, issues and considerations related to open access, progress made in managing different types of data and further opportunities and plans to strengthen open access in CIAT. There will be time for discussion where we look forward to hear your suggestions and experiences related to open access

The completed SDSS-IV extended baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey: Geometry and growth from the anisotropic void-galaxy correlation function in the luminous red galaxy sample

We present an analysis of the anisotropic redshift-space void-galaxy correlation in configuration space using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) Data Release 16 luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample. This sample consists of LRGs between redshifts 0.6 and 1.0, combined with the high redshift z > 0.6 tail of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Data Release 12 CMASS sample. We use a reconstruction method to undo redshift-space distortion (RSD) effects from the galaxy field before applying a watershed void-finding algorithm to remove bias from the void selection. We then perform a joint fit to the multipole moments of the correlation function for the growth rate fσ 8 and the geometrical distance ratio DM/DH, finding f σ8 (zeff ) = 0.356 ± 0.079 and DM /DH (zeff ) = 0.868 ± 0.017 at the effective redshift zeff = 0.69 of the sample. The posterior parameter degeneracies are orthogonal to those from galaxy clustering analyses applied to the same data, and the constraint achieved on DM/DH is significantly tighter. In combination with the consensus galaxy BAO and full-shape analyses of the same sample, we obtain fσ 8 = 0.447 ± 0.039, DM/rd = 17.48 ± 0.23, and DH/rd = 20.10 ± 0.34. These values are in good agreement with the ΛCDM model predictions and represent reductions in the uncertainties of 13 per cent, 23 per cent, and 28 per cent, respectively, compared to the combined results from galaxy clustering, or an overall reduction of 55 per cent in the allowed volume of parameter space

The effect of seasoning with herbs on the nutritional, safety and sensory properties of reduced-sodium fermented Cobrançosa cv. table olives

This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of seasoning Cobrancosa table olives in a brine with aromatic ingredients, in order to mask the bitter taste given by KCl when added to reduced-sodium fermentation brines. Olives were fermented in two different salt combinations: Brine A, containing 8% NaCl and, Brine B, a reduced-sodium brine, containing 4% NaCl + 4% KCl. After the fermentation the olives were immersed in seasoning brines with NaCl (2%) and the aromatic herbs (thyme, oregano and calamintha), garlic and lemon. At the end of the fermentation and two weeks after seasoning, the physicochemical, nutritional, organoleptic, and microbiological parameters, were determined. The olives fermented in the reduced-sodium brines had half the sodium concentration, higher potassium and calcium content, a lower caloric level, but were considered, by a sensorial panel, more bitter than olives fermented in NaCl brine. Seasoned table olives, previously fermented in Brine A and Brine B, had no significant differences in the amounts of protein (1.23% or 1.11%), carbohydrates (1.0% or 0.66%), fat (20.0% or 20.5%) and dietary fiber (3.4% or 3.6%). Regarding mineral contents, the sodium-reduced fermented olives, presented one third of sodium, seven times more potassium and three times more calcium than the traditional olives fermented in 8% NaCl. Additionally, according to the panelists' evaluation, seasoning the olives fermented in 4% NaCl + 4% KCl, resulted in a decrease in bitterness and an improvement in the overall evaluation and flavor. Escherichia coli and Salmonella were not found in the olives produced.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Possible mechanisms of host resistance to Haemonchus contortus infection in sheep breeds native to the Canary Islands

Haemonchus contortus appears to be the most economically important helminth parasite for small ruminant production in many regions of the world. The two sheep breeds native to the Canary Islands display distinctly different resistant phenotypes under both natural and experimental infections. Canaria Hair Breed (CHB) tends to have significantly lower worm burden and delayed and reduced egg production than the susceptible Canaria Sheep (CS). To understand molecular mechanisms underlying host resistance, we compared the abomasal mucosal transcriptome of the two breeds in response to Haemonchus infection using RNAseq technology. The transcript abundance of 711 and 50 genes were significantly impacted by infection in CHB and CS, respectively (false discovery rate <0.05) while 27 of these genes were significantly affected in both breeds. Likewise, 477 and 16 Gene Ontology (GO) terms were significantly enriched in CHB and CS, respectively (P < 1.0 × 10(−4)). A broad range of mechanisms have evolved in resistant CHB to provide protection against the parasite. Our findings suggest that readily inducible acute inflammatory responses, complement activation, accelerated cell proliferation and subsequent tissue repair, and immunity directed against parasite fecundity all contributed to the development of host resistance to parasitic infection in the resistant breed

Analysis of the residual safety level in R/C slabs with severe joist corrosion

An analysis until the failure on a series of one-way slabs with severe corrosion at the lower reinforcement of the R/C joists is presented. Different positions in the slab and number of damaged joists have been studied, obtaining the residual safety assessment in cases of slabs damaged by flexural failure mechanisms. Since the boundary conditions have proved decisive for obtaining the behavior, the damaged slab has been evaluated as part of the entire building, as precisely as possible, taking into account the different phases of the construction process and deterioration in time, and the complex behavior of concrete, steel and masonry. The results of the proposed methodology are consistent with the pathology of the observed cases. As a result of this study the authors propose practical recommendations to help in making decisions about the magnitude of the intervention, always necessary in this type of pathology.Vercher Sanchis, JM.; Gil Benso, E.; Mas Tomas, MDLA.; Cubel Arjona, FJ. (2014). Analysis of the residual safety level in R/C slabs with severe joist corrosion. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. 1-14. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000608S11

Retinal Muller Glia Initiate Innate Response to Infectious Stimuli via Toll-Like Receptor Signaling

Ocular surgeries and trauma predispose the eye to develop infectious endophthalmitis, which often leads to vision loss. The mechanisms of initiation of innate defense in this disease are not well understood but are presumed to involve retinal glial cells. We hypothesize that retinal Muller glia can recognize and respond to invading pathogens via TLRs, which are key regulators of the innate immune system. Using the mouse retinal sections, human retinal Muller cell line (MIO-M1), and primary mouse retinal Muller cells, we show that they express known human TLR1-10, adaptor molecules MyD88, TRIF, TRAM, and TRAF6, and co-receptors MD2 and CD14. Consistent with the gene expression, protein levels were also detected for the TLRs. Moreover, stimulation of the Muller glia with TLR 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 agonists resulted in an increased TLR expression as assayed by Western blot and flow cytometry. Furthermore, TLR agonists or live pathogen (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, & C. albicans)-challenged Muller glia produced significantly higher levels of inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8), concomitantly with the activation of NF-κB, p38 and Erk signaling. This data suggests that Muller glia directly contributes to retinal innate defense by recognizing microbial patterns under infectious conditions; such as those in endophthalmitis

Some of the challenges in implementing Education for Sustainable Development: perspectives from Brazilian engineering students

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article aims to analyse some of the main challenges evidenced in the insertion of sustainability in engineering courses, according to the view from a sample of Brazilian students. Through a systematic literature review, a set of 10 challenges were structured to base the research instrument (questionnaire). These challenges were evaluated by 91 engineering students who participate in sustainable action programs promoted by Enactus Brazil. The collected data were analysed in terms of the averages assigned and via the multi-criteria decision technique TOPSIS, which allowed ranking the challenges. The averages were higher than 5.0 on the scale used, indicating that the students notice the existence of the challenges in the courses in which they are enrolled. The ranking via TOPSIS presented the most evident challenges: ‘Sustainable issues debated only in specific disciplines in a limited extent’; ‘Difficulty to integrate disciplines for the broad teaching of sustainability’; ‘Lack of practical and real examples of how sustainability can be embedded in the specific context of the course’; and ‘Activities and examples presented focus exclusively on environmental issues’. The results presented here may be useful for course coordinators to improve their curriculum; educators to enrich their disciplines from the findings reported here; and researchers interested in the subject can use these findings as a starting point for proposing new teaching techniques. No similar publications were found in the literature, which indicates its originality and contribution to the knowledge base

Autism as a disorder of neural information processing: directions for research and targets for therapy

The broad variation in phenotypes and severities within autism spectrum disorders suggests the involvement of multiple predisposing factors, interacting in complex ways with normal developmental courses and gradients. Identification of these factors, and the common developmental path into which theyfeed, is hampered bythe large degrees of convergence from causal factors to altered brain development, and divergence from abnormal brain development into altered cognition and behaviour. Genetic, neurochemical, neuroimaging and behavioural findings on autism, as well as studies of normal development and of genetic syndromes that share symptoms with autism, offer hypotheses as to the nature of causal factors and their possible effects on the structure and dynamics of neural systems. Such alterations in neural properties may in turn perturb activity-dependent development, giving rise to a complex behavioural syndrome many steps removed from the root causes. Animal models based on genetic, neurochemical, neurophysiological, and behavioural manipulations offer the possibility of exploring these developmental processes in detail, as do human studies addressing endophenotypes beyond the diagnosis itself