Multivariable approach on growth of microalgae

Despite the increasing interest in microalgal biomass and its high-value compounds, the number of products that successfully reach the market is still neglectable when compared to the high potential linked to these organisms. High production costs and low productivity both in terms of biomass and metabolites associated with microalgae growth are some of the causes hindering their widespread use and commercialization. The use of high-density cell cultures, for instance, is a strategy that arises as a potential solution to overcome these challenges. However, the optimization of growth parameters individually, may not be suitable since it does not take into account the interactions and synergies between different variables. This work aims at optimizing the culture conditions of a heterotrophic Chlorella vulgaris sp. in order to enhance both biomass concentration. For that purpose, a multivariable approach was developed envisaging the optimization of 24 independent variables simultaneously through Design of Experiment tools using the Protimiza Experimental Design software. The composition (i.e., concentration of 20 macro- and micronutrients, including the organic carbon source) and pH of the culture medium, starting inoculum, agitation, and temperature were the parameters studied. The variation of culture conditions allowed obtaining significant differences on growth kinetics. Biomass concentration ranged between 0.2 and 18.7 g.L-1, while biomass productivity presented a 52-fold variation when considering its minimum and maximum values. Besides the impact of different conditions on C. vulgaris growth, these trials also enabled to determine which variables played a statistically significant role on both biomass concentration and productivity, with a confidence level of 95 %. The concentration of the sources of nitrogen, organic carbon and magnesium have shown a significant impact over biomass concentration, being the source of nitrogen the most relevant parameter. On the other hand, the concentration of the sources of nitrogen and magnesium, as well as the pH of the culture medium, proved to be determinant to biomass productivity. However, in this case, the pH was found to have the dominant effect.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit. This work is funded by ERDF Funds through the Competitiveness factors Operational program – COMPETE and by National Funds through the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the project AgriFood XXI (NORTE- 01-0145-FEDER-000041). This research work was supported by ALGAVALOR - Lisboa 01-0247-FEDER-035234, supported by Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE2020), by Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa 2020) and by Algarve Regional Operational Programme (Algarve 2020) under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Filipe Maciel and Leandro Madureira acknowledge the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for their fellowships (SFRH/BD/133005/2017 and SFRH/BD/151474/2021, respectively).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Applications of bioactive compounds extracted from olive industry wastes: a review

The wastes generated during the olive oil extraction process, even if presenting a negative impact for the environment, contain several bioactive compounds that have considerable health benefits. After suitable extraction and purification, these compounds can be used as food antioxidants or as active ingredients in nutraceutical and cosmetic products due to their interesting technological and pharmaceutical properties. The aim of this review, after presenting general applications of the different types of wastes generated from this industry, is to focus on the olive pomace produced by the two-phase system and to explore the challenging applications of the main individual compounds present in this waste. Hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, oleuropein, oleuropein aglycone, and verbascoside are the most abundant bioactive compounds present in olive pomace. Besides their antioxidant activity, these compounds also demonstrated other biological properties such as antimicrobial, anticancer, or anti-inflammatory, thus being used in formulations to produce pharmaceutical and cosmetic products or in the fortification of food. Nevertheless, it is mandatory to involve both industries and researchers to create strategies to valorize these byproducts while maintaining environmental sustainability.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to C2TN (UIDB/04349/2020), CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) and Joana Madureira (SFRH/BD/136506/2018). Lillian Barros thank the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract. The authors thank the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Incentive System to Research and Technological development within the Portugal2020 Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program for the mobilizing project “BIOMA” (POCI- 01-0247-FEDER-046112). The Agroenvironment Unit is supported by Junta de Castilla y León (Escalera de Excelencia CLU-2018-04) co-funded by the P.O. FEDER of Castilla y León 2014–2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multivariable optimization process of heterotrophic growth of Chlorella vulgaris

Microalgae have received increasing attention as one of the most promising feedstocks in the development of new healthier food products and different strategies have been attempted to improve their growth. However, the high production costs and low productivities, commonly associated with photoautotrophic growths, are still a big challenge. In this study, a two-step optimization strategy was carried out in order to maximize the biomass production of a Chlorella vulgaris strain used at industrial scale under heterotrophic conditions. From a total of 24 independent variables, which were studied simultaneously, 10 have presented a positive effect over Xmax, while the remaining have shown to be negative. The amount of (NH4)2SO4 (6.3 g L1), MgSO4·7H2O (0.7 g L1), and C6H12O6 (50% w/v) in the culture medium has revealed to be the only factors with a significant impact on biomass concentration, with optimum values of 25.5, 64.6, and 75 ml.L1, respectively. The optimized medium resulted in an improvement of the Xmax by 99.6% when compared to the growth medium applied at industrial scale, proving the success of this strategy. Additionally, the carbohydrates production was enhanced by 48.0%.This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and by LABBELS – Associate Laboratory in Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Microelectromechanical Systems, LA/P/0029/2020. This work was funded by NORTE2020 Funds through the SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH - "STRUCTURED R & D & I PROJECTS" - HORIZON EUROPE under the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000070. This research work was supported by ALGAVALOR - Lisboa-01-0247-FEDER-035234, supported by Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE2020), by Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa 2020) and by Algarve Regional Operational Programme (Algarve 2020) under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Filipe Maciel and Leandro Madureira acknowledge the FCT for their fellowships (SFRH/BD/133005/2017 and SFRH/BD/151474/2021, respectively).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reuma.pt/vasculitis - the Portuguese vasculitis registry

BACKGROUND: The vasculitides are a group of rare diseases with different manifestations and outcomes. New therapeutic options have led to the need for long-term registries. The Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register, Reuma.pt, is a web-based electronic clinical record, created in 2008, which currently includes specific modules for 12 diseases and > 20,000 patients registered from 79 rheumatology centres. On October 2014, a dedicated module for vasculitis was created as part of the European Vasculitis Society collaborative network, enabling prospective collection and central storage of encrypted data from patients with this condition. All Portuguese rheumatology centres were invited to participate. Data regarding demographics, diagnosis, classification criteria, assessment tools, and treatment were collected. We aim to describe the structure of Reuma.pt/vasculitis and characterize the patients registered since its development. RESULTS: A total of 687 patients, with 1945 visits, from 13 centres were registered; mean age was 53.4 ± 19.3 years at last visit and 68.7% were females. The most common diagnoses were Behçet's disease (BD) (42.5%) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) (17.8%). Patients with BD met the International Study Group criteria and the International Criteria for BD in 85.3 and 97.2% of cases, respectively. Within the most common small- and medium-vessel vasculitides registered, median [interquartile range] Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) at first visit was highest in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) (17.0 [12.0]); there were no differences in the proportion of patients with AAV or polyarteritis nodosa who relapsed (BVAS≥1) or had a major relapse (≥1 major BVAS item) during prospective assessment (p = 1.00, p = 0.479). Biologic treatment was prescribed in 0.8% of patients with GCA, 26.7% of patients with AAV, and 7.6% of patients with BD. There were 34 (4.9%) deaths reported. CONCLUSIONS: Reuma.pt/vasculitis is a bespoke web-based registry adapted for routine care of patients with this form of rare and complex diseases, allowing an efficient data-repository at a national level with the potential to link with other international databases. It facilitates research, trials recruitment, service planning and benchmarking.publishersversionpublishe

Projections of Excess Mortality Related to Diurnal Temperature Range Under Climate Change Scenarios: a multi-country modelling study

Various retrospective studies have reported on the increase of mortality risk due to higher diurnal temperature range (DTR). This study projects the effect of DTR on future mortality across 445 communities in 20 countries and regions

Associations Between Extreme Temperatures and Cardiovascular Cause-Specific Mortality: Results From 27 Countries.

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Existing studies on the association between temperatures and cardiovascular deaths have been limited in geographic zones and have generally considered associations with total cardiovascular deaths rather than cause-specific cardiovascular deaths. METHODS We used unified data collection protocols within the Multi-Country Multi-City Collaborative Network to assemble a database of daily counts of specific cardiovascular causes of death from 567 cities in 27 countries across 5 continents in overlapping periods ranging from 1979 to 2019. City-specific daily ambient temperatures were obtained from weather stations and climate reanalysis models. To investigate cardiovascular mortality associations with extreme hot and cold temperatures, we fit case-crossover models in each city and then used a mixed-effects meta-analytic framework to pool individual city estimates. Extreme temperature percentiles were compared with the minimum mortality temperature in each location. Excess deaths were calculated for a range of extreme temperature days. RESULTS The analyses included deaths from any cardiovascular cause (32 154 935), ischemic heart disease (11 745 880), stroke (9 351 312), heart failure (3 673 723), and arrhythmia (670 859). At extreme temperature percentiles, heat (99th percentile) and cold (1st percentile) were associated with higher risk of dying from any cardiovascular cause, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and heart failure as compared to the minimum mortality temperature, which is the temperature associated with least mortality. Across a range of extreme temperatures, hot days (above 97.5th percentile) and cold days (below 2.5th percentile) accounted for 2.2 (95% empirical CI [eCI], 2.1-2.3) and 9.1 (95% eCI, 8.9-9.2) excess deaths for every 1000 cardiovascular deaths, respectively. Heart failure was associated with the highest excess deaths proportion from extreme hot and cold days with 2.6 (95% eCI, 2.4-2.8) and 12.8 (95% eCI, 12.2-13.1) for every 1000 heart failure deaths, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Across a large, multinational sample, exposure to extreme hot and cold temperatures was associated with a greater risk of mortality from multiple common cardiovascular conditions. The intersections between extreme temperatures and cardiovascular health need to be thoroughly characterized in the present day-and especially under a changing climate

Fluctuating temperature modifies heat-mortality association around the globe

Studies have investigated the effects of heat and temperature variability (TV) on mortality. However, few assessed whether TV modifies the heat-mortality association. Data on daily temperature and mortality in the warm season were collected from 717 locations across 36 countries. TV was calculated as the standard deviation of the average of the same and previous days’ minimum and maximum temperatures. We used location-specific quasi-Poisson regression models with an interaction term between the cross-basis term for mean temperature and quartiles of TV to obtain heat-mortality associations under each quartile of TV, and then pooled estimates at the country, regional, and global levels. Results show the increased risk in heat-related mortality with increments in TV, accounting for 0.70% (95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.33 to 1.69), 1.34% (95% CI: −0.14 to 2.73), 1.99% (95% CI: 0.29–3.57), and 2.73% (95% CI: 0.76–4.50) of total deaths for Q1–Q4 (first quartile–fourth quartile) of TV. The modification effects of TV varied geographically. Central Europe had the highest attributable fractions (AFs), corresponding to 7.68% (95% CI: 5.25–9.89) of total deaths for Q4 of TV, while the lowest AFs were observed in North America, with the values for Q4 of 1.74% (95% CI: −0.09 to 3.39). TV had a significant modification effect on the heat-mortality association, causing a higher heat-related mortality burden with increments of TV. Implementing targeted strategies against heat exposure and fluctuant temperatures simultaneously would benefit public health

The burden of mental disorders, substance use disorders and self-harm among young people in Europe, 1990-2019 : Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Mental health is a public health issue for European young people, with great heterogeneity in resource allocation. Representative population-based studies are needed. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 provides internationally comparable information on trends in the health status of populations and changes in the leading causes of disease burden over time. Methods Prevalence, incidence, Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) and Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from mental disorders (MDs), substance use disorders (SUDs) and self-harm were estimated for young people aged 10-24 years in 31 European countries. Rates per 100,000 population, percentage changes in 1990-2019, 95% Uncertainty Intervals (UIs), and correlations with Sociodemographic Index (SDI), were estimated. Findings In 2019, rates per 100,000 population were 16,983 (95% UI 12,823 - 21,630) for MDs, 3,891 (3,020 4,905) for SUDs, and 89.1 (63.8 - 123.1) for self-harm. In terms of disability, anxiety contributed to 647.3 (432 -912.3) YLDs, while in terms of premature death, self-harm contributed to 319.6 (248.9-412.8) YLLs, per 100,000 population. Over the 30 years studied, YLDs increased in eating disorders (14.9%;9.4-20.1) and drug use disorders (16.9%;8.9-26.3), and decreased in idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (-29.1%;23.8-38.5). YLLs decreased in self-harm (-27.9%;38.3-18.7). Variations were found by sex, age-group and country. The burden of SUDs and self-harm was higher in countries with lower SDI, MDs were associated with SUDs. Interpretation Mental health conditions represent an important burden among young people living in Europe. National policies should strengthen mental health, with a specific focus on young people. Funding The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Peer reviewe

Geographical Variations of the Minimum Mortality Temperature at a Global Scale

Background: Minimum mortality temperature (MMT) is an important indicator to assess the temperature-mortality association, indicating long-term adaptation to local climate. Limited evidence about the geographical variability of the MMT is available at a global scale.Methods: We collected data from 658 communities in 43 countries under different climates. We estimated temperature-mortality associations to derive the MMT for each community using Poisson regression with distributed lag nonlinear models. We investigated the variation in MMT by climatic zone using a mixed-effects meta-analysis and explored the association with climatic and socioeconomic indicators.Results: The geographical distribution of MMTs varied considerably by country between 14.2 and 31.1 °C decreasing by latitude. For climatic zones, the MMTs increased from alpine (13.0 °C) to continental (19.3 °C), temperate (21.7 °C), arid (24.5 °C), and tropical (26.5 °C). The MMT percentiles (MMTPs) corresponding to the MMTs decreased from temperate (79.5th) to continental (75.4th), arid (68.0th), tropical (58.5th), and alpine (41.4th). The MMTs indreased by 0.8 °C for a 1 °C rise in a community’s annual mean temperature, and by 1 °C for a 1 °C rise in its SD. While the MMTP decreased by 0.3 centile points for a 1 °C rise in a community’s annual mean temperature and by 1.3 for a 1 °C rise in its SD.Conclusions: The geographical distribution of the MMTs and MMTPs is driven mainly by the mean annual temperature, which seems to be a valuable indicator of overall adaptation across populations. Our results suggest that populations have adapted to the average temperature, although there is still more room for adaptation