Erosion of rocky shores- protection promoted by sandy beaches and shore platforms

O sector costeiro do Algarve central entre as praias da Galé e Olhos de Água deve a sua fisiografia crenulada a um sistema cársico bem desenvolvido em rochas carbonatadas. As arribas possuem no sopé uma plataforma litoral rochosa ou uma praia arenosa. Os principais objectivos do projecto de investigação EROS são: (i) a quantificação da dissipação da energia das ondas ao longo de plataformas litorais e de praias arenosas com diferentes declives e exposição às ondas; (ii) a caracterização da refracção e difracção das ondas e da modificação das correntes forçadas pelo controle morfológico. A metodologia base centra-se na aquisição de dados de ondas e correntes utilizando transdutores de pressão e correntómetros colocados em transeptos normais à linha de costa, de modo a obter o espectro completo de ondas e correntes, desde a água profunda até aproximadamente à base das arribas, quer nas plataformas quer nas praias.FCT- Research Project PTDC/CTE-GIX/11123

Ammonia Detection by Electronic Noses for a Safer Work Environment

Funding Information: This research was funded by Bilateral Project Deteção de Estrogénio um Contaminante Emergente em Corpos Hídricos—Cooperação Transnacional_FCT (Portugal)- CAPES (Brazil), CAPES (Finance code 001) (88887.837887/2023-00), CNPq (402816/2020-0), FAPESP (2018/22214-6). Publisher Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.Providing employees with proper work conditions should be one of the main concerns of any employer. Even so, in many cases, work shifts chronically expose the workers to a wide range of potentially harmful compounds, such as ammonia. Ammonia has been present in the composition of products commonly used in a wide range of industries, namely production in lines, and also laboratories, schools, hospitals, and others. Chronic exposure to ammonia can yield several diseases, such as irritation and pruritus, as well as inflammation of ocular, cutaneous, and respiratory tissues. In more extreme cases, exposure to ammonia is also related to dyspnea, progressive cyanosis, and pulmonary edema. As such, the use of ammonia needs to be properly regulated and monitored to ensure safer work environments. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work have already commissioned regulations on the acceptable limits of exposure to ammonia. Nevertheless, the monitoring of ammonia gas is still not normalized because appropriate sensors can be difficult to find as commercially available products. To help promote promising methods of developing ammonia sensors, this work will compile and compare the results published so far.publishersversionpublishe

Biocompatible ammonium-based ionic liquids/ZIF-8 composites for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 separations

The authors thank Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT/ MCTES (Portugal), for financial support through PhD grant SFRH/BD/ 139627/2018 (T. J. F.), FCT Investigator contract (IF/00621/2015 – P. M. R). Additionally, the work was also partially supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry, LAQV, which is funded by national funds from FCT/MCTES (LA/P/0008/2020).The development of sorbent materials with high carbon dioxide (CO2) selectivity is of vital importance to minimize the impact of global warming by separating and capturing this major greenhouse gas. In this work, for the first time five ammonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) were impregnated into the metal-organic framework (MOF) ZIF-8 for gas sorption applications. Characterization results showed that the produced IL@ZIF-8 composites are thermally stable and of microporous nature. IL impregnation was successfully accomplished and did not affect the crystalline structure of ZIF-8. Sorption-desorption equilibrium isotherms of different gases, including CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrogen (N2) were measured at 303 K for the pristine MOF and the composites. Given the careful choice of the ILs, the anion and cation effects were studied in terms of their impact on the sorption capacity and selectivity performance of each composite. Acetate-based composites showed high CO2 selectivity when compared to ZIF-8; specifically, the composite [N2 1 1 4][Ac]@ZIF-8 showed 51% increase, at 1 bar and for flue gas conditions. Because of the good CO2/N2 selectivity of the acetate-based composites, sorption-desorption equilibrium isotherms of the above-mentioned gases were also measured at 323 K, along with ZIF-8. Ideal selectivities were thus calculated to study the temperature impact on the selectivity performance of the materials. It can be observed that the higher the temperature, the less selective the materials are. Nevertheless, at 323 K and when compared to ZIF-8, the composite [N2 1 1 4][Ac]@ZIF-8 showed 56% increase, at 1 bar and for flue gas conditions. Finally, the isosteric heats of adsorption of ZIF-8 and the acetate-based ILs were calculated revealing that all gases are physisorbed by the three materials.publishersversionpublishe

Interactions of vanadium(V)–citrate complexes with the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump

Among the biotargets interacting with vanadium is the calcium pump from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). To this end, initial research efforts were launched with two vanadium(V)–citrate complexes, namely (NH4)6[V2O4(C6H4O7)2] Æ 6H2O and (NH4)6[V2O2(O2)2(C6H4O7)2] Æ 4H2O, potentially capable of interacting with the SR calcium pump by combining kinetic studies with 51V NMR spectroscopy. Upon dissolution in the reaction medium (concentration range: 4–0.5 mM), both vanadium(V):citrate (VC) and peroxovanadium(V):citrate (PVC) complexes are partially converted into vanadate oligomers. A 1 mM solution of the PVC complex, containing 184 lM of the PVC complex, 94 lM oxoperoxovanadium(V) (PV) species, 222 lM monomeric (V1), 43 lM dimeric (V2) and 53 lM tetrameric (V4) species, inhibits Ca2+ accumulation by 75 %, whereas a solution of the VC complex of the same vanadium concentration, containing 98 lM of the VC complex, 263 lM monomeric (V1), 64 lM dimeric (V2) and 92 lM tetrameric (V4) species inhibits the calcium pump activity by 33 %. In contrast, a 1 mM metavanadate solution, containing 460 lM monomeric (V1), 90.2 lM dimeric (V2) and 80 lM tetrameric (V4) species, has no effect on Ca2+ accumulation. The NMR signals from the VC complex ( 548.0 ppm), PVC complex ( 551.5 ppm) and PV ( 611.1 ppm) are broadened upon SR vesicle addition (2.5 mg/ml total protein). The relative order for the half width line broadening of the NMR signals, which reflect the interaction with the protein, was found to be V4 > PVC > VC > PV > V2 = V1 = 1, with no effect observed for the V1 and V2 signals. Putting it all together the effects of two vanadium( V)–citrate complexes on the modulation of calcium accumulation and ATP hydrolysis by the SR calcium pump reflected the observed variable reactivity into the nature of key species forming upon dissolution of the title complexes in the reaction media

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FUTSAL PLAYERS’ ORGANIZATION ON THE COURT

The purpose of this study was to quantify and analyze professional Futsal teams’ organization on the court in shots to goal and tackles situations. Two-dimensional coordinates of 22 players’ positions were obtained during a match between Brazil and Paraguay using a computational tracking system. Team organization in 58 specific situations of shots to goal and 120 tackles were analysed. The variables quantified were teams’ coverage area and distance between teams’ centroids. Results showed that defending team coverage area was greater (

Paramagnetic Ionic Liquid/Metal Organic Framework Composites for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 Separations

IF/01016/2014 SFRH/BD/139627/2018 PTDC/CTMCTM/30326/2017 PTDC/EQU-EQU/32050/2017 PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017 UIDB/50006/2020 UIDP/50006/2020Global warming is arguably the biggest scientific challenge of the twenty-first century and its environmental consequences are already noticeable. To mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly of CO2, there is an urgent need to design materials with improved adsorbent properties. Five different magnetic ionic liquids were impregnated into the metal–organic framework ZIF-8. The composites were produced by a direct-contact method, and their performance as sorbents for gas separation applications was studied. The impact of the ionic liquid anion on the sorption capacity and ideal CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 selectivities were studied, focusing on understanding the influence of metal atom and ligand on the adsorbent properties. Reproducible methodology, along with rigorous characterization, were established to assess the impact of the ionic liquid on the performance of the composite materials. Results show that the ionic liquid was well-impregnated, and the ZIF-8 structure was maintained after ionic liquid impregnation. The produced composites were of microporous nature and were thermally stable. CO2, CH4, and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms were obtained at 303 K and between 0 and 16 bar. The adsorption-desorption data of the composites were compared with that obtained for original ZIF-8. The general trend in composites is that the increased gas uptake per available pore volume compensates the pore volume loss. Adsorption data per unit mass showed that composites have reversible sorption, but inferior gas uptake at all pressure ranges. This is due to the observed total pore volume loss by the ionic liquid pore occupation/blockage. In most cases, composites showed superior selectivity performance at all pressure range. In particular, the composite [C4MIM]2[MnCl4]@ZIF-8 shows a different low-pressure selectivity trend from the original MOF, with a 33% increase in the CO2/N2 selectivity at 1 bar and 19% increase in the CO2/CH4 selectivity at 10 bar. This material shows potential for use in a post-combustion CO2 capture application that can contribute to greenhouse gas mitigation.publishersversionpublishe

On the use of organic semiconductors as handles for optical tweezers experiments: trapping and manipulating polyaniline (PANI) microparticles

Here we propose the use of the organic semiconductor polyaniline (PANI) for the preparation of spherical-shaped microparticles to serve as handles in optical tweezers (OT) experiments. The stable trapping and manipulation of PANI beads was demonstrated for the first time, using a Gaussian ($TEM_{00}$) beam optical tweezers. The trap stiffness was characterized for various different parameters such as the bead radius, the laser power and the distance between the bead and the coverslip of the sample chamber, attesting the viability of using such material for optical manipulation. Since the effective optical properties of PANI can be modulated by the synthesis process, new related applications are also proposed. The results of the present work therefore open the door for using semiconductor polymeric materials in OT applications.Comment: 10 pages and 5 figure

Uloga prirodnih spojeva kod raka mliječnih žlijezda u štakora; blagotvorni učinci vodenog ekstrakta Santolina chamaecyparissus L.

Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among women, and a leading cause of death worldwide. Santolina chamaecyparissus L. is a plant with multiple health benefits, including anticancer and anti-diabetic properties. This study aimed to assess the chemopreventive effects of S. chamaecyparissus aqueous extract (SCE) in an animal model of mammary cancer. A total of 28 four-week-old female Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, MNU-induced (IND), SCE-supplemented (SCE), and SCE+IND. SCE was added to drinking water (12.72 mg/kg body weight) ad libitum. MNU was administered via the intraperitoneal route at 50 days of age. Weekly monitoring of body weight, food/drink intake, humane endpoints, and number of mammary tumours were recorded. Twenty weeks after MNU administration, animals were sacrificed by anaesthetic overdose and a necropsy was performed. Blood samples were used to determine blood count and serum biochemistry analysis, while kidney and liver samples were analysed for oxidative stress. Tumour samples were collected for gene expression and histology studies. SCE chemical composition was analysed by LC-MS and contained 19 phenolic compounds, with the most abundant being myricetin-O-glucuronide and 1,3-O-dicaffeoylquinic acid. Two animals in the IND group were sacrificed due to exceeding the humane endpoint limits. SCE supplementation delayed mammary tumour development, reducing its volume and weight. SCE had a positive impact on haematological parameters, particularly the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (P=0.026). No significant differences were observed in serum biochemistry, except for creatinine kinase MB, or in oxidative stress markers. Gene expression analysis showed significantly reduced VEGF expression levels (P=0.0158) in tumours from SCE+IND. These findings suggest that SCE is deserving of further study to identify the individual compounds and to understand its influence on animal models during cancer development.Rak dojke najčešće je dijagnosticiran rak u žena i vodeći uzrok smrti na svijetu. Santolina chamaecyparissus L. je biljka s višestrukim blagotvornim učincima za zdravlje, uključujući antitumorska i antidijabetička svojstva. Cilj je ove studije bio procijeniti kemopreventivne učinke vodenog ekstrakta S. chamaecyparissus (SCE) na životinjama obeljelim od raka mliječnih žlijezda. Dvadeset i osam četiri ženki starih tjedna wistar štakora podijeljeno je u četiri skupine: kontrolnu, MNU-inducirano (IND), s dodatkom SCE (SCE) i SCE+IND. Skupini SCE je dodan vodi za piće (12,72 mg/kg tjelesne mase) ad libitum; MNU je primijenjen intraperitonealnim putem u 50. danu života. Tjedno je bilježeno praćenje tjelesne mase, unosa hrane/tekućine, humano usmrćivanje i broj tumora mliječnih žlijezda. Dvadeset tjedana nakon primjene MNU, životinje su žrtvovane predoziranjem anestetikom i obavljena je razudba. Uzorci krvi su rabljeni za određivanje krvne slike i analizu biokemije seruma, dok su uzeti uzorci bubrega i pluća rabljeni za analize oksidativnog stresa. Uzorci tumora su prikupljeni za studije ekspresije gena i histološke studije. Analiziran je kemijski sastav skupine SCE pomoću LC-MS i otkriveno je da sadrži 19 fenolnih spojeva od kojih su najobilniji bili miricetin-O-glukuronid i 1,3-O-dikafeoilkina kiselina. Dvije životinje iz IND skupini žrtvovane su zbog prekoračenja ograničenja za humano usmrćivanje. Skupini SCE dodatak je odgodio razvoj tumora mliječnih žlijezda, smanjujući njegov volumen i masu. Skupina SCE je imala pozitivni učinak na hematološke parametre, posebice na omjer neutrofila i limfocita (P=0,026). Nikakve značajne razlike nisu otkrivene u biokemiji seruma, osim kreatinin kinaze MB, niti u markerima oksidativnog stresa. Analiza ekspresije gena pokazala je značajno smanjene razina ekspresije VEGF (P=0,0158) u tumora iz skupine SCE+IND. Ovi nalazi ukazuju da bi skupinu SCE trebalo dodatno ispitati da bi se identificirali pojedinačni spojevi i razumio njegov utjecaj na životinjama oboljelih od raka mliječnih žlijezda