769 research outputs found
Study of fame production from waste cooking oil: operation in batch and continuous regime with regeneration of enzyme catalyst
This work aimed to: (i) assess the performance of Novozyme® 435 for FAME production from waste cooking oil (WCO) under
different oil acid values and enzyme-to-oil ratios; (ii) test different regeneration methods and assess the regenerated enzyme’s
performance; and (iii) determine FAME yield in continuous operation regime. Oil acid values up to 104 mg KOH.g
-1
and enzymeto-WCO ratios of up to 20:80 (% wt.) were studied, with maximum yield recorded for increasing acid values and enzyme-to-WCO
ratio. FAME production from WCO yield ranging 50-80% was recorded for 5 consecutive production cycles (8h each, in batch
regime) with no regeneration of the enzyme. Among the enzyme regeneration methods tested, the highest FAME yield was recorded
using t-butanol washing followed by enzyme incubation in the WCO before reusing it. Operation in continuous regime, including
enzyme regeneration, produced the highest FAME yield (maximum of 96%). Thus, effectiveness of the regenerating process and
efficiency of continuous production of FAME from WCO (up to 576h) were observed.publishe
BDI4JADE:a BDI layer on top of JADE
Abstract. Several agent platforms that implement the belief-desire-intention (BDI) architecture have been proposed. Even though most of them are implemented based on existing general purpose programming languages, e.g. Java, agents are either programmed in a new programming language or Domain-specific Language expressed in XML. As a consequence, this prevents the use of advanced features of the underlying programming language and the integration with existing libraries and frameworks, which are essential for the development of enterprise applications. Due to these limitations of BDI agent platforms, we have implemented the BDI4JADE, which is presented in this paper. It is implemented as a BDI layer on top of JADE, a well accepted agent platform
Bonding energetics in alkaline metal alkoxides and phenoxides
The bonding energetics in a variety of alkaline metal, alkoxides and phenoxides, MOR, was investigated based on the corresponding enthalpies of formation in the crystalline state determined by reaction-solution calorimetry. The results obtained at 298.15 K were as follows: fHom (MOR, cr)/kJmol-1 = 382.7 ± 1.4 (LiOC6H5), 513.6 ± 2.5 (NaO-nC6H13), 326.4 ± 1.4 (NaOC6H5), 375.2 ± 3.4 (KOCH3), 434.5 ± 2.7 (KOC2H5), 467.1 ± 5.2 (KOnC3H7), 459.3 ± 2.1 (KO-nC4H9), 464.6 ± 5.7 (KO-tC4H9), 464.3 ± 2.5 (KO-nC6H13), 333.3 ± 3.1 (KOC6H5), 380.6 ± 2.9(RbOCH3), 434.1 ± 2.9 (RbOC2H5), 345.3 ± 2.9 (LiOC6H5), 379.1 ± 3.0 (CsOCH3), 432.3 ± 3.1 (CsOC2H5), 466.9 ± 5.0 (CsO-nC3H7), 461.3 ± 3.5 (CsO-nC4H9), 461.9 ± 2.5 (CsO-tC4H9), 349.2 ± 1.4 (CsOC6H5). These results together with revised fH om (MOR, cr) values from the literature, were used to derive a consistent set of lattice energies for the MOR compounds and discuss general trends in the structure-energetics relationship based on the Kapustinskii equation.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologiainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Swinging Atwood's Machine: Experimental and Theoretical Studies
A Swinging Atwood Machine (SAM) is built and some experimental results
concerning its dynamic behaviour are presented. Experiments clearly show that
pulleys play a role in the motion of the pendulum, since they can rotate and
have non-negligible radii and masses. Equations of motion must therefore take
into account the inertial momentum of the pulleys, as well as the winding of
the rope around them. Their influence is compared to previous studies. A
preliminary discussion of the role of dissipation is included. The theoretical
behaviour of the system with pulleys is illustrated numerically, and the
relevance of different parameters is highlighted. Finally, the integrability of
the dynamic system is studied, the main result being that the Machine with
pulleys is non-integrable. The status of the results on integrability of the
pulley-less Machine is also recalled.Comment: 37 page
Impacts of climate changes on risk zoning for cowpea in the Amazonian tropical conditions
The climate risk zoning was carried out for cowpea cultivated in northeastern Amazonia, Pará state, Brazil. Système d’Analyse
Régionale des Risques Agroclimatologiques (SARRA) crop model was used and calibrated from data obtained in field experiments
conducted between 2013 and 2016 in Castanhal, state of Pará. Low climate risk areas were defined as those with water requirement
satisfaction index (WRSI) greater than or equal to 0.5 during flowering and early grain development and less than 20 mm of total rainfall
during grain maturation and harvest for at least 80% of the simulated sowings of the crop. Simulations of the current and future climate
conditions were carried out with the regional climate modelling system version 4 (RegCM4) nested with the HadGEM2 global circulation
model with RCP 4.5 IPCC-AR4 scenario. The results show that climate changes are likely to reduce the duration of the optimal period for
sowing cowpea in the mentioned regioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
New insights on mechanisms of sulfonamide bio-transformation by environmental bacteria
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Motivation and physical fitness in old people participating in a hydro-gymnastics
Introduction: The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the motivations and the impact of the hydro-gymnastics in the physical fitness of old people involved in a 16 weeks exercise program. Methods: Participants were 83 old people doing a community hydro-gymnastics exercise program. Motivations were assessed using the Sport Activity Motivation Questionnaire and physical fitness was evaluated using the Functional Fitness Test battery, in two separate moments with a 16 weeks interval. The assumption of normality was checked using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Wilcoxon test was used to compare the group in different time moments. Results: Regarding motivations to hydro-gymnastics the items that scored higher were: “need to exercise”, “be with friends”, “make new friends” and “fun”. In terms of physical fitness variation, improvements in average were found in practically all fitness test between the 1st and 2nd evaluation, with significant statistical differences in 3 of the 5 tests applied. Conclusions: Old people´s major motives to participate in hydro-gymnastics are related to the motivational dimensions of physical fitness, general affiliation and pleasure. Additionally, hydro-gymnastics exercise programs have a positive impact to improve physical fitness in old people and play a determinant role on health promotion and successful aging
Laboratório de Proteção Vegetal.
Laboratório de Proteção Vegetal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Microarray in clinical practice – utility vs complexity. Mixed phenotype of duplication 15q11.2q13.1 and deletion 16p11.2
Introduction: There’s a consensus to perform chromosomal microarray
technique as first-tier clinical diagnostic test for individuals with developmental
disabilities. However, given the complexity of clinical presentations, often several
diagnostic methods are held before conducting microarray.
Method: We report the case of a 5 year-old boy referred to Medical Genetics due
to short stature, developmental disabilities and facial dysmorphic features.
He was born from eutocic delivery after an uneventful pregnancy. He had
psychomotor milestones delayed like sitting at 9 months and walking at 24
months, holding an immature broad-based gait. There was history of learning
difficulties from both parents, and the mother has also short stature.
On examination it was noted some facial dysmorphic features like high forehead,
conical canines and rarefaction of the distal portion of the eyebrows.
Due to the history of an episode of transient ataxia, and suspicion of an inherited
metabolic disorder, he had already performed various analytical and imaging
screenings, all normal.
Results: Chromosomal microarray analysis revealed two pathogenic Copy
Number Variants (CNV’s): 16p11.2 deletion and 15q11.2q13.1 duplication.
The 15q11q13 microduplication syndrome (OMIM # 608636) is a very rare clinical
entity with about 30 reported cases with maternal origin, and it is characterized by
neurobehavioral disorder, hypotonia, cognitive impairment, epilepsy and short
stature.
The 16p11.2 microdeletion syndrome (OMIM # 613444) is also a rare clinical
entity, with high penetrance, associated with obesity and developmental
disabilities.
Discussion: Despite the unquestionable utility of microarray, the correlation of
the CNV's with the phenotype is often difficult by the rarity of these new
microdeletion/duplication clinical entities. In this case the interpretation has
increased difficulty because of the simultaneous existence of two distinct clinical
entities. Segregation studies, which in the first step include parental analysis, are
essential for genetic counseling and determining the risk of recurrence but also
for a more accurate correlation genotype-phenotype
Impacts of climate and land use changes on the hydrological and erosion processes of two contrasting Mediterranean catchments
The impacts of climate and land use changes on streamflow and sediment export were evaluated for a humid (São Lourenço) and a dry (Guadalupe) Mediterranean catchment, using the SWAT model. SWAT was able to produce viable streamflow and sediment export simulations for both catchments, which provided a baseline for investigating climate and land use changes under the A1B and B1 emission scenarios for 2071–2100. Compared to the baseline scenario (1971–2000), climate change scenarios showed a decrease in annual rainfall for both catchments (humid: − 12%; dry: − 8%), together with strong increases in rainfall during winter. Land use changes were derived from a socio-economic storyline in which traditional agriculture is replaced by more profitable land uses (i.e. corn and commercial forestry at the humid site; sunflower at the dry site). Climate change projections showed a decrease in streamflow for both catchments, whereas sediment export decreased only for the São Lourenço catchment. Land use changes resulted in an increase in streamflow, but the erosive response differed between catchments. The combination of climate and land use change scenarios led to a reduction in streamflow for both catchments, suggesting a domain of the climatic response. As for sediments, contrasting results were observed for the humid (A1B: − 29%; B1: − 22%) and dry catchment (A1B: + 222%; B1: + 5%), which is mainly due to differences in the present-day and forecasted vegetation types. The results highlight the importance of climate-induced land-use change impacts, which could be similar to or more severe than the direct impacts of climate change alone
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