A non inflationary model with scale invariant cosmological perturbations

We show that a contracting universe which bounces due to quantum cosmological effects and connects to the hot big-bang expansion phase, can produce an almost scale invariant spectrum of perturbations provided the perturbations are produced during an almost matter dominated era in the contraction phase. This is achieved using Bohmian solutions of the canonical Wheeler-de Witt equation, thus treating both the background and the perturbations in a fully quantum manner. We find a very slightly blue spectrum ($n_{_\mathrm{S}}-1>0$). Taking into account the spectral index constraint as well as the CMB normalization measure yields an equation of state that should be less than $\omega\lesssim 8\times 10^{-4}$, implying $n_{_\mathrm{S}}-1 \sim \mathcal{O}(10^{-4})$, and that the characteristic size of the Universe at the bounce is $L_0 \sim 10^3 \ell_\mathrm{Planck}$, a region where one expects that the Wheeler-DeWitt equation should be valid without being spoiled by string or loop quantum gravity effects.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Cell secretome: basic insights and therapeutic opportunities for CNS disorders

Transplantation of stem cells, in particular mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), stands as a promising therapy for trauma, stroke or neurodegenerative conditions such as spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries (SCI or TBI), ischemic stroke (IS), or Parkinson’s disease (PD). Over the last few years, cell transplantation-based approaches have started to focus on the use of cell byproducts, with a strong emphasis on cell secretome. Having this in mind, the present review discusses the current state of the art of secretome-based therapy applications in different central nervous system (CNS) pathologies. For this purpose, the following topics are discussed: (1) What are the main cell secretome sources, composition, and associated collection techniques; (2) Possible differences of the therapeutic potential of the protein and vesicular fraction of the secretome; and (3) Impact of the cell secretome on CNS-related problems such as SCI, TBI, IS, and PD. With this, we aim to clarify some of the main questions that currently exist in the field of secretome-based therapies and consequently gain new knowledge that may help in the clinical application of secretome in CNS disorders.This research was funded by Prémios Santa Casa Neurociências—Prize Melo e Castro for Spinal Cord Injury Research, grant number MC-04/17 and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Scientific Employment Stimulus to N. Silva and S. Monteiro (CEECIND/04794/2017 and CEECIND/01902/2017). This work was also funded by FEDER, through the Competitiveness Internalization Operational Programme (POCI), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Sciences and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the projects POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038, TUBITAK/0007/2014, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029206, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029751, and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-029968. This work was also developed under the scope of the projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013 and NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)

Lid-driven cavity flow of viscoelastic liquids

The lid-driven cavity flow is a well-known benchmark problem for the validation of new numerical methods and techniques. In experimental and numerical studies with viscoelastic fluids in such lid-driven flows, purely-elastic instabilities have been shown to appear even at very low Reynolds numbers. A finite-volume viscoelastic code, using the log-conformation formulation, is used in this work to probe the effect of viscoelasticity on the appearance of such instabilities in two-dimensional lid-driven cavities for a wide range of aspect ratios (0.125 < height/length < 4.0), at different Deborah numbers under creeping-flow conditions and to understand the effects of regularization of the lid velocity. The effect of the viscoelasticity on the steady-state results and on the critical conditions for the onset of the elastic instabilities are described and compared to experimental results

Membrane-based Operations for the Fractionation of Polyphenols and Polysaccharides From Winery Sludges

The present work investigated the impact of ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes on the recovery and fractionation of polyphenolic compounds and polysaccharides from Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon wine lees. A laboratory-made flat-sheet membrane in cellulose acetate (CA400-38) was used in the UF treatment of Sangiovese wine lees; three laboratory-made flat-sheet membranes in cellulose acetate (CA316, CA316-70, CA400-22) and a polyamide commercial membrane (NF90) were used in the NF treatment of Cabernet Sauvignon wine lees. All membranes were characterized in terms of hydraulic permeability and rejection toward references solutes; the performances of the membranes were measured in terms of productivity, fouling index, cleaning efficiency and retention toward target compounds. Experimental results indicated that all UF and NF membranes were effective in separating target compounds rejecting more than 92% of polysaccharides with polyphenols preferentially permeating through the membrane. The UF membrane rejected more than 40% of total polyphenols; rejections toward non-flavonoids and flavonoids were less than 25% and 12.5%, respectively. The laboratory-made NF membranes exhibited higher permeate flux values (of the order of 11–12 L/m2h) in comparison with the commercial NF membrane, despite the observed differences in the retention of specific solutes. Among the prepared membranes the CA316 showed a total rejection toward most part of non-flavonoids and flavonoids. The experimental results support the use of UF and NF processes in a sequential design to fractionate and refine phenolic compounds from winery sludge for the production of concentrated fractions with high antioxidant activities

Adaptabilidade e estabilidade de cultivares de milho para produtividade de matéria seca e degradabilidade ruminal da silagem.

Estudaram-se os fatores de adaptabilidade e estabilidade de cultivares de milho para caracteres associados a qualidade da silagem, em diferentes condições ambientais. Foram avaliados dez cultivares em diferentes locais e safras agrícolas (Capinópolis, Janaúba, Lavras e Sete Lagoas, nas safras de 1997/98, 1998/99 e 1999/00, e Coronel Pacheco, nas safras de 1997/98 e 1998/99). Em todos os ambientes, o delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados, com três repetições. No estádio farináceo-duro, procedeu-se à colheita das plantas da parcela, que foram cortadas e pesadas, para a determinação do peso da amostra seca ao ar. Em seguida, a matéria seca das amostras das repetições de cada cultivar foi misturada, moída e passada em peneira de 5 mm, para a avaliação de degradabilidade in situ da matéria seca, após 24 horas de incubação no rúmen de bovino. As análises de adaptabilidade e estabilidade foram realizadas utilizando os procedimentos de Eberhart e Russel (1966) e Annicchiarico (1992). Foi estimado também um índice para seleção das cultivares obtido a partir da multiplicação do carácter produção de matéria seca pela degradabilidade, utilizando as médias de cada ambiente. Observou-se que a interação cultivares e ambientes foi significativa apenas para o carácter produtividade de matéria seca. As cultivares avaliadas diferem quanto à adaptabilidade e à estabilidade de produtividade de matéria seca. A metodologia de Annicchiarico(1992) discriminou as cultivares superiores quanto à produtividade de matéria seca, em que as cultivares CO9621, DINA 1000 e DINA 657 foram as que apresentaram menor risco de baixa produtividade de matéria seca. essas cultivares forma também as que apresentaram melhor desempenho, desempenho, de acordo com o índice utilizado