CO2 conversion to phenyl isocyanates by uranium(vi) bis(imido) complexes.

Uranium(vi) trans-bis(imido) complexes [U(κ4-{(tBu2ArO)2Me2-cyclam})(NPh)(NPhR)] react with CO2 to eliminate phenyl isocyanates and afford uranium(vi) trans-[O[double bond, length as m-dash]U[double bond, length as m-dash]NR]2+ complexes, including [U(κ4-{(tBu2ArO)2Me2-cyclam})(NPh)(O)] that was crystallographically characterized. DFT studies indicate that the reaction proceeds by endergonic formation of a cycloaddition intermediate; the secondary reaction to form a dioxo uranyl complex is both thermodynamically and kinetically hindered

Community pharmacy services during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

Background: As a central part of the healthcare system, the community pharmacies are afflicted by the repercussions of the pandemic. Therefore, they have to adapt their services according to the needs of their communities. Objective: This article presents a systematic review with the aim to identify the additional services that community pharmacies are providing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases were searched systematically for relevant articles between December 2019 and April 2020, using “Community Pharmacy,” “Services,” “COVID-19,” “Coronavirus,” and “Pandemic” as the keywords. Fifty-nine articles in English, Portuguese, or Spanish were obtained and after applying the filtering criteria, nine of them were selected and included in the study. Results: Community pharmacies should provide pharmaceutical services that are according to the needs of the communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes of these services must be in line with the common goal of preventing the spread of the disease. In addition to the pre-existing services such as medication dispensing and personalized care, community pharmacists must promote other types of services, for example, informing, advising, and educating the community, maintaining a stable supply of pharmaceuticals and health products, and screening of suspected cases. Conclusion: While remaining engaged in the coordinated efforts, community pharmacists should apply innovations in their practices to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Degradation of textile dyes in aqueous solutions using type-Fenton bimetallic zeolite catalysts

[Excerpt] Textile dyes are growing to be a problematic class of pollutants to the environment. The disposal of dyes in water resources has bad aesthetic and health effects, since most of them are carcinogenic and mutagenic [1,2], so it is important to remove them from the environment. Effective and economic treatment by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has been attracted great and continuous interest for the degradation of these pollutants [3]. [...]This work has been developed under the scope of the projects: BioTecNorte (operation NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004), PTDC/AAGTEC/5269/2014, and Centre of Chemistry (UID/QUI/00686/2013 and UID/QUI/0686/2016).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Micoteca da Universidade do Minho (MUM): a portuguese culture collection

[Excerpt] Micoteca da Universidade do Minho - MUM is a mycological culture collection that exists since 1996 and is hosted by the Biological Engineering Research Centre (www.deb.uminho.pt), a centre of excellence integrated in the Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (IBB - www.ibb.pt). The mission of MUM is to provide the highest quality services to its customers, collecting, maintaining and supplying fungal strains and their associated information for teaching and research in biotechnology and life sciences, and to be a centre of knowledge, information and training in mycology, operating at a global level and under national and international regulations [1,2]. (...

Remoção de crómio de efluentes industriais por biossorção

Os processos físico-químicos clássicos, quando aplicados na remoção de metais pesados presentes em efluentes de baixa concentração e elevado caudal, revelam-se pouco eficientes e demasiado onerosos, sobretudo para as unidades industriais de pequena e média dimensão que proliferam no nosso país. Apesar de diluídos, esses efluentes tornam-se uma ameaça ambiental à escala local e cumulativa. Dentro das novas tecnologias de remediação ambiental, de baixo custo e fácil implementação, aparece recentemente a biossorção que tem-se revelado bastante promissora na fixação de diferentes metais. Este trabalho dá especial atenção à remoção de crómio de águas residuais por recurso a um biofilme bacteriano, Arthrobacter viscosus, suportado em carvão activado granular

Fenton-type heterogeneous catalysts based in zeolites for water treatment

Water pollution is one of the most important environmental problems in the world. Large amounts of synthetic organic contaminants are released daily into different types of wastewaters and ultimately enter into natural water bodies. It is well known the vast majority of these compounds are persistent organic pollutants, owing to their high stability to sunlight irradiation and resistance to microbial attack. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been demonstrated to achieve good results for the elimination of organic pollutants from wastewater with very short treatment times. Fenton-type heterogeneous processes have received much attention for their low cost, high efficiency, and moderate conditions among these AOPs.1 In heterogeneous Fenton-type catalysis, iron (or other transition metals) is stabilized on/in the catalysts structure and thus can reduce hydroxide precipitation over a wider pH range.2 This work report the preparation of bimetallic heterogeneous catalysts based in NaY zeolite with Fe, Cu and Mn by ion-exchange method using different routes (Figure 1). Different characterization techniques show that the metals are cationic and show higher oxidation efficiency against the azo dyes, tartrazine and procion yellow, and the order of metal ion exchanging are important to improve their catalytic activity. The prepared bimetallic catalysts can be used at least three times without a significant loss of catalytic activity, proving to have a very high stability.We thank the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia for financial support through Centre of Chemistry (UID/QUI/00686/2013 and UID/QUI/0686/2016) and BioTecNorte (operation NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004), and the INAGBE (Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Bolsas de Estudo, Angola) for the PhD grant of BLCS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Phytochemical composition and biological activities of Geranium robertianum L.: a review

Abstract After a period of a certain indifference, in which synthetic compounds were favored, the interest in the study of the biological properties of plants and the active principles responsible for their therapeutic properties has been growing remarkably. Geranium robertianum L., commonly known as Herb Robert or Red Robin, is a spontaneous, herbaceous plant that has been used for a long time in folk medicine of several countries and in herbalism’s practice for the treatment of a variety of ailments. Herein, we present a comprehensive review on the phytochemical characterization and the biological activities of this species, which, accompanying the remarkable increase of its use in herbal medicine, has been disclosed in the literature mainly in the last decade. The phytochemical characterization of G. robertianum has been focused mostly on the investigation of solid-liquid extracts of the plant, with special emphasis on phenolic compounds, particularly flavonoids. Studies concerning the essential oils of this species are still scarce but the number of identified compounds is high. The chemistry of G. robertianum is clearly dominated by phenolic constituents, the most studied classes of compounds being tannins, flavonoids and phenolic acids. The confirmation of the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperglycaemic and cytotoxic activities of G. robertianum, closely related to the high content of phenolic compounds, has come to corroborate in some extent the recognized beneficial proprieties of this medicinal plant.This work is supported by national funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013. V.C. Graça thanks to FCT for a PhD grant (SFRH/BD/52542/2014)

Bioactivity of the Geranium Genus: a Comprehensive Review

Background: Plants from the Geranium genus, which comprises about 400 species, have been used since ancient times in the practice of traditional medicines throughout the world. Therefore, herbal preparations based on Geranium species have found wide usage for the treatment of a variety of ailments. The aim of this work is to present a review, as comprehensive as possible, of the studies concerning different biological activities of Geranium species. Methods: Relevant data were obtained through systematic computer searches from major reputed scientific databases, particularly Web of Science and Scopus. Occasionally, information issued in primary sources not covered by these databases was also included provided published as peer-reviewed literature. This review covers the literature disclosed till the end of 2018. Results: Accompanying the increasing interest in herbal medicines in general, the evaluation of the biological properties of medicinal plants from the Geranium genus has been addressed thoroughly, mostly over the last two decades. Geranium species are endowed with a number of different biological activities. Herein, we present a survey of the results of the studies concerning these different biological activities. Conclusion: Most studies found in the literature effectively contribute to scientifically validate the beneficial properties of Geranium plants claimed by traditional medicines and medical herbalism and demonstrate that many of them possess evident therapeutic properties.This work was supported by European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI - Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the projects UID/AGR/00690/2013 (CIMO) and UID/QUI/00616/2013 (CQ-VR). V.C. Graça thanks FCT for her grant (SFRH/BD/52542/2014). The authors are also grateful to Interreg España-Portugal for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_6_E.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Biodegradation of textile azo dyes by Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Instituto de Biotecnologia e Química Fina / Universidade do Minho (IBQF/UM) - Praxis XXI, Praxis XXI 2/2.1/QUI/44/94, Praxis XXI/BD/9120/96