Pre-harvesting biomass burning for sugarcane crop: comparing emission factors for realist results.

Abstract: In Brazil, burning of residues as an agricultural practice occurs mainly in sugarcane cultivation, which accounts for about 98% of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the burning of agricultural waste. Emission factors for this specific agricultural management practice came from the combustion processes, were the emission of non-CO2 gases CH4, CO, NOx and N2O were recorded, and the emission rates for these gases depend on the type of biomass and burning conditions. In the combustion with flame phase, N2O and NOx gases are generated, and CO and CH4 gases are formed under burning conditions with a predominance of flame. Thus, the use of specific emission factors for sugarcane, within the Brazilian context, in National Inventories is more appropriate than the use of default emission factors, in addition to increasing the level of refinement of emission estimates. In this context, this work aims to present a comparative analysis of the emission estimates of the non- CO2, CO and NOX gases, using the default emission factors presented in the IPCC Guidelines (2006) and those proposed by França et al. [4], for São Paulo State as a test area

An analysis of rainfall based on entropy theory

The principle of maximum entropy can provide consistent basis for analyzing rainfall and for geophysical processes in general. The daily rainfall data was assessed using the Shannon entropy for a 10-years period from 189 stations in the northeastern region of Brazil. Mean values of marginal entropy were computed for all observation stations and isoentropy maps were then constructed for delineating annual and seasonal characteristics of rainfall. The Mann-Kendall test was used to evaluate the long-term trend in marginal entropy for two sample stations. The marginal entropy values of rainfall were higher for locations and periods with highest amount of rainfall. The results also showed that the marginal entropy decreased exponentially with increasing coefficient of variation. The Shannon theory produced spatial patterns which led to a better understanding of rainfall characteristics throughout the northeastern region of Brazil. Trend analysis indicated that most time series did not have any significant trends

Xyloglucan and Concanavalin A based dressings in the topical treatment of mice wound healing process

For medical biomaterials, xyloglucan dispersions can form films or gels to be applied as a wound dressing. For this purpose, the structural characterization of xyloglucan dressing (XG) and xyloglucan dressing containing 0.5 mg/mL of concanavalin A (XGL) was performed. The lectin release capacity and stability, cytotoxicity, and pro-wound healing effects were also investigated. XG and XGL films were prepared by mixing 0.5 % (w/v) xyloglucan with 0.3 % (v/v) glycerol. The ConA incorporated in the xyloglucan dressing maintained its biological activity for fourteen days in a controlled-release manner. The films were non-toxic, homogeneous, flexible, and accelerated the wound contraction compared with the control group, promoting less infiltration of inflammatory cells, angiogenesis, remodeling, and early epithelization. The films also alleviate the inflammation phase by reducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-, TNF-, IL-1, IL-6, and IL-12), especially the XGL film, which promoted the up- and down-regulation of important proteins associated with the wound repair. All these findings suggest that XG and XGL films may represent a good therapeutic approach for wound healing applications.The authors are grateful for the financial support for research grants from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnol ´ogico (CNPq), Coordenaç˜ao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) and the Fundaç˜ao de Amparo `a Ciˆencia e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE). We are grateful to the Centro de Tecnologias Estrat´egicas do Nordeste (CETENE) and to the Laborat´orio de Imunopatologia Keizo Asami-LIKA at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) for access to its installation and technical assistance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Discovery of H2_2CCCH+^+ in TMC-1

Based on a novel laboratory method, 14 mm-wave lines of the molecular ion H$_2$CCCH$^+$ have been measured in high resolution, and the spectroscopic constants of this asymmetric rotor determined with high accuracy. Using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m radio telescopes, we detect four lines of H$_2$CCCH$^+$ towards the cold dense core TMC-1. With a dipole moment of about 0.55 Debye obtained from high-level ab initio calculations, we derive a column density of 5.4$\pm$1$\times$10$^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$ and 1.6$\pm$0.5$\times$10$^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$ for the ortho and para species, respectively, and an abundance ratio N(H$_2$CCC)/N(H$_2$CCCH$^+$)= 2.8$\pm$0.7. The chemistry of H$_2$CCCH$^+$ is modelled using the most recent chemical network for the reactions involving the formation of H$_2$CCCH$^+$. We find a reasonable agreement between model predictions and observations, and new insights into the chemistry of C$_3$ bearing species in TMC-1 are obtained

Application of edible nanolaminate coatings with antimicrobial extract of Flourensia cernua to extend the shelf-life of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit

Supplementarymaterialrelatedtothisarticlecanbefound,inthe online version, at doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2018.12. 008.Edible coatings have potential to reduce postharvest losses of fruit such as tomato. In this study, the effects of nanolaminate coatings incorporated with extracts of Flourensia cernua, an endemic plant of the arid and semi-arid regions of Mexico, has been investigated. Ethanol extracts of F. cernua (FcE) were prepared and incorporated into polyelectrolyte solutions of alginate and chitosan. The nanolaminates were characterized by determining the zeta potential, contact angle and water vapor and oxygen permeabilities. Shelf-life analyses (20°C for 15 d) were carried out with uncoated fruit (UCF), nanolaminate coating (NL) and nanolaminate coating with FcE (NL+FcE). Physicochemical analyses, gas exchange rates of O2 and CO2 and ethylene production, as well as microbiological analyses of treated fruit were measured. Zeta potential and contact angle measurements confirmed the successful assembly of successive nanolayers of alginate and chitosan, as well as those with F. cernua. The nanolaminate coatings resulted in decreased permeabilities to water and O2. The best treatment of NL+FcE, extended the shelf-life of fruit by reducing weight loss and microbial growth, reducing gas exchange and ethylene production, and maintaining firmness and color. The NL+FcE treatment are an alternative to extend the shelf-life of tomato fruit.Author E. de J. Salas-Méndez thanks Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACYT, Mexico) for PhD fellowship support. Authors want to thank PhD Zlatina Genisheva for the proof reading of the manuscript and suggestions to the same; also, to:MaríaGuadalupe Moreno Esquivel, Edith E. Chaires Colunga, Olga L. Solís Hernández and M. Leticia Rodríguez González of the Phytochemistry Laboratory from Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, for their assistance in obtaining extracts and chemical composition.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Banana as adjunct in beer production: applicability and performance of fermentative parameters

Traditionally, the raw materials for beer production are barley, hops, water, and yeast, but most brewers use also different adjuncts. During the alcoholic fermentation, the contribution of aroma compounds from other ingredients to the final beer flavor depends on the wort composition, on the yeast strain, and mainly on the process conditions. In this context, banana can also be a raw material favorable to alcoholic fermentation being rich in carbohydrates and minerals and providing low acidity. In this work, the objective was to evaluate the performance of wort adjusted with banana juice in different concentrations. For this, static fermentations were conducted at 15 °C at pilot scale (140 L of medium). The addition of banana that changed the concentration of all-malt wort from 10 °P to 12 and 15 °P were evaluated (°P is the weight of the extract or the sugar equivalent in 100 g solution, at 20 °C). The results showed an increase in ethanol production, with approximately 0.4 g/g ethanol yield and 0.6 g/L h volumetric productivity after 84 h of processing when concentrated wort was used. Thus, it was concluded that banana can be used as an adjunct in brewing methods, helping in the development of new products as well as in obtaining concentrated worts.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)EMATER-MGJohnson-DiverseyFapesp (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo/Brasil)Wallerstein Industrial & CommercialNovozymesCAPES (Coordenação para Aperfeiçoamento do Ensino Superior/ Brasil)Malteria do ValeGRICES (Gabinete de Relações Internacionais da Ciência e do Ensino Superior/Portugal

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV