Tabique construction in the Municipalities Association of the Terra Quente Transmontana

Tabique is one of the main Portuguese traditional building techniques which use basically natural and local building materials such as earth and timber. A tabique building component such as a wall is build up using a simple timber structure covered on both sides by an earth based mortar. The earth based mortar has an important role in this building system technology since it not only protects the internal timber structure but it also acts as finishing elements. Meanwhile, earth has the advantage of being abundant, natural, local and recycled which gives to this technique a special importance in the sustainability context. It has been noticed that this traditional building technique has an expressive incidence in the region of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal. Taking into account that the Trás-os- Montes and Alto Douro region is very large, there was the necessity to divide it in to more manageable areas. The manageable areas are the six Municipalities Associations, which are: Alto Tâmega, Terra Quente Transmontana, Terra Fria do Nordeste Transmontano, Vale do Douro Norte, Vale do Douro Sul and Douro Superior. This research work is focused on the Municipalities Association of Terra Quente Transmontana. This, combined with the scarcity of scientific studies concerning the construction of partition wall in this region, motivated this research work that uses some constructions as sampling and which is focused on experimental study to determine the texture, identification of chemical and mineralogical composition of the coating material / filler used, identifying the species of wood and the hardness of the nails

Features and performance of edible films, obtained from whey protein isolate formulated with antimicrobial compounds

The goal of this research effort was to assess the efficacy of edible films produced fromwhey protein isolate (WPI) and glycerol, including incorporation of lactic acid (LA) and propionic acid (PRO), chitooligosaccharideswith nominal MW of 3 kDa (COS) and natamycin (NA) as antimicrobial agents. Their features were evaluated in vitro via agar diffusion and viable cell counting, against spoilage microflora often found contaminating cheese surfaces. The effect of incorporating the aforementioned compounds upon thickness, moisture content (MC), solubility (S), density (ρs),water activity (aw) and water vapor permeability (WVP), as well as upon tensile and optical properties of those films were also evaluated. Films formulated with LA, PRO or COS exhibited antimicrobial activity against all microorganisms tested, yet the viable cell count assay was more sensitive and reproducible. COS was the most active against Gram-negative bacteria, whereas LA was the most active against Gram-positive ones. NA was not active against bacteria, but displayed the strongest effect against yeasts. Incorporation of said antimicrobial compounds did not significantly (pN0.05) affect film thickness, yet it significantly (pb0.05) reduced tensile strength (TS). Incorporation of LA and NA in particular did not significantly (pb0.05) affect MC, S, ρs, WVP, elongation at break (EB) and Young's modulus (YM) values; however, a statistically significant increase (pb0.05) of MC, S andWVP, together with a statistically significant decrease (pb0.05) of ρs were attained upon incorporation of PRO or COS. Moreover, PRO produced the highest variation (pb0.05) in EB, TS and YM,whereas COS produced the highest change (pb0.05) in optical properties.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Antioxidant activity of chitooligosaccharides upon two biological systems: erythrocytes and bacteriophages

Most of the reports to date on the antioxidant capacity of chitosans and chitooligosaccharides (COS) are based on strictly chemical methods. When studying antioxidants with potential in vivo applications, the method used to evaluate the antioxidant activity should be representative of the conditions in which the antioxidant might have a protective effect. In this work we evaluate the antioxidant activity of two COS mixtures and a low MW chitosan (LMWC) upon two biological oxidizable substrates – erythrocytes and phages, subjected to accelerated oxidation conditions. Our results suggest that COS/LMWC can be used as antioxidants in biological systems. All the tested compounds reduced either the hemolytic and DNA damage, by inhibiting H2O2- and AAPH-radicals. However, the results obtained for these biological assays did not reveal a dose dependence, contrary to the chemical assay, suggesting that the protective concentrations should be established, in order to prevent enhancement of the oxidative damage – i.e. a prooxidant effect.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Impact of Routine Fractional Flow Reserve Evaluation During Coronary Angiography on Management Strategy and Clinical Outcome: One-Year Results of the POST-IT Multicenter Registry

Penetration of fractional flow reserve (FFR) in clinical practice varies extensively, and the applicability of results from randomized trials is understudied. We describe the extent to which the information gained from routine FFR affects patient management strategy and clinical outcome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Nonselected patients undergoing coronary angiography, in which at least 1 lesion was interrogated by FFR, were prospectively enrolled in a multicenter registry. FFR-driven change in management strategy (medical therapy, revascularization, or additional stress imaging) was assessed per-lesion and per-patient, and the agreement between final and initial strategies was recorded. Cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization (MACE) at 1 year was recorded. A total of 1293 lesions were evaluated in 918 patients (mean FFR, 0.81±0.1). Management plan changed in 406 patients (44.2%) and 584 lesions (45.2%). One-year MACE was 6.9%; patients in whom all lesions were deferred had a lower MACE rate (5.3%) than those with at least 1 lesion revascularized (7.3%) or left untreated despite FFR≤0.80 (13.6%; log-rank P=0.014). At the lesion level, deferral of those with an FFR≤0.80 was associated with a 3.1-fold increase in the hazard of cardiovascular death/myocardial infarction/target lesion revascularization (P=0.012). Independent predictors of target lesion revascularization in the deferred lesions were proximal location of the lesion, B2/C type and FFR. CONCLUSIONS: Routine FFR assessment of coronary lesions safely changes management strategy in almost half of the cases. Also, it accurately identifies patients and lesions with a low likelihood of events, in which revascularization can be safely deferred, as opposed to those at high risk when ischemic lesions are left untreated, thus confirming results from randomized trials

Effect of whey protein purity and glycerol content upon physical properties of edible films manufactured therefrom

This manuscript describes the detailed characterization of edible films made from two different protein products e whey protein isolate (WPI) and whey protein concentrate (WPC), added with three levels of glycerol (Gly) e i.e. 40, 50 and 60%(w/w). The molecular structure, as well as barrier, tensile, thermal,surface and optical properties of said films were determined, in attempts to provide a better understanding of the effects of proteinaceous purity and Gly content of the feedstock. WPI films exhibited statistically lower (p < 0.05) moisture content (MC), film solubility (S), water activity, water vapor permeability (WVP), oxygen and carbon dioxide permeabilities (O2P and CO2P, respectively) and color change values, as well as statistically higher (p < 0.05) density, surface hydrophobicity, mechanical resistance, elasticity, extensibility and transparency values than their WPC counterparts, for the same content of Gly. These results are consistent with data from thermal and FTIR analyses. Furthermore,a significant increase (p < 0.05) was observed in MC, S, WVP, O2P, CO2P, weight loss and extensibility of both protein films when the Gly content increased; whereas a significant decrease (p < 0.05) was observed in thermal features, as well as in mechanical resistance and elasticity e thus leading to weaker films. Therefore, fundamental elucidation was provided on the features of WPI and WPC germane to food packaging e along with suggestions to improve the most critical ones, i.e. extensibility and WVP.Partial funding for this research work was provided by project Milkfilm, administered by Agência de Inovação e POCTI: Programa Operacional de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Portugal) Funding for author O. L. Ramos was via a postdoctoral fellowship (ref. SFRH/BPD/80766/2011), administered by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) and supervised by author F. X.Malcata. A minor part of the experimental work was performed in CBQF premise

Dynamics of a Dual SARS-CoV-2 Lineage Co-Infection on a Prolonged Viral Shedding COVID-19 Case: Insights into Clinical Severity and Disease Duration

A few molecularly proven severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases of symptomatic reinfection are currently known worldwide, with a resolved first infection followed by a second infection after a 48 to 142-day intervening period. We report a multiple-component study of a clinically severe and prolonged viral shedding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case in a 17-year-old Portuguese female. She had two hospitalizations, a total of 19 RT-PCR tests, mostly positive, and criteria for releasing from home isolation at the end of 97 days. The viral genome was sequenced in seven serial samples and in the diagnostic sample from her infected mother. A human genome-wide array (>900 K) was screened on the seven samples, and in vitro culture was conducted on isolates from three late samples. The patient had co-infection by two SARS-CoV-2 lineages, which were affiliated in distinct clades and diverging by six variants. The 20A lineage was absolute at the diagnosis (shared with the patient's mother), but nine days later, the 20B lineage had 3% frequency, and two months later, the 20B lineage had 100% frequency. The 900 K profiles confirmed the identity of the patient in the serial samples, and they allowed us to infer that she had polygenic risk scores for hospitalization and severe respiratory disease within the normal distributions for a Portuguese population cohort. The early-on dynamic co-infection may have contributed to the severity of COVID-19 in this otherwise healthy young patient, and to her prolonged SARS-CoV-2 shedding profile.The authors acknowledge the support of the i3S Scientific Platforms BioSciences Screening and Genomics, members of the national infrastructure PPBI-Portuguese Platform of Bioimaging (PPBI-POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122), PT-OPENSCREEN, GenomePT project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184)

Fertirrigação e agricultura de baixa emissão de carbono: resultados do projeto CNPq/REPENSA em São Gabriel do Oeste.

Este trabalho apresenta no âmbito do CNPq/REPENSA (Redes Nacionais de Pesquisa em Agrobiodiversidade e Sustentabilidade Agropecuária), Projeto número 562441/2010-7, ?Estruturação de rede de monitoramento e base compartilhada de dados de sistemas de produção integrada e intensiva sustentável (suinocultura-agrosilvipastoril) em assentamento de reforma agrária visando balanços favoráveis de água, energia e nutrientes?, informações norteadoras para projetos de fertirrigação para uma agricultura de baixa emissão de carbono. A fertirrigação vem se consolidando como atividade integradora de cadeias produtivas outrora dissociadas, sendo ferramenta importante de inclusão social no meio rural na borda do Pantanal (Bacia do Alto Taquari), transformando externalidades ambientais em fonte de renda e ganhos de produtividade agropecuária. Os resultados e indicadores aqui apresentados mostram que a fertirrigação com efluente de biodigestor de granjas de suínos, aqui convencionado de biofertilizante, gera impactos negativos e positivos. Os negativos recaem no potencial para eutrofização de corpos d?água por nitrogênio reativo na forma de nitratos (NO3); ambos os processos podem e devem ser substancialmente minimizados pelo uso controlado e eficiente do biofertilizante na agropecuária com doses adequadas de macro (especialmente N, P, K) e micronutrientes (Cu e Zn, entre outros) para diversasculturas, conforme discutido neste trabalho. Os impactos positivos são a manutenção do estoque de carbono no solo no longo prazo mediante manejo adequado da produção de forragem para gado (corte ou leite) ou na produção de grãos com tecnologias de conservação de solo, e o balanço favorável das emissões de gases de efeito estufa do agroecossistema como um todo pela substituição de diesel por biogás em motogeradores e motobombas, pela substituição da adubação mineral e de agrotóxicos (ambos não renováveis) e pela possibilidade de recomposição de mata proporcional à um terço dos ganhos de produtividade. Em termos de mecanismo de adaptação à mudança do clima, a restauração relativa de áreas de mata nativa favorece a recuperação e/ou manutenção de outros importantes serviços ambientais, como o aumento da agrobiodiversidade, a produção de água e incremento da polinização por insetos.bitstream/item/111107/1/BP116.pd

Safety and Immunogenicity of an In Vivo Muscle Electroporation Delivery System for DNA-hsp65 Tuberculosis Vaccine in Cynomolgus Monkeys

A Bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) is still the only licensed vaccine for the prevention of tuberculosis, providing limited protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in adulthood. New advances in the delivery of DNA vaccines by electroporation have been made in the past decade. We evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of the DNA-hsp65 vaccine administered by intramuscular electroporation (EP) in cynomolgus macaques. Animals received three doses of DNA-hsp65 at 30-day intervals. We demonstrated that intramuscular electroporated DNA-hsp65 vaccine immunization of cynomolgus macaques was safe, and there were no vaccine-related effects on hematological, renal, or hepatic profiles, compared to the pre-vaccination parameters. No tuberculin skin test conversion nor lung X-ray alteration was identified. Further, low and transient peripheral cellular immune response and cytokine expression were observed, primarily after the third dose of the DNA-hsp65 vaccine. Electroporated DNA-hsp65 vaccination is safe but provides limited enhancement of peripheral cellular immune responses. Preclinical vaccine trials with DNA-hsp65 delivered via EP may include a combination of plasmid cytokine adjuvant and/or protein prime–boost regimen, to help the induction of a stronger cellular immune response