Portugal

In Portugal, 2012 was an atypical year in Portugal with regards to energy. Due to the efficiency measures implemented in recent years, but also due to the economic recession, electricity consumption in Portugal dropped 3.6% to 49.1 TWh. This represents a reduction of 6% of electricity demand in the last two years (1). It was also an extremely dry year, the fifth driest hydro year of the past 80 years (63% below the normal climate). Therefore, due to the reduced hydro production, the renewable contribution for the energy mix decreased 17% compared to 2011

Integração de sistemas de energia renovável a instalações residenciais

Os sistemas de microgeração domésticos que produzem energia a partir de fontes renováveis necessitam de legislação especifica e de ferramentas para identificar os potenciais e a viabilidade de implantação de soluções tecnológicas adaptadas ao ambiente urbano. Este artigo analisa exemplos de implementação de sistemas eólicos, fotovoltaicos e híbridos em uma edificação, debatendo questões económicas e energéticas

Portugal

During 2011, Portugal experienced a strong reduction of electricity demand. With a decrease of 2.3%, the total consumption was 50.5 TWh (1). Due to a mild winter season, the most relevant renewable generation facilities (hydro and wind) experienced a strong production reduction in comparison with 2010. In 2011, Portuguese wind farms produced 21 GWh less than the previous year. It is only because of the decrease in consumption that wind penetration achieved a value of 18%. The growth of the wind sector has maintained the pace of 2010, and 315 MW were added. This amounts to a total installed capacity of 4,302 MW, representing 22% of the electric system’s installed capacity (1). In November 2011, a milestone for Portuguese offshore wind development was achieved with the successful deployment of its first offshore floating wind turbine – WindFloat (opening photo)

Validation of an offshore wind atlas using the satellite data available at the coastal regions of Portugal

In this study a validation methodology for regional mesoscale model simulations when ingested with surface wind data inferred from satellite sources around Continental Portugal is evaluated. Observational wind data from a “quasi” offshore anemometric mast located in the Berlenga Island – near Peniche region – was used for the validation study. Satellite sources of wind data under assessment are the ones being used in the EC funded FP7 NORSEWInD project, such as the QuikSCAT and SAR. The validation study evolves 10 years of full wind data, starting in January 2000 to December 2009. The evaluation was performed in two different spatial validation approaches. Results from this study indicate that the wind satellite data has good quality to be assimilated on high resolution mesoscale model simulations particularly the ones concerned with long term behavior of the wind field near the coastal areas

Validade e confiabilidade do diâmetro abdominal sagital enquanto preditor de gordura abdominal visceral

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the reliability of the sagittal abdominal diameter and its validity as a predictor of visceral abdominal fat, as well as to identify the most appropriate cut-off points to identify the area of visceral fat that is known to represent a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. DESIGN: Validation study. SUBJECTS: 92 healthy volunteers (57 women, 35 men), age: 20-83 y, body mass index: 19.3 to 35.9 kg/m². MEASUREMENTS: Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), weight, height, circumferences (waist, hip, and thigh), sub-scapular skinfold thickness, abdominal diameter index, and waist-hip ratio (WHR). METHOD OF CHOICE: Computed tomography (CT). STATISTIC: Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The reliability for SAD measurement was very high (Inter-class coefficient = 0.99). Visceral fat as measured by VAF through CT was highly correlated with SAD (women r = 0.80; men r = 0.64, p < 0.001), waist circumference (women r = 0.77; men r = 0.73, p < 0.001), and WHR (women r = 0.72; men r = 0.58, p < 0.001). The ROC curve indicated 19.3 cm and 20.5 cm as the threshold values for abdominal sagittal diameter in women and men (sensitivity 85% and 83%, specificity 77% and 82%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: There was a high correlation between SAD and VAF. The cut-off values identified for SAD presented a sensitivity and specificity that were considered adequate.OBJETIVOS: Avaliar a confiabilidade do diâmetro abdominal sagital e a sua validade enquanto preditor de gordura abdominal visceral, assim como identificar os pontos de corte mais apropriados para identificar a área de gordura visceral que é conhecida por representar fator de risco para doença cardiovascular. MÉTODOS: Desenho: Estudo de validação. Amostra: 92 voluntários saudáveis (57 mulheres, 35 homens), idade: 20-83 anos, índice de massa corporal: 19,3 a 35,9 kg/m². Medidas: Diâmetro abdominal sagital (DAS), peso, altura, circunferências (cintura, quadril e coxa), pregas cutâneas tricipital e subescapular, índice diâmetro abdominal e razão cintura-quadril (RCQ). MÉTODO DE ESCOLHA: Tomografia computadorizada (TC). ESTATÍSTICA: Curva ROC (receiver operating characteristic). RESULTADOS: A confiabilidade do DAS foi muito alta (coeficiente inter-classe = 0,99). A área de gordura visceral medida pela TC teve uma alta correlação com o DAS (mulheres r = 0,80, homens r = 0,64, p < 0,001), circunferência da cintura (mulheres r = 0,77, homens r = 0,73, p < 0,001) e com a RCQ (mulheres r = 0,72, homens r = 0,58, p < 0,001). A curva ROC indicou 19,3 cm e 20,5 cm como valores limites para o diâmetro abdominal sagital em mulheres e homens (sensibilidade de 85% e 83%, especificidade de 77% e 82%, respectivamente). CONCLUSÕES: Observou-se alta correlação entre o DAS e a área de gordura abdominal visceral. Os pontos de corte identificados para o DAS apresentaram sensibilidade e especificidade adequadas.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Universidade Federal da Bahia Escola de Nutrição Departamento Ciência da NutriçãoUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Department of Health and Human Services of Centers for Disease Control and PreventionUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Medicina PreventivaUNIFESP, Department of Health and Human Services of Centers for Disease Control and PreventionUNIFESP, Depto. de Medicina PreventivaSciEL

Influence of preparation procedures on the phenolic content, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of green and black teas

The influence of common tea preparation procedures (temperature, infusion time, consumption time interval and tea bag/loose-leaf) and the type of water used, on the total phenolic content (TPC), the radical scavenging activity and the alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity were assessed. Higher TPC and antioxidant activity were obtained when using lower mineralized waters. Tea bags also evidenced higher antioxidant activity than loose-leaf samples. Under the same conditions (90 degrees C and five minutes of infusion time) green tea contains almost twice the quantity of polyphenols and the free radical scavenging ability of black tea. In the alpha-glucosidase assay all infusions were active (97-100 %). Furthermore, HPLC allowed to identify some of the polyphenols present in both teas and to monitor their composition change with time. After twenty-four hours, the antioxidant activity was maintained without significant changes, but a small decrease in enzyme inhibition was observed, although this activity was still very high.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Enhancing the removal of pollutants from coke wastewater by bioaugmentation: a scoping study

BACKGROUND Bioaugmentation and biostimulation were investigated for their ability to improve the removal of thiocyanate (SCN-), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), phenol and trace metals in coke wastewater. Additionally, the ability of the microorganisms supplemented with the bioaugmentation product to survive in a simulated river water discharge was evaluated. RESULTS A commercially available bioaugmentation product composed mainly of Bacillus sp. was mixed with activated sludge biomass. A dose of 0.5 g/L increased the removal of Ʃ6PAHs (sum of fluoranthene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and benzo[g,h,i]perylene) by 51% and reduced SCN- below 4 mg/L enabling compliance with the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). Biostimulation (supplementing micronutrients and alkalinity) allowed compliance for both SCN- and phenol (<0.5 mg/L). Bacillus sp. accounted for 4.4% of the microbial population after 25 hours (1.5 g/L dose) which declined to 0.06% after exposure to river water (24 hours). Exposure of the activated sludge biomass to river water resulted in a 98.6% decline in viable cell counts. CONCLUSION To comply with the IED, bioaugmentation and biostimulation are recommended for the treatment of coke wastewater to enable an effluent Ʃ6PAHs of 6.6 μg/L, 0.3 mg/L phenol and 1.2 mg/L SCN-. Such techniques are not anticipated to impact on downstream river water quality

Playing Darwin. Part B. 20 years of domestication in Drosophila subobscura

Adaptation to a new environment (as well as its underlying mechanisms) is one of the most important topics in Evolutionary Biology. Understanding the adaptive process of natural populations to captivity is essential not only in general evolutionary studies but also in conservation programmes. Since 1990, the Group of Experimental Evolution (CBA/FCUL) has been performing long-term, real-time evolutionary studies, with the characterization of laboratory adaptation in populations of Drosophila subobscura founded in different times and from different locations. Initially, these experiments involved phenotypic assays and more recently were expanded to studies at the molecular level (microsatellite and chromosomal polymorphisms) and with different population sizes. Throughout these two decades, a clear pattern of evolutionary convergence to long-established laboratory populations has been consistently observed in several life-history traits. However, contingencies across foundations were also found during the adaptive process. In characters with complex evolutionary trajectories, the data suggested that the comparative method lacked predictive capacity relative to real-time evolutionary trajectories (experimental evolution). Microsatellite analysis revealed general similarity in gene diversity and allele number between studied populations, as well as an unclear association between genetic variability and evolutionary potential. Nevertheless, ongoing studies in all foundations are being carried out to further test this hypothesis. A comparison between recently introduced and long-term populations (founded from the same natural location) has shown higher degree of chromosomal polymorphism in recent ones. Finally, our findings suggest higher heterogeneity between small-sized populations, as well as a slower evolutionary rate in characters close to fitness (such as fecundity and mating behaviour). This comprehensive study is aimed at better understanding the processes and patterns underlying adaptation to captivity, as well as its genetic basis

Low level genome mistranslations deregulate the transcriptome and translatome and generate proteotoxic stress in yeast

Organisms use highly accurate molecular processes to transcribe their genes and a variety of mRNA quality control and ribosome proofreading mechanisms to maintain intact the fidelity of genetic information flow. Despite this, low level gene translational errors induced by mutations and environmental factors cause neurodegeneration and premature death in mice and mitochondrial disorders in humans. Paradoxically, such errors can generate advantageous phenotypic diversity in fungi and bacteria through poorly understood molecular processes.publishe