On the origins of scaling corrections in ballistic growth models

We study the ballistic deposition and the grain deposition models on two-dimensional substrates. Using the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) ansatz for height fluctuations, we show that the main contribution to the intrinsic width, which causes strong corrections to the scaling, comes from the fluctuations in the height increments along deposition events. Accounting for this correction in the scaling analysis, we obtained scaling exponents in excellent agreement with the KPZ class. We also propose a method to suppress these corrections, which consists in divide the surface in bins of size $\varepsilon$ and use only the maximal height inside each bin to do the statistics. Again, scaling exponents in remarkable agreement with the KPZ class were found. The binning method allowed the accurate determination of the height distributions of the ballistic models in both growth and steady state regimes, providing the universal underlying fluctuations foreseen for KPZ class in 2+1 dimensions. Our results provide complete and conclusive evidences that the ballistic model belongs to the KPZ universality class in $2+1$ dimensions. Potential applications of the methods developed here, in both numerics and experiments, are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Online analyses of terrains for environment and engineering geology studies

This is an author’s version (C. Alves) and not the final published text. The final published text can be found in Proceedings 2019, 24(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/IECG2019-06222Geology is, from its foundation, a subject strongly based on field studies. Nonetheless, offsite studies can frequently play a relevant role in surveying large areas and in preliminary assessments of specific sites, and they could give important contributions to the planning of onsite works. Diverse online tools, including topographic and geological maps, satellite images and onsite images (Google Street View), are freely available and can be integrated into a GIS (Geographic Information System) environment such as QGIS (A Free and Open Source Geographic Information System licensed under the GNU General Public License [1]). The potential and limitations of these tools can be discussed in the context of subjects relating to environmental and engineering geology. The discussion can be supported by some case studies related to examples of these issues, based on observations of terrains (including observations of built structures). Diverse perspectives can be considered, such as restraints to structure development, hazard assessment and hydrological studies, as well as the potential of sites to be used for the teaching of concepts related to these subjectsThe Lab2PT-Landscapes, Heritage and Territory laboratory-AUR/04509 is supported by the Portuguese FCT—“Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” (Portuguese funds and where applicable the FEDER co-financing, in the aim of the new partnership agreement PT2020 and COMPETE2020—POCI 010145 FEDER 007528)

Incorporation of industrial wastes in wood pellets

ABSTRACT: The present work evaluates the incorporation of industrial wastes (Refuse Derived Fuel-RDF) into biomass for pellet production. Its influence on parameters such as pellet production, combustion and gas emissions was studied for up to 10% of residues incorporation. This approach also deals with the diverting of industrial waste from landfills. The main objectives were: increasing the heat value of the final product, diverting industrial residues with energy potential from landfill and assess the quality of different types of pellets with incorporation of industrial residues. Its implementation was carried out in three phases: selection and characterization of the different industrial residues, production of pellets from different mixtures of wastes and combustion tests. For this purpose a comprehensive characterization of the pellets, the gaseous emissions during combustion and the chemical characterization of the resulting ashes was carried out. The study has shown that the application of industrial residues is a promising route for their incorporation in pellets which should be balanced by the reduction of wastes for landfill. However a few problems were identified: higher difficulty in pelletizing and likely excessive wear of the pellet mill for some of the residues; combustion equipment requiring air supply adjustment and higher ash contents

hiPSC-based model of prenatal exposure to cannabinoids: effect on neuronal differentiation

Copyright © 2020 Miranda, Barata, Vaz, Ferreira, Quintas and Bekman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Phytocannabinoids are psychotropic substances ofcannabis with the ability to bind endocannabinoid (eCB) receptors that regulate synaptic activity in the central nervous system (CNS). Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are synthetic analogs of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), the psychotropic compound of cannabis, acting as agonists of eCB receptor CB1. SC is an easily available and popular alternative to cannabis, and their molecular structure is always changing, increasing the hazard for the general population. The popularity of cannabis and its derivatives may lead, and often does, to a child's exposure to cannabis both in utero and through breastfeeding by a drug-consuming mother. Prenatal exposure to cannabis has been associated with an altered rate of mental development and significant changes in nervous system functioning. However, the understanding of mechanisms of its action on developing the human CNS is still lacking. We investigated the effect of continuous exposure to cannabinoids on developing human neurons, mimicking the prenatal exposure by drug-consuming mother. Two human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) lines were induced to differentiate into neuronal cells and exposed for 37 days to cannabidiol (CBD), Δ9-THC, and two SCs, THJ-018 and EG-018. Both Δ9-THC and SC, at 10 μM, promote precocious neuronal and glial differentiation, while CBD at the same concentration is neurotoxic. Neurons exposed to Δ9-THC and SC show abnormal functioning of voltage-gated calcium channels when stimulated by extracellular potassium. In sum, all studied substances have a profound impact on the developing neurons, highlighting the importance of thorough research on the impact of prenatal exposure to natural and SC.This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (SFRH/BPD/81627/2011 to SV), by iBB — Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences — project UIDB/04565/2020, and by Egas Moniz Higher Institute of Health Science (Egas Moniz, CRL). Funding was also received from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, under the Grant Agreement number 739572—The Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017 to EB.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio