Scenedesmus incrassatulus CLHE-Si01: A potential source of renewable lipd for high quality biodiesel production

The potential of microalgal oil from Scenedesmus incrassatulus as a feedstock for biodiesel production was studied. Cell concentration of S. incrassatulus and lipid content obtained during mixotrophic growth were 1.8 g/L and 19.5 ? 1.5% dry cell weight, respectively. The major components of biodiesel obtained from S.incrassatulus oil were methyl palmitate (26%) and methyl linoleate (49%), which provided a strong indication of high quality biodiesel. Fuel properties were determined by empirical equations and found to be within the limits of biodiesel standard ASTM D6751 and EN 14214. The quality properties of the biodiesel were high cetane number (62), low density (803 kg/m3), low viscosity (3.78 mm2/s), oxidation stability (9 h) and cold filter plugging point (-4 ?C). Hence, S. incrassatulus has potential as a feedstock for the production of excellent quality biodiesel

Showing what we can do: assessment of primary school dance

In Australia, dance is one subject in the National Arts Curriculum for early childhood and primary education. In many schools, dance is taught for the minimum time necessary to satisfy the system requirements of a summative grade that can be included in mid-year or yearly reports. A qualitative study of the nature of dance education in two primary schools; collected data from video, observation, and interviews with teachers; and focus group discussions with children showed evidence of holistic learning achieved through dance. In this article, data were researched to look for evidence of the meanings that teachers and children attach to assessment in the context of dance education. Following an examination of various definitions of assessment, this article examines the relationship between pedagogy and assessment in general and in relation to dance education. Pedagogy and assessment in dance education will be unpacked using a socio-kinaesthetic perspective and, drawing on literature and findings from this qualitative study, "re-packaged" to present an approach to assessing dance intended to be useful to generalist classroom teachers

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines PREVenar13 and SynflorIX in sequence or alone in high-risk Indigenous infants (PREV-IX_COMBO): protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Otitis media (OM) starts within weeks of birth in almost all Indigenous infants living in remote areas of the Northern Territory (NT). OM and associated hearing loss persist from infancy throughout childhood and often into adulthood. Educational and social opportunities are greatly compromised. Pneumococcus and non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) are major OM pathogens that densely colonise the nasopharynx and infect the middle ear from very early in life. Our hypothesis is that compared to current single vaccine schedules, a combination of vaccines starting at 1 month of age, may provide earlier, broadened protection. METHODS AND ANALYSES: This randomised outcome assessor, blinded controlled trial will recruit 425 infants between 28 and 38 days of age and randomly allocate them (1:1:1) to one of three pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) schedules: Synflorix at 2, 4, 6 months of age, Prevenar13 at 2, 4 and 6 months of age, or an investigational schedule of Synflorix at 1, 2 and 4 months plus Prevenar13 at 6 months of age. The blinded primary outcomes at 7 months of age are immunogenicity of specific vaccine antigens (geometric mean concentration (GMC) and proportion of participants with above threshold GMC of 0.35 µg/L). Secondary outcomes at all timepoints are additional immunogenicity measures and proportion of participants with nasopharyngeal carriage of vaccine-type pneumococci and NTHi, and any OM, including any tympanic membrane perforation. Parental interviews will provide data on common risk factors for OM. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from NT Department of Health and Menzies HREC (EC00153), Central Australian HREC (EC00155) and West Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee (WAAHEC- 377-12/2011). Final trial results, data analyses, interpretation and conclusions will be presented in appropriate written and oral formats to parents and guardians, participating communities, local, national and international conferences, and published in peer-reviewed open access journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: ACTRN12610000544077 and NCT01174849

Showing what we can do: assessment of primary school dance

In Australia, dance is one subject in the National Arts Curriculum for early childhood and primary education. In many schools, dance is taught for the minimum time necessary to satisfy the system requirements of a summative grade that can be included in mid-year or yearly reports. A qualitative study of the nature of dance education in two primary schools; collected data from video, observation, and interviews with teachers; and focus group discussions with children showed evidence of holistic learning achieved through dance. In this article, data were researched to look for evidence of the meanings that teachers and children attach to assessment in the context of dance education. Following an examination of various definitions of assessment, this article examines the relationship between pedagogy and assessment in general and in relation to dance education. Pedagogy and assessment in dance education will be unpacked using a socio-kinaesthetic perspective and, drawing on literature and findings from this qualitative study, "re-packaged" to present an approach to assessing dance intended to be useful to generalist classroom teachers

Synthesis of Antioxidant Carotenoids in Microalgae in Response to Physiological Stress

Carotenoids act as potential antioxidants, quenching energy of excited singlet oxygen and scavenging free radicals. Among microalgae, Haematococcus, Chlamydomonas, Chlorella, Dunaliella and diatoms and dinoflagellates, such as Phaeodactylum and Isochrysis, are able to synthesize large amount of carotenoids. The main function of carotenoids consists in absorbing light to perform photosynthesis, and some of them are constitutively present in the cells (primary carotenoids). The main primary carotenoids usually found are neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein, and β-carotene. To preserve cells from oxidative damage, their production may be increased, while other carotenoids may be synthesized de novo. In particular, under stress conditions such as high light exposure, nutrient starvation, change in oxygen partial pressure, and high or low temperatures, microalgal metabolism is altered and photosynthetic activity may be reduced. In these conditions, photosynthetic electrons transport is reduced, and the intracellular reduction level increase may be associated with the formation of free radicals and species containing singlet oxygen. In order to prevent damage from photooxidation, microalgae are able to adopt strategies to contrast these dangerous oxidant molecules. One of the most active mechanisms is to synthesize large amount of carotenoids, which can act as antioxidants

Quality Preservation and Cost Effectiveness in the Extraction of Nutraceutically-Relevant Fractions from Microbial and Vegetal Matrices

Terrestrial and microbial vegetal matrices are a major source of nutraceutically and pharmaceutically relevant chemical compounds of different nature. In several cases the consumption of the raw vegetal or microbial matrix has been part of established diet regimes and has provided the consumers with a host of once unknown dietary benefits. Nowadays, while the consumption of the raw matrix still provides the original functional value, the separation of bioactive-enriched fractions has enabled the production of nutraceuticals, while the addition of nutraceutical fractions to food previously lacking or partially possessing them has lead to the industrial production of functionalised or fortified food respectively. The separability of nutraceutically relevant fractions depends on the combination of several different features of the carrier matrix and of the fraction to be separated, namely: size, aggregation state and physical (hardness) and chemical (composition) features of the embodying matrix, chemical nature, bonding and degree of dispersion of the fraction of interest in the embodying matrix. Physical, chemical and electrostatic interactions between the embodying matrix, the fractions to be separated and exogenous agents (equipment and process auxiliary substances, and the environment) affect the desired separation; the chemical nature of the solvent (if any), the specific energy applied by the physical agent (if any), the frequency and intensity of the mechanical (e.g., ultrasound) and electromagnetic (e.g., microwave) field (if any), the processing time and temperature and the presence of specific case-by-case unwanted substances (e.g., water, oxygen, metal ions) play a role in the final outcome of the recovery process of the desired fraction

CRISI BANCARIE E TUTELA DEI DEPOSITI

Negli ultimi anni si è sentito molto parlare delle crisi bancarie e delle misure adottate dalle Autorità per porre rimedio al dissesto di questi intermediari. Non sempre le banche riescono a superare una crisi ed è soprattutto in tale situazione che bisogna intervenire a tutela dei depositanti. L’obiettivo del mio elaborato è cercare di capire come negli anni si sono evolute le misure intraprese per tutelare i depositi e, dopo aver effettuato delle ricerche, ho messo in atto una comparazione tra le linee di intervento adottate in Usa e quelle adottate in Europa concentrandomi, nello specifico, su determinati Paesi europei. Ho studiato il contesto spagnolo, irlandese, francese e tedesco poiché ogni Paese ha una propria caratteristica, riguardo il sistema di tutela dei depositi, che lo contraddistingue dagli altri. Ho inoltre, concentrato la mia attenzione sull’Italia. Nel dettaglio, il primo capitolo si focalizza principalmente sulle crisi bancarie, si è cercato di comprendere se è possibile identificarle e prevenirle, quali sono le cause dell’insorgere di un dissesto di tali intermediari e gli effetti che producono le crisi bancarie. Più in dettaglio si è osservata la recente crisi bancaria sorta in USA a seguito della crisi dei mutui subprime e come tale crisi ha impattato sull’Europa e sulle banche europee, analizzando anche un effetto della crisi bancaria europea: l’insorgere del sovereign debt crisis. Il secondo capitolo riporta dei dati riguardo l’evoluzione delle recenti crisi bancarie. Si sono descritte le misure statali adottate e i relativi costi sopportati per risanare le banche americane ed europee e, precisamente, quelle italiane. Il terzo e il quarto capitolo sono il cuore della tesi. Il terzo tratta i vari strumenti a tutela dei depositi in America e in Europa e si descrivono i vari Fondi osservando come operano: a. in condizione di crisi dell’intermediario; b. per rimborsare i depositanti in caso di liquidazione delle banche. Nel quarto capitolo si affrontano gli stessi argomenti del terzo ma considerando l’Italia come oggetto di studio. In questo capitolo si affronta anche il ruolo assunto da Banca d’Italia per tutelare i depositanti delle banche. Infine vi è il quinto capitolo che descrive la tanto attesa novità europea desiderata negli ultimi anni: l’Unione Bancaria Europea. Tale progetto si basa su tre pilastri: 1. sistema unico di supervisione bancaria, operativo da novembre 2014; 2. sistema unico di risoluzione delle crisi bancarie, che dovrà entrare in vigore da gennaio 2016; 3. schema comune di tutela dei depositanti. L’ultimo pilastro è quello che più ci interessa in quest’analisi sia perché riguarda l’assicurazione dei depositi, sia perché non è stato del tutto realizzato come schema comune europeo, ma si è creata un’armonizzazione del funzionamento del sistema di garanzia dei depositi, come si vedrà nel dettaglio nell’elaborato