Economic valuation of life cycle environmental impacts of construction products - A critical analysis

The aim of this paper is to identify existing methods for economic valuation or monetisation of life cycle environmental impacts and to assess its applicability in the broad European context. Although environmental awareness is more and more important in several industrial sectors, including the construction sector, easy to understand data are still missing for professionals to assess and manage impacts related to the whole life cycle of a building. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most commonly accepted methodologies to calculate potential life cycle environmental impacts of a product or service. However, the results of such method, even when published in an Environmental Product Declaration, meant for business to business communication, are not always comparable or easily understandable by non-practitioners. Economic valuation or monetisation of LCA results is a weighting step that can make it easier for non-practitioners to use LCA results to support decision-making. From the several monetisation methods analysed, it is discussed the one that is most suitable for use when LCA results already exist. It is concluded that further work is needed to improve such weighting methods or develop a common one that can be representative at a broader geographical level (for instance, Europe-wide).This work was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [grant number PD/BD/127850/2016] under the Doctoral Program EcoCoRe - Eco-Construction and Rehabilitation. Support from CERIS and Instituto Superior Técnico is also acknowledged

Intra-hospital mortality for community-acquired pneumonia in mainland Portugal between 2000 and 2009

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a common and serious infection with wide variability in intra-hospital mortality. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients admitted with CAP in mainland Portugal between the years 2000 and 2009. Results: The intra-hospital mortality rate was 20.4% with deaths in all age groups. The average age of deceased patients was 79.8 years, significantly higher than surviving patients with 71.3 years. Patients aged 50 or more presented a relative risk of death 4.4 times the risk of patients under this age group. Likewise, in patients aged 65 or more the risk of death was 3.2 times the risk of patients <65 years. Men died more at a younger age than women, the men who died were, on average, 4 years younger than women, 78.1 vs 82.1 years old. Relative risk of death in men was 17% higher than women after adjustment for year of admission and age. Conclusion: CAP remains an important cause of hospital mortality in all age groups.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of Appropriate Antimicrobial Therapy for Patients with Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock – A Quality Improvement Study

Background There is ample literature available on the association between both time to antibiotics and appropriateness of antibiotics and clinical outcomes from sepsis. In fact, the current state of debate surrounds the balance to be struck between prompt empirical therapy and care in the choice of appropriate antibiotics (both in terms of the susceptibility of infecting organism and minimizing resistance arising from use of broad-spectrum agents). The objective of this study is to determine sepsis bundle compliance and the appropriateness of antimicrobial therapy in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock and its impact on outcomes. Material This study was conducted in the ICU of a tertiary care, private hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. A retrospective cohort study was conducted from July 2005 to December 2012 in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. Results A total of 1,279 patients were identified with severe sepsis and septic shock, of which 358 (32.1%) had bloodstream infection (BSI). The inpatient mortality rate was 29%. In evaluation of the sepsis bundle, over time there was a progressive increase in serum arterial lactate collection, obtaining blood cultures prior to antibiotic administration, administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics within 1 hour, and administration of appropriate antimicrobials, with statistically significant differences in the later years of the study. We also observed a significant decrease in mortality. In patients with bloodstream infection, after adjustment for other covariates the administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy was associated with a decrease in mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock (p = 0.023). Conclusions The administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy was independently associated with a decline in mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock due to bloodstream infection. As protocol adherence increased over time, the crude mortality rate decreased, which reinforces the need to implement institutional guidelines and monitor appropriate antimicrobial therapy compliance

Avaliação de ferramentas para a furação de laminados

A utilização crescente de materiais compósitos nos mais variados domínios coloca novos desafios no projecto de ferramentas de corte dedicadas a este tipo de materiais, ao invés da tradicional adaptação das ferramentas desenvolvidas para materiais metálicos. Neste artigo apresenta-se um estudo comparativo de geometrias de broca com o objectivo de reduzir o dano associado. Para tal, são analisadas as forças desenvolvidas durante o processo de furação, a extensão da zona delaminada em redor do furo produzido e efectuados ensaios mecânicos com o objectivo de estabelecer uma correlação entre os diversos resultados e as características mecânicas das placas maquinadas. Assim, a referida comparação permite avaliar a importância da escolha adequada da geometria de ferramenta na diminuição do dano provocado e na melhoria das características mecânicas das peças envolvidas

Signal Processing for NDE

Nowadays, testing and evaluating of industrial equipment using nondestructive tests, is a fundamental step in the manufacturing process. The complexity and high costs of manufacturing industrial components, require examinations in some way about the quality and reliability of the specimens. However, it should be noted, that in order to accurately perform the nondestructive test, in addition to theoretical knowledge, it is also essential to have the experience and carefulness, which requires special courses and experience with theoretical education. Therefore, in the traditional methods, which are based on manual testing techniques and the test results depend on the operator, there is the possibility of an invalid inference from the test data. In other words, the accuracy of conclusion from the obtained data is dependent on the skill and experience of the operator. Thus, using the signal processing techniques for nondestructive evaluation (NDE), it is possible to optimize the methods of nondestructive inspection, and in other words, to improve the overall system performance, in terms of reliability and system implementation costs. In recent years, intelligent signal processing techniques have had a significant impact on the progress of nondestructive assessment. In other words, by automating the processing of nondestructive data and signals, and using the artificial intelligence methods, it is possible to optimize nondestructive inspection methods. Hence, improve overall system performance in terms of reliability and Implementation costs of the system. This chapter reviews the issues of intelligent processing of nondestructive testing (NDT) signals

Identificação de limites entre duas classes de solo utilizando radar de penetração no solo com profundidades ajustadas por barras de ferro e validação com trado holandês.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi delimitar a transição entre um Planossolo Háplico e um Argissolo Vermelho em uma topossequência, localizada em Seropédica-RJ, utilizando o Radar de Penetração no Solo (RPS). Assim, foram descritos dois perfis de solo, um em cada extremidade do transecto, em que foram inseridas barras de ferro nas transições entre os horizontes. Depois realizaram-se leituras com o RPS utilizando uma antena monotestática blindada de 450 MHz sobre cada perfil e uma contemplando o transecto. Como resultado, a barra associada à base do horizonte E do Planossolo no radargrama possibilitou identificar seu limite em campo. Depois, utilizou-se um trado Holandês onde houve a transição entre os tipos de solos no radargrama, confirmando a transição em campo. Conclui-se que o RPS com antena monoestática, aliado ao uso de barras de ferro, demonstra potencial para auxiliar na identificação em detalhe dos limites de classes de solo com características físicas distintas

Efeitos da aplicação de digestato bovino nas características do solo Planossolo Háplico no município de Seropédica - RJ.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da utilização de digestato bovino nos solos de baixa fertilidade de Seropédica, no estado do Rio de Janeiro. O digestato utilizado como fertilizante foi proveniente do processo de digestão anaeróbia de dejetos bovinos do sistema orgânico de produção. Foram aplicadas quatro doses de digestato, em experimento de vasos utilizando a cultura do milho. Os resultados demonstraram que o conteúdo de cálcio, magnésio e fósforo diminuíram com a aplicação do digestato no solo, indicando a absorção desses nutrientes pela cultura do milho ao longo do experimento. Para potássio e sódio, observou-se um incremento deles no solo, sendo justificado pelos seus conteúdos presentes no digestato adicionado. Os conteúdos de H+Al e alumínio não apresentaram grandes alterações após aplicação do digestato, demonstrando que o uso do digestato é seguro e, a curto prazo, não apresenta risco de toxicidad

Avaliação das diferentes práticas de manejo na agregação do solo sob cultivo orgânico de hortaliças em Seropédica (RJ).

Anais do XI Congresso Brasileiro de Agroecologia, São Cristóvão, Sergipe

Characterization of an Alkali- and Halide-Resistant Laccase Expressed in E. coli: CotA from <i>Bacillus clausii</i>

The limitations of fungal laccases at higher pH and salt concentrations have intensified the search for new extremophilic bacterial laccases. We report the cloning, expression, and characterization of the bacterial cotA from Bacillus clausii, a supposed alkalophilic ortholog of cotA from B. subtilis. Both laccases were expressed in E. coli strain BL21(DE3) and characterized fully in parallel for strict benchmarking. We report activity on ABTS, SGZ, DMP, caffeic acid, promazine, phenyl hydrazine, tannic acid, and bilirubin at variable pH. Whereas ABTS, promazine, and phenyl hydrazine activities vs. pH were similar, the activity of B. clausii cotA was shifted upwards by ~0.5-2 pH units for the simple phenolic substrates DMP, SGZ, and caffeic acid. This shift is not due to substrate affinity (K(M)) but to pH dependence of catalytic turnover: The k(cat) of B. clausii cotA was 1 s⁻¹ at pH 6 and 5 s⁻¹ at pH 8 in contrast to 6 s⁻¹ at pH 6 and 2 s⁻¹ at pH 8 for of B. subtilis cotA. Overall, k(cat)/K(M) was 10-fold higher for B. subtilis cotA at pH(opt). While both proteins were heat activated, activation increased with pH and was larger in cotA from B. clausii. NaCl inhibited activity at acidic pH, but not up to 500-700 mM NaCl in alkaline pH, a further advantage of the alkali regime in laccase applications. The B. clausii cotA had ~20 minutes half-life at 80°C, less than the ~50 minutes at 80°C for cotA from B. subtilis. While cotA from B. subtilis had optimal stability at pH~8, the cotA from B. clausii displayed higher combined salt- and alkali-resistance. This resistance is possibly caused by two substitutions (S427Q and V110E) that could repel anions to reduce anion-copper interactions at the expense of catalytic proficiency, a trade-off of potential relevance to laccase optimization