Pirólise como rota tecnológica para aproveitamento energético de biomassas: preparo, produção e caracterização de bioóleo de babaçu (Orbignya phalerata Martius)

Babassu (Orbignya phalerata Martius) is a native fruit of Brazil, widely found in its North and Northeast regions and also in other countries component of the Amazon region such as Bolivia, Colombia and Suriname. This fruit’s biomass contains a diversity of lignocellulosic, starchy and oil-baring organic components with high potential for biofuel production. For that, there has been seeking of technological routes for biomass reclaiming such as pyrolysis, a promising technique able to generate bioproducts with remarkable energetic potential. The present study reports on the preparation of the biomass and the production and characterization of bio-oil from babassu, obtained by pyrolysis of different parts of the fruit. The bioproduct presented characteristics such as solubility, acidity index, pH, density, viscosity, corrosivity and higher calorific value in accord to basic standards of biofuels production, which indicates the potential of this raw material.O Babaçu (Orbignya phalerata Martius) é uma fruta nativa do Brasil, encontrada principalmente nas regiões Norte e Nordeste do país, e também em países que compõem a região Amazônica como a Bolívia, Colômbia e Suriname. A biomassa dessa fruta contém uma diversidade de componentes orgânicos lignocelulósicos, amiláceos e oleaginosos, com grande potencial para obtenção de biocombustíveis. Para tanto, busca-se por rotas tecnológicas de aproveitamento de biomassa como o processo de pirólise, uma técnica promissora capaz de gerar bio-produtos com notável potencial energético. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo aborda o preparo da biomassa e a produção e caracterização do bio-óleo de babaçu, obtido por meio da técnica de pirólise a partir de diferentes partes da fruta. O bio-produto obtido apresentou características como solubilidade, índice de acidez, pH, densidade, viscosidade, corrosividade e poder calorifico superior dentro dos padrões básicos para produção de biocombustíveis, o que indica o potencial de uso dessa matéria-prima

Biopolymer‐based Carriers for DNA Vaccine Design

Abstract: Over the last 30 years, genetically engineered DNA has been tested as novel vaccination strategy against various diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, several parasites, and cancers. However, the clinical breakthrough of the technique is confined by the low transfection efficacy and immunogenicity of the employed vaccines. Therefore, carrier materials were designed to prevent the rapid degradation and systemic clearance of DNA in the body. In this context, biopolymers are a particularly promising DNA vaccine carrier platform due to their beneficial biochemical and physical characteristics, including biocompatibility, stability, and low toxicity. This article reviews the applications, fabrication, and modification of biopolymers as carrier medium for genetic vaccines

Biopolymer‐based Carriers for DNA Vaccine Design

Abstract: Over the last 30 years, genetically engineered DNA has been tested as novel vaccination strategy against various diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, several parasites, and cancers. However, the clinical breakthrough of the technique is confined by the low transfection efficacy and immunogenicity of the employed vaccines. Therefore, carrier materials were designed to prevent the rapid degradation and systemic clearance of DNA in the body. In this context, biopolymers are a particularly promising DNA vaccine carrier platform due to their beneficial biochemical and physical characteristics, including biocompatibility, stability, and low toxicity. This article reviews the applications, fabrication, and modification of biopolymers as carrier medium for genetic vaccines

Seasonal hydrology drives rapid shifts in the flux and composition of dissolved and particulate organic carbon and major and trace ions in the Fraser River, Canada

© The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 12 (2015): 5597-5618, doi:10.5194/bg-12-5597-2015.Rapid changes in the volume and sources of discharge during the spring freshet lead to pronounced variations in biogeochemical properties in snowmelt-dominated river basins. We used daily sampling during the onset of the freshet in the Fraser River (southwestern Canada) in 2013 to identify rapid changes in the flux and composition of dissolved material, with a focus on dissolved organic matter (DOM). Previous time series sampling (at twice monthly frequency) of dissolved inorganic species in the Fraser River has revealed smooth seasonal transitions in concentrations of major ions and tracers of water and dissolved load sources between freshet and base flow periods. In contrast, daily sampling reveals a significant increase in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (200 to 550 μmol L−1) occurring over a matter of days, accompanied by a shift in DOM optical properties, indicating a transition towards higher molecular weight, more aromatic DOM composition. Comparable changes in DOM composition, but not concentration, occur at other times of year, underscoring the role of seasonal climatology in DOM cycling. A smaller data set of total and dissolved Hg concentrations also showed variability during the spring freshet period, although dissolved Hg dynamics appear to be driven by factors beyond DOM as characterized here. The time series records of DOC and particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations indicate that the Fraser River exports 0.25–0.35 % of its annual basin net primary productivity. The snowmelt-dominated hydrology, forested land cover, and minimal reservoir impoundment of the Fraser River may influence the DOC yield of the basin, which is high relative to the nearby Columbia River and of similar magnitude to that of the Yukon River to the north. Anticipated warming and decreased snowfall due to climate changes in the region may cause an overall decrease in DOM flux from the Fraser River to the coastal ocean in coming decadesThis work was partially supported by a WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund award to BMV and NSF grants EAR-1226818 to BPE, OCE-0851015 to TIE, BPE, and VG, and OCE-0851101 to RGMS, and support to BPE from Jane and James Orr

Tracing river chemistry in space and time : dissolved inorganic constituents of the Fraser River, Canada

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 124 (2014): 283-308, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2013.09.006.The Fraser River basin in southwestern Canada bears unique geologic and climatic features which make it an ideal setting for investigating the origins, transformations and delivery to the coast of dissolved riverine loads under relatively pristine conditions. We present results from sampling campaigns over three years which demonstrate the lithologic and hydrologic controls on fluxes and isotope compositions of major dissolved inorganic runoff constituents (dissolved nutrients, major and trace elements, 87Sr/86Sr, δD). A time series record near the Fraser mouth allows us to generate new estimates of discharge-weighted concentrations and fluxes, and an overall chemical weathering rate of 32 t km-2 y-1. The seasonal variations in dissolved inorganic species are driven by changes in hydrology, which vary in timing across the basin. The time series record of dissolved 87Sr/86Sr is of particular interest, as a consistent shift between higher (“more radiogenic”) values during spring and summer and less radiogenic values in fall and winter demonstrates the seasonal variability in source contributions throughout the basin. This seasonal shift is also quite large (0.709 – 0.714), with a discharge-weighted annual average of 0.7120 (2 s.d. = 0.0003). We present a mixing model which predicts the seasonal evolution of dissolved 87Sr/86Sr based on tributary compositions and water discharge. This model highlights the importance of chemical weathering fluxes from the old sedimentary bedrock of headwater drainage regions, despite their relatively small contribution to the total water flux.This work was supported by the WHOI Academic Programs Office and MIT PAOC Houghton Fund to BMV, a WHOI Arctic Research Initiative grant to ZAW, NSF-ETBC grant OCE-0851015 to BPE and TIE, and NSF grant EAR-1226818 to BPE

A two-stage packing problem procedure

This paper deals with a two-stage packing problem that has to be solved in the daily distribution process of a Portuguese trading company. In the first stage, boxes including goods are to be packed on pallets, while in the second stage these pallets are loaded into one or more trucks. The boxes have to be transported to different customers, and the main goal is to guarantee a sufficient utilization of the truck loading space. A two-stage packing procedure is proposed to cover both problem stages. First, boxes are loaded onto pallets by means of a well-known container loading algorithm. Then, trucks are filled with loaded pallets by a tree search algorithm. The performance of the two-stage approach was evaluated using a set of instances that are based on actual company data.publishe