Relationships between bone turnover and energy metabolism

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.It is well established that diabetes can be detrimental to bone health, and its chronic complications have been associated with an increased risk of osteoporotic fracture. However, there is growing evidence that the skeleton plays a key role in a whole-organism approach to physiology. The hypothesis that bone may be involved in the regulation of physiological functions, such as insulin sensitivity and energy metabolism, has been suggested. Given the roles of insulin, adipokines, and osteocalcin in these pathways, the need for a more integrative conceptual approach to physiology is emphasized. Recent findings suggest that bone plays an important role in regulating intermediary metabolism, being possibly both a target of diabetic complications and a potential pathophysiologic factor in the disease itself. Understanding the relationships between bone turnover and glucose metabolism is important in order to develop treatments that might reestablish energy metabolism and bone health. This review describes new insights relating bone turnover and energy metabolism that have been reported in the literature.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 and its ancient ghosts: comparison, history and the ever-present need to fight authoritarianism

Brazil is facing one of its most severe political crises since 2016, with several impacts in its gradual process of democratization. In this context, the main argument in this work is that many of the ghosts that scary the Brazilian society in the Twenty-First century are direct heirs of an unresolved (pre-constitutional) past, whose risks can be strongly perceived and whose solution is an urgent task. Every time there is political turmoil and a disturbance to the rule of law in the country, the support for democracy seems to dwindle. In this vein, this article aims to explore such contradictions and difficulties and how they still represent a threat to the Brazilian democracy through an analysis dedicated to the complex and ambiguous relation that the Constitution (and various of the Brazilian institutions, like the Supreme Court) has (have) established with the military dictatorship that lasted from 1964 until 1985. The authoritarian ghosts that up until now haunts the Brazilian reality, though inevitable due to the compromises that underpin it and the practices that stubbornly replicate the past into the very present, have at least to be disclosed and, as such, challenged by a learning process that only a militant memory is capable of making us aware of

Exploring the potential of primary sludges from paper mills for the production of value-added compounds

Background & Objectives: Industrial residues are emerging as low-cost alternatives to typical lignocellulosic materials, usually more expensive and hard to process, being currently the center of an urgent transition into a greener economy. One possible example are the primary sludges abundantly produced by paper mills, typically burned for heat generation. This work aimed to assess the potential of primary sludges to enzymatically produce monomer sugars that can be later converted into different compounds. Methods: Pressed sludges from the primary treatment of effluents from a paper mill were provided by RAIZ (Aveiro, Portugal). These were subjected to a chemical treatment to remove a high content of calcium carbonate, allowing to concentrate their cellulosic fraction. This treated material was hydrolyzed using a commercial cocktail of cellulases (Cellic Ctec 2) at 500C under different solids loadings and feeding regimes. The hydrolysis performance was evaluated from the levels of glucose released over time, quantified by HPLC. Results: Initial compositional analysis of the primary sludges determined a rather modest cellulose content, around 30 %. Different neutralization processes were tested to remove the high content of carbonates, the best option allowing to concentrate cellulose fraction to 58 %. The neutralized solid was then tested for its hydrolysis susceptibility. A saccharification efficiency of 92 % was achieved in 140 h of a batch hydrolyses with 9 % solids. When superior solid loadings were employed, specifically 15 and 17.5 %, the saccharification efficiency slightly decreased to 90 and 87 %, respectively, still representing very interesting levels. For the 17.5 % suspension, a maximum of 102 g/L of glucose was obtained, which already represents an attractive level of glucose that can be further converted into a variety of compounds. Using an alternative strategy comprising a batch process (12.5 % solids) combined with multiple pulses of 2 % solid resulted in a slight reduction of the saccharification yield (82 %) but a 35 % reduction on enzymes consumption. Conclusions: Primary sludges from paper mills are an interesting raw-material to produce several added-value compounds, relying on a sugar-rich and easy-to-process material. This can also represent a new and more attractive valorization route for this residue, representing an important economic gain for paper manufacturing sector.This work had the financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the scope of Project EcoTech (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032206). The authors also acknowledge RAIZ for providing the primary sludges.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sustainable practices for electrical energy network management: A literature review and proposal

Many different approaches have been proposed for improving energy network management. Although these diverse contributions, most approaches for clearly identifying and accurately solving the real problems remain rather inefficient. This is greatly due to the absence of use of completely integrated and sustainable models with Organizations playing fundamental rolls through the use of effective and efficient decision support tools. One such typical problem is related to the accurate identification and the precise calculation of electrical energy losses, which still remains unsolved as well as the clear specification of the critical points and segments in the networks were problems do occur. Consequently, there is still a lack of effective prioritization of actions and interventions in order to reduce those problems. Therefore, in this paper we propose a model for sustainable energy network management were the organizational element assumes a crucial function.This work was supported by FCT “Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia” under the program: PEst20152020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Optically active aziridine esters by nucleophilic addition of nitrogen heterocycles to a chiral 2H-azirine-2-carboxylic ester

Chiral enriched ethyl 3-methyl-2H-azirine-2-carboxylate acts as an efficient alkylating agent for a variety of five membered aromatic nitrogen heterocycles.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - POCTI/32723/QUI/2000. FEDER

Small harbours risks: lowering for fishery and increasing erosion. The case of Portinho da Aguda (NW Portugal)

The harbour Portinho da Aguda was established between October 2001 and July 2002, at Aguda village. The area presented some rocky outcrops that, in some way, protected the coastal border against direct wave impact, on a coastal stretch where erosion has been a continuing problem. In an attempt to create a protected area for the entrance and way out of the community’s small fishing boats a detached curved breakwater was built. After some months, still during the works, a wedge beach was created against the temporary groin, promoting the enlargement of the beach located updrift and the erosion of the downdrift coastal segment (Granja Beach). To remediate this situation, sand transfer from the updrift area was done, to compensate the accentuated loss of sediments of Granja Beach, a famous old seaside resort. But, due to the very high energetic conditions, sands did not remain on the beach, and new spring to early summer recharges became necessary. Based on results from a comprehensive monitoring program of the coastal border north and south of Aguda between 2001 and 2009 with DGPS, sedimentary budgets were calculated and morphological changes identified, comparing situations before and after breakwater construction. Breakwater impacts on neighbouring areas of the harbour are presented, as are the evolution trends of the harbour itself. Some possible mitigation measures are pointed out and the efficiency and relevance of this kind of coastal structures is discussed

Control of zootechnology leads to improved Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis, L.) reproduction performance up to pre-industrial levels

Cephalopods are gaining momentum as an alternate group for aquaculture species diversification, not only because they are a good food source (highly appreciated in some worldwide markets) but they also have the potential to quickly reach a market size. However, there are some bottlenecks impeding the transition of culture technology from the laboratory to industry. One is related to control over reproduction in captivity. The objective of the present experiment was to verify the effects of tanks with different bottom areas/volumes on the reproduction performance of S. officinalis breeding stocks, when sex ratios were controlled a priori; and the food cost associated with such performance when individuals are fed a natural frozen diet. One hundred and ninety two juvenile cuttlefish were used to compare three different round-shaped tanks: one type with 3000L volume and two types with 9000L volume (with differences in bottom areas and water column). Individuals had their sex and maturity stage determined to establish a sexual ratio of 2 female:1 male per tank and assure that cuttlefish were still immature. Biological data was collected during both growth and reproduction stages and until the death of all females in each tank. The experiment lasted nearly 300 days. Temperature differences between tank types were registered during both stages. The optimizing of rearing conditions has allowed for higher growth and a higher amount of cuttlefish available for breeding purposes. A total of 123,751 eggs (in 85 batches) was obtained during this experiment, which is a number that may meet a small scale cuttlefish commercial hatchery facility requirements. The present conditions contributed to a better and predictable reproduction performance in specific 9000L tanks, with values reaching pre-industrial numbers (approximate to 24,000 eggs/tank). Moreover, both the amount of eggs per batch and the overall quality of eggs has increased. Three of these 9000L tanks have an overall consumption of approximate to 38.64 Kg tank(-1), which translates in an investment in feed of approximate to 193 (sic) tank(-1), 8.40 (sic) per cuttlefish and an overall daily tank expense of 1.76 (sic) d(-1).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio