Care, Education, protection – the Associação Protectora dos Diabéticis de Portugal goes from strength to strength

The Portuguese Diabetes Association is the world’s oldest diabetes association and a senior Member Association of the International Diabetes Federation. From the moment it was founded, early in the 20th century, to the present day, the Associação has been driven by a single overarching objective: to improve the quality of life of people with diabetes. Involved nationally in diabetes advocacy and the provision of education, as well as the delivery of care, APDP has become a key player in the healthcare arena in Portugal and its activities reach many thousands of people with diabetes

Production and characterization of activated carbons made from sunflower stems

Activated carbons (ACs) are artificial materials, prepared from natural or synthetic precursors that are worldwide extensively used. The ACs main characteristics are the noticeable adsorption capabilities provided by the highly developed porous structure and the rich surface chemistry. Because of their versatility and properties the final material can be tailored to have specific properties suitable for a wide range of applications such as medical uses, gas storage, removal of pollutants and odours, gas separation and purification as well as in catalysis. With the increase of activated carbon demand, one of the main challenges lies in the attempt to find new precursors, which are cheap and accessible with good valorisation potential, like industrial and agricultural residues. In the present work we report the production of ACs from sunflower stems, an agricultural by-product, through a physical activation process by CO2 and H2O, using a single step carbonisation at 400ºC, which as far as it came to our knowledge was never made for this precursor

Eco(il)logical Knowledge: on Different Ways of Relating with the Known

In this article, I narrate an ethnographic storyline that involves forest inhabitants, local politicians, development professionals, and scientific researchers in both representational and nonrepresentational worlds of knowing. I discuss how and why, in Angola, making forest knowledge through relations of distance to the forests is crucial for attaining institutional legitimacy over the forests. This way of acquiring authority and influence is championed by a broad epistemological tendency to address only the absent, which is then made present by accredited representers. Yet this technique disempowers local forest dwellers in their everyday territories and disallows the capacity that the ecological knowns have to reveal themselves. Knowing Angolan forests through absence and distance is not just a potent contemporary form of knowledge that qualifies as a way of ruling the forests, but is also integral to widespread (neo)colonial processes of distinction and separation: the knower and the known, the representer and the represented, the “cosmopolitan intellectual” and the “rustic bestial” Other. Finally, I discuss different forms of ecological knowledge in light of ethical stances toward knowing, relationality, and, ultimately, being.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

IN VITRO AND IN VIVO REMOVAL OF ORAL ANTIDIABETIC AGENTS (METFORMIN) USING ACTIVATED CARBONS

Diabetes is the most worldwide common chronic disease, according the International Diabetes Federation [1], more than 32 million citizens living in the European Union have diabetes, representing nearly 10% of the population, to which we should add equal number of people suffering from impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes prevalence is growing at alarming rate worldwide, being of particular relevance the type 2 diabetes. Nowadays 285 million people worldwide live with diabetes and it is expected that this numbers will increase by 20% until 2030 due to obesity and the ageing of the population [1]. This growth leads to an increasing consumption of drugs such as oral antidiabetics. Metformin is one of the active principles most commonly used for this purpose being among the pharmaceuticals with the highest production numbers worldwide to treat type 2 diabetes because is cheap, has high level of tolerance and when used in the prescribed dosage is very secure with minimal side effects. However, in case of overdose of metformin upon a ingestion of more than 10 times the prescribed dosage, accidentally or on propose, lactic acidosis and low blood pressure can occur. Overdoses with metformin are relatively uncommon, but may have serious consequences, if medical attention is not given on time, it may lead to coma and ultimately death Because of its spread use another problem must be taken into consideration, which needs to be addressed, the occurrence of metformin residues in sewage and surface waters due to improper discharge of the non-used tablets to regular garbage [2]. This situation is becoming a serious problem of environmental pollution and public health. This paper reports the use of activated carbon produced from biomass for the removal of metformin in 2 different settings. On one hand, from aqueous solutions and, in another hand, from simulated biological fluids (gastric and intestinal) conjugated with in vivo testing

What is the optimal stitching orientation from an aerial survey perspective?

Mosaicing is a technique that allows obtaining a large high resolution image by stitching several images together. These base images are usually acquired from an elevated point of view. Until recently, low-altitude image acquisition has been performed typically by using using airplanes, as well as other manned platforms. However, mini unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAV) endowed with a camera have lately made this task more available for small for cicil applications, for example for small farmers in order to obtain accurate agronomic information about their crop fields. The stitching orientation, or the image acquisition orientation usually coincides with the aircraft heading assuming a downwards orientation of the camera. In this paper, the efect of the image orientation in the eficiency of the aerial coverage path planning is studied. Moreover, an algorithm to compute an optimal stitching orientation angle is proposed and results are numerically compared with classical approaches

Assessment of habitat and water quality of the Portuguese Febros River and one of its tributaries

A physical, chemical and biological characterisation of river systems is needed to evaluate their ecological quality and establish restoration programs. Aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates have proven to be among the most reliable and cost-effective assessment tools for water and habitat quality in streams throughout the world. During one year of seasonal surveys, the state of the Febros River and one of its tributaries, Jaca Creek, were evaluated in terms of habitat, physical, chemical and biological water quality, using benthic macroinvertebrates as ecological indicators. These watercourses suffer pollution from agriculture, industry and urban areas. Both watercourses were moderately to severely degraded, showing spatial and temporal variability in macroinvertebrate communities and water quality. The overall poor river conditions were particularly bad in the upper part of Jaca Creek, which is affected by industry. This upriver site showed higher temperatures, conductivity and dissolved solids than all other sites studied. The best conditions were found in the Gaia Biological Park area, where the habitat quality was evaluated to be high and biotic indices indicated excellent and good water quality in the spring and summer, respectively. However, even this site had biological indicator scores denoting severe degradation in autumn and winter. Macroinvertebrate diversity was low, with populations dominated by pollution-tolerant taxa like Chironomids, particularly in the summer and autumn samples. Abundances were mostly higher in the spring and lower in winter. Percentages of Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera (EPT) were low (totalling 31% on average), and Plecoptera was completely absent in the samples. The EPT percentage and the percentage of Chironomidae were related to temperature and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). In comparison to earlier studies, the Febros River improved in both habitat and biological quality. The present study should help to identify specific measures necessary to restore habitat and water quality to reference conditions.Para evaluar la calidad ecológica de un río y establecer programas de recuperación es necesaria una caracterización física, química y biológica de los sistemas fluviales. Los macroinvertebrados acuáticos bentónicos se encuentran entre las herramientas más fiables y efectivas para la estimación de la calidad del agua y los hábitats en aguas corrientes de todo el mundo. El estado del río Febros y uno de sus tributarios, la Ribeira de Jaca, han sido evaluados durante un año de controles estacionales en términos de hábitat y de la calidad física, química y biológica de sus aguas, mediante el uso de macroinvertebrados bentónicos como indicadores ecológicos. Estas cuencas fluviales están afectadas por la contaminación que procede de la agricultura, de la industria y de las áreas urbanas. Ambas corrientes de agua están de moderada a severamente degradadas, con variabilidad temporal y espacial de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados y de la calidad del agua. Las malas condiciones generales de la zona fluvial estudiada son especialmente aparentes en la parte alta de Ribeira de Jaca que está afectada por instalaciones industriales. Este punto presenta temperaturas, conductividades y sólidos disueltos más elevados que en los demás lugares estudiados. Las mejores condiciones se hallaron en el área del Parque Biológico de Gaia, donde el hábitat se puede evaluar como bueno y los índices bióticos indican que la calidad del agua es excelente y buena, respectivamente, durante la primavera y el verano. No obstante, incluso esta localización presenta valores de indicadores biológicos que apuntan a una severa degradación en otoño e invierno. La diversidad de macroinvertebrados es particularmente baja en las muestras de verano y otoño con poblaciones dominadas por taxones que toleran la contaminación, como los Chironomidae. Los valores de abundancia son generalmente más elevados en primavera y más bajos en invierno. El porcentaje de Ephemeroptera y Trichoptera (EPT) es bajo, alcanzando un 31% entre ambos grupos. Los Plecoptera se encuentran completamente ausentes en todas las muestras. El porcentaje EPT y de Chironomidae están relacionados con la temperatura y la Demanda Bioquímica de Oxígeno (BOD). La calidad de este hábitat y la de sus sistemas biológicos ha mejorado en relación con anteriores estudios. El presente trabajo debe ayudar a identificar las medidas específicas necesarias para recuperar la calidad del hábitat y de su agua hasta condiciones de referencia

Decolourisation of a pulp mill effluent using commercial activated carbons

The decolourisation of industry effluents is a challenging and fundamental task related to pollution control, mainly in pulp mill and textile industries. The dark colour of the pulp mill effluent, depending on the river characteristics, can lead to the reduction of the light penetration into the aquatic environment with the consequent decrease of photosynthesis and aquatic life destruction. Also, the lignocelulosic material deposited on the margins and river bed can lead to a large depletion of the dissolved oxygen with the creation of anaerobic conditions that can give rise to the death of aquatic organisms (Ali, 2001). The chemical composition of the pulp mill effluent (referred as effluent) is very complex. Nevertheless, we can say that the lignin and tannin compounds are the main causes for the effluent´s dark brown colour. Among these compounds we can find hidroxyphenyl, siringyl and guaiacyl complexes (Mohan, 1997). These compounds are chemically stable, resistant to biodegradation and extremely difficult to separate by most methods in cost effective processes, such as membrane adsorption (Mutlu, 2002), cationic coagulants, ultrafiltration (Mutlu, 2002) and chemical oxidation (Malik, 2004). One of the most promising methods is the use of activated carbons for the removal of the effluent colour. In this work the use of 5 commercial activated samples with different shapes, origins and characteristics were tested for the decolourisation of a pulp mill effluent collected directly on the effluent discharge of a plant situated in Setúbal, Portugal, property of Portucel. The colour adsorption was done using batch and dynamic trials

Estudo da influência da composição de precursores lignocelulosicos nas propriedades adsortivas dos carvões activados produzidos

Embora existam muitas publicações sobre a produção de carvões activados muito pouco se sabe acerca da relação entre a constituição dos precursores e as características dos carvões produzidos, nomeadamente no que diz respeito a um dos precursores mais utilizados, os materiais lenhocelulósicos. Podemos também referir que uma das áreas que mais tem motivado, e que continua intensamente a motivar, os investigadores de todo o mundo é a procura de novos precursores e metodologias para a produção de carvões activados a custos mais moderados e que permitam obter materiais com características químicas e texturais controladas tendo em mente algumas aplicações específicas. A publicação de resultados tem sido contraditória e escassa no estabelecimento de uma relação entre a composição dos precursores e as características dos carvões produzidos. Assim, pretendemos com a apresentação desta comunicação contribuir para o preenchimento desta lacuna através da exposição de um estudo sistemático realizado num conjunto alargado de precusores lenhocelulósicos

Fluoxetine adsorption from aqueous solution onto activated carbons

With these premises, this work aimed to prepare ACs from almond tree pruning by physical activation processes with steam and carbon dioxide, under different temperature conditions. Selected samples were impregnated with triethylenediamine (TEDA, 5%wt.) by sublimation. The ACs characterization was made by N2 adsorption at 77 K (AUTOSORB-1, Quantachrome), mercury porosimetry (AUTOPORE 4900 IV, Micromeritics), helium stereopycnometry (Quantachrome), FT-IR spectroscopy (Perkin Elmer model Paragon 1000PC) and pzc determination. The fluoxetine adsorption was studied under neutral pH at 25 ºC. Stock solutions of fluoxetine HCl (0.5 and 1 gL-1) were prepared in deionized water with variable amounts of ACs (0.010 and 0.200 g), maintaining the contact during 420 min. The determination of fluoxetine HCl was done by ultraviolet absorption at 274 nm (Perkin Elmer Lambda 850 Uv–Vis spectrophotometer)

Biomass Novel Adsorbents for Phenol and Mercury Removal

Funding Information: The authors are thankful to FCT (Portugal), COMPETE, QREN, and EU (European Regional Development Fund, FEDER) for financial support through Project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-007142. S. Román thanks the Agencia Española de Investigación for the financial help through project PID2020-116144RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.This paper reports the use of activated carbons made from novel agriculture and industrial wastes, namely sunflower, vine shoots, and coffee endocarp, to remove two high-priority contaminants: phenol and mercury species (under different forms) from aqueous solutions. The activated carbons were used as prepared and also modified with nitric acid and triethylenediamine in order to explore additional adsorption mechanisms. The results showed an interesting potential of the materials to be used for water decontamination as indicated by the mercury uptake up to 1104 mg/g for Hg2+, 771 mg/g for [HgCl4]2−, 966 mg/g for HgCl2 and the maximum phenol adsorption capacity of 190 mg/g. The modification with triethylenediamine led to a significant increase in the phenol and mercury adsorption reaching an increment of 85% for phenol and 250% for Hg2+.publishersversionpublishe