69,143 research outputs found
Brief overview on bio-based adhesives and sealants
Adhesives and sealants (AS) are materials with excellent properties, versatility, and simple curing mechanisms, being widely used in different areas ranging from the construction to the medical sectors. Due to the fast-growing demand for petroleum-based products and the consequent negative environmental impact, there is an increasing need to develop novel and more sustainable sources to obtain raw materials (monomers). This reality is particularly relevant for AS industries, which are generally dependent on non-sustainable fossil raw materials. In this respect, biopolymers, such as cellulose, starch, lignin, or proteins, emerge as important alternatives. Nevertheless, substantial improvements and developments are still required in order to simplify the synthetic routes, as well as to improve the biopolymer stability and performance of these new bio-based AS formulations. This environmentally friendly strategy will hopefully lead to the future partial or even total replacement of non-renewable petroleum-based feedstock. In this brief overview, the general features of typical AS are reviewed and critically discussed regarding their drawbacks and advantages. Moreover, the challenges faced by novel and more ecological alternatives, in particular lignocellulose-based solutions, are highlighted.Funding Agency
Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology
PTDC/AGR-TEC/4814/2014;
PTDC/ASP-SIL/30619/2017;
IF/01005/2014.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Twisted Jacobi manifolds, twisted Dirac-Jacobi structures and quasi-Jacobi bialgebroids
We study twisted Jacobi manifolds, a concept that we had introduced in a
previous Note. Twisted Jacobi manifolds can be characterized using twisted
Dirac-Jacobi, which are sub-bundles of Courant-Jacobi algebroids. We show that
each twisted Jacobi manifold has an associated Lie algebroid with a 1-cocycle.
We introduce the notion of quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid and we prove that each
twisted Jacobi manifold has a quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid canonically associated.
Moreover, the double of a quasi-Jacobi bialgebroid is a Courant-Jacobi
algebroid. Several examples of twisted Jacobi manifolds and twisted
Dirac-Jacobi structures are presented
Resistive plate chambers for time-of-flight measurements
The applications of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) have recently been
extended by the development of counters with time resolution below 100 ps sigma
for minimum ionising particles. Applications to HEP experiments have already
taken place and many further applications are under study. In this work we
address the operating principles of such counters along with some present
challenges, with emphasis on counter aging.Comment: Presented at "PSD6 - 6th International Conference on Position
Sensitive Detectors", 9-13 September 2002, Leicester, UK. Submitted to
Nuclear Instruments and Methods
Landau's necessary density conditions for the Hankel transform
We will prove an analogue of Landau's necessary conditions [Necessary density
conditions for sampling and interpolation of certain entire functions, Acta
Math. 117 (1967).] for spaces of functions whose Hankel transform is supported
in a measurable subset S of the positive semi-axis. As a special case,
necessary density conditions for the existence of Fourier-Bessel frames are
obtained.Comment: To appear on J. Funct. Analysi
On Noncrossing and nonnesting partitions of type D
We present an explicit bijection between noncrossing and nonnesting
partitions of Coxeter systems of type D which preserves openers, closers and
transients.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. A remark on a reference has been correcte
Modular classes of Poisson-Nijenhuis Lie algebroids
The modular vector field of a Poisson-Nijenhuis Lie algebroid is defined
and we prove that, in case of non-degeneracy, this vector field defines a
hierarchy of bi-Hamiltonian -vector fields. This hierarchy covers an
integrable hierarchy on the base manifold, which may not have a
Poisson-Nijenhuis structure.Comment: To appear in Letters in Mathematical Physic
A thermodynamic counterpart of the Axelrod model of social influence: The one-dimensional case
We propose a thermodynamic version of the Axelrod model of social influence.
In one-dimensional (1D) lattices, the thermodynamic model becomes a coupled
Potts model with a bonding interaction that increases with the site matching
traits. We analytically calculate thermodynamic and critical properties for a
1D system and show that an order-disorder phase transition only occurs at T = 0
independent of the number of cultural traits q and features F. The 1D
thermodynamic Axelrod model belongs to the same universality class of the Ising
and Potts models, notwithstanding the increase of the internal dimension of the
local degree of freedom and the state-dependent bonding interaction. We suggest
a unifying proposal to compare exponents across different discrete 1D models.
The comparison with our Hamiltonian description reveals that in the
thermodynamic limit the original out-of-equilibrium 1D Axelrod model with noise
behaves like an ordinary thermodynamic 1D interacting particle system.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
The pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, in Madeira Island
The environmental conditions in Madeira Island are favorable
for the presence and dissemination of the pinewood
nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Five hundred
Pinus pinaster wood samples were collected in several
forest areas and PWN was detected in 22.8 % of the
samples. Bursaphelenchus xylophilus isolates from Madeira
Island displayed the species-specific diagnostic characters.
A morphological variation in the female tail terminus was
detected. In most females, the tail presented a broadly
rounded terminus and, occasionally, a digitate terminus with
a terminal nipple-like extension resembling a mucro. PCR
ITS-RFLP analysis revealed that Madeira Island isolates
exhibited patterns specific to the species B. xylophilus and
similar to virulent isolates. Amplified ITS regions were
further sequenced and no genetic diversity was found for
this genomic region among 17 Portuguese isolates (Madeira
Island and Continental Portugal). Phylogenetic analysis
revealed that Portuguese isolates grouped with isolates from
China, Korea and one isolate from Japa
NILM techniques for intelligent home energy management and ambient assisted living: a review
The ongoing deployment of smart meters and different commercial devices has made electricity disaggregation feasible in buildings and households, based on a single measure of the current and, sometimes, of the voltage. Energy disaggregation is intended to separate the total power consumption into specific appliance loads, which can be achieved by applying Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM) techniques with a minimum invasion of privacy. NILM techniques are becoming more and more widespread in recent years, as a consequence of the interest companies and consumers have in efficient energy consumption and management. This work presents a detailed review of NILM methods, focusing particularly on recent proposals and their applications, particularly in the areas of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) and Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), where the ability to determine the on/off status of certain devices can provide key information for making further decisions. As well as complementing previous reviews on the NILM field and providing a discussion of the applications of NILM in HEMS and AAL, this paper provides guidelines for future research in these topics.Agência financiadora:
Programa Operacional Portugal 2020 and Programa Operacional Regional do Algarve
01/SAICT/2018/39578
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through IDMEC, under LAETA:
SFRH/BSAB/142998/2018
SFRH/BSAB/142997/2018
UID/EMS/50022/2019
Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La-Mancha, Spain:
SBPLY/17/180501/000392
Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (SOC-PLC project):
TEC2015-64835-C3-2-R MINECO/FEDERinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Compared to conventional, ecological intensive management promotes beneficial proteolytic soil microbial communities for agro-ecosystem functioning under climate change-induced rain regimes
Projected climate change and rainfall variability will affect soil microbial communities, biogeochemical cycling and agriculture. Nitrogen (N) is the most limiting nutrient in agroecosystems and its cycling and availability is highly dependent on microbial driven processes. In agroecosystems, hydrolysis of organic nitrogen (N) is an important step in controlling soil N availability. We analyzed the effect of management (ecological intensive vs. conventional intensive) on N-cycling processes and involved microbial communities under climate change-induced rain regimes. Terrestrial model ecosystems originating from agroecosystems across Europe were subjected to four different rain regimes for 263 days. Using structural equation modelling we identified direct impacts of rain regimes on N-cycling processes, whereas N-related microbial communities were more resistant. In addition to rain regimes, management indirectly affected N-cycling processes via modifications of N-related microbial community composition. Ecological intensive management promoted a beneficial N-related microbial community composition involved in N-cycling processes under climate change-induced rain regimes. Exploratory analyses identified phosphorus-associated litter properties as possible drivers for the observed management effects on N-related microbial community composition. This work provides novel insights into mechanisms controlling agro-ecosystem functioning under climate change
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