Добірка наукової літератури з теми "-57.08"

Dairy cattle breeding is one of the leading livestock sectors whose purpose is to ensure the production of high quality dairy raw materials in volumes meeting the scientifically grounded standards of state food security and expanding the export potential of the agrarian sector. The purpose of our research was to study the status and prospects of dairy cattle breeding in the Kirovograd region. Material and methods of research. The research was carried out on the basis of the electronic database of breeding goals (including 2312 cows), official statistics and estimates of cattle of various breeds that are involved in the production of dairy direction in the breeding farms of the Kirovograd region. The analysis used zootechnical and statistical methods. The calculations were carried out using the software package "STATISTICA-6,1" Results. According to the research (2001–2018), the cattle population in the Kirovograd oblast decreased by a factor of 2.6. Thus, as of January 1, 2018, its number constituted 96.3 thousand heads in all categories of farms, 53.1 thousand of them were cows, the number of which also decreased by 2.4 times. Specific gravity of cattle population of farms remains significant and makes up 72.7%, and 80.6% in the livestock of cows. The largest number of cows of agricultural enterprises declined significantly. Thus, as of January 1, 2018, their number was 10.3 thousand goals, which is 4.7 times less than in the same period of 2001. In the households there is also a tendency for a permanent reduction of cows, the difference is, respectively, 37.0 thousand heads or 46.4% The development of dairy cattle breeding is characterized by two opposite tendencies: reduction of livestock of cows and increase of their productivity. Thus, in agricultural enterprises in 2010, compared to 2000, hopes per cow increased by 2.5 times, in all categories of farms by 1.8 times. In 2017, the increase in dairy costs in agricultural enterprises compared to 2010 amounted to 60.0% in farms of all categories 12.2%. The researches found that in the agricultural enterprises of the oblast as of January 1, 2018 there are 26256 head of cattle, including 10281 cows. The breeding part of the existing cows is 3.013 heads, 29.3% of the total number located in 10 breeding farms. The analysis of the genealogy structure showed that the experimental population of cows belongs to 18 lines and related groups of which the most numerous Chifa 1427381 – 20.4%, Starbuck 352790 – 20.1%, Henev 1629391 – 18.6% , Eleusis 1491007 – 11.2%, Family 267150 – 10.8%. Among the indicated lines, the lowest level of milk productivity was first-born cows. The 1491007, the milk of milk for 305 days of lactation was 4466 ± 99.8 kg, and the milk fat was 168.2 ± 6.5 kg. Analogues l Starbak 352779 was characterized by the highest milk productivity, its level was 5696 + 98.8 kg and 224.9 ± 9.7 kg, respectively. The difference in stomach was 1230 ± 140.4 kg (td = 10.2) and at the release of milk fat 56.7 ± 5.28 kg (td = 10.2) at P < 0.001. However, the latter were markedly less service life (125 against 168 days) and logically higher reproduction rate compared to other lines. An analysis of the intensity of the formation of live weight of young animals has been established for its highest growth in heifers of controlled herds in the period from 9 to 12 months. Thus, in animals of Ukrainian red breed, the growth rate of live weight during this period was 75 kg, Ukrainian red-shrimp 61 kg, Ukrainian black-and-white 73 kg, Holstein 76 kg. Accordingly, during this period, the average daily gain of live weight of young breeds of these breeds was 833 g; 678 g; 811 g, 835 g. The sharp fluctuations of average daily increments during growing periods, first of all, testify to the unequal conditions of growing and feeding young animals than the breed differences. In general, as a result of the analysis of the formation of live weight of heifers, a significant level of phenotypic variability was observed, which confirms sufficient genetic resources and preconditions for selection on the given sign. Therefore, proceeding from the above, in the long run, selection work for breeding improvement of cattle breeding farms of the Kirovograd region should be conducted in accordance with certain promising directions according to groups of breeds. Conclusions. A very important factor in the growth of milk production in the Kirovograd region is high-yield pedigree cattle. The main task on the way of bringing breeding cases in dairy farming to the modern level is the introduction of computer breeding records in breeding farms. This will allow to estimate in the near future bulls-pedigrees, which were used in the past in these farms, to allocate among them complex improvers for precisely the specific conditions and maximally attract them for reproduction. On the other hand, a reliable clogging of poor quality in the genetic sense of sperm production, which leads to negative consequences, will be posed. When establishing the assessment of the breeding value of bulls and developing a single plan of breeding and breeding work in the region, one can proceed to the next step of improving breeding and breeding business, introducing a progressive method of raising the breeding value of animals of large-scale breeding. As a result, the profit from the breeding of highly productive animals, well adapted to specific conditions, will significantly exceed the costs. At the same time, the proposed measures will allow the breeding business to be brought up to the modern world level and stimulate highly productive cattle breeding.

Background. The matters of performing and composing art of the XIXth century are considered in this article. The way of formation and changes that have been brought into the violin literature for 100 years &#8210; extension of performing techniques, breaking stereotypes that had been built for centuries &#8210; were taken as a standard in the repertoire of the violinists of that time. The development of the concert genre by famous performers – composers and division of these two functions by the end of the century encouraged musicians to talk about «violin» and «non violin», limiting performer’s opportunities, by giving them anti violin tasks. It was encouraged by the presence of certain templates that were formed in the period of Italian violinists-composers, who defined a specific format of sound performances, formed definite formulas of technical phrases, and developed a full range of performing tools that built the violin-performing machine. In their turn, composers of the late XIX century had an opportunity to look at the performing structure from another perspective, bringing new acoustic author’s expressions into the violin literature. E. Lalo, A. Dvo&#345;&#225;k, К. Saint-Saens, J. Brahms, P. Tchaikovsky laid the foundation for new trends and performances that created a discussion about violin and non-violin. During 5 years (from 1874 until 1879), the mentioned authors were divided into two camps – followers of traditions E. Lalo, A. Dvo&#345;&#225;k, К. Saint-Saens and innovators in the concert genre J. Brahms and P. Tchaikovsky. The latter ones managed to avoid violin clich&#233;s and despite much resentment in the musical world showed those sides of performer’s characteristics that could not be positioned with related to violin performance. Objectives. This article is aimed at defining the range of techniques that allow to talk about «violin» and «non-violin» following the analysis of musical edition of the Concert for violin with orchestra by P. Thaikovsky. Results. Every era of violin art has brought its elements of expressive means that extended the violinists’ capabilities, thereby enriching the performing palette with new techniques and at the same time a range of complicated figurativesemantic objectives are given to performers. During a long period (from the seventeenth until the mid-nineteenth centuries), performers-composers, creating compositions for violin, did some methodical work as well, using specific technical tools for specific artistic objectives. In other words, musical value was intrinsically connected with the comfort while performing. Types of fingerings, dashes, chord techniques, timbres – what makes a performer’s toolbox &#8210; was determined in the study and performance practice as a certain template. Over time teaching materials in form of «schools of violin performance», used for mastering performer’s technique, focused the composers on certain sound technical models, that particular «violin» structure that could be easily «read» not only the time of the composition creation but its style belonging and even its authorship. However, in the history of musical art the cases when the author’s imagination goes beyond templates, setting difficult objectives, including technical ones, for the performer are not so rare. Premier failures, musicians’ refusal to participate in the performance of a new composition &#8210; all of it was the consequence of inertial processes of concert practice, its «delay» towards the composer’s practice. A clear example of such a situation is the Concert for violin with orchestra by P. Tchaikovsky, the composition that generated a discussion about «violin» and «non-violin» in musical art. It is evident that the modern performing toolbox allows mastering and overcoming those difficulties, which created an opinion about the composition as inconvenient and «non-violin» in days of the composer. So, what is the meaning of «violin» and «non violin»? Can «non violin» be outdated or is it a phenomenon at different stages of the evolution of musical stylistics? Conclusions. The end of the XIXth century was marked not only by the renewal of violin material, but also by extension of performer’s techniques, withdrawal of stereotypes that had been built for centuries and were taken as a standard in the repertoire of the performers of that time. The richness of the Concert for violin by P. Tchikovsky with technical discoveries, going ahead of the time, caused L. Auer’s refusal to take part in the premiere. A young soloist A. Brodsky needed more than a year to learn the musical language, dramaturgy and all those difficulties that were mentioned above. Nowadays the Concert for violin by P. Tchaikovsky is a mandatory composition in all prestigious violin contests. It is evident that modern violinist’s toolbox allows them to master and overcome all those difficulties that earlier were told to be «inconvenient» and «non-violin» in the composition. These days «non violin» can be considered a thing of the past. A range of authors of remarquable methodical works of the XX&#8210;XXI centuries (К. Flesch, K. Mostras, I. Yampolsky, Yu. Yankelevich, L. Gurevich, M. Berlianchik) relied on their own experience while answering the questions that worried all the performers without any exception during the development of the whole complex of techniques. However, none of them studies the notion «non violin» as a methodological problem because the practice proves: the technical inconveniences are overcomed in case the performer can hear and understand the innovations, offered by a composer, that raise the performer above any stereotypes.

This study aims to trace a possible list of ailments or diseases that the inhabitants of Dacia might have suffered of during Roman period. The corroboration of the anthropological, archaeological, iconographic and epigraphic sources suggests that eye diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, gallbladder or kidney stones, reproductive system disorders, anorectal diseases and dental problems were common medical conditions among the provincial population. Ultimately, the available sources also reveal that while some patients were willing to undergo surgery, others preferred to appeal to less invasive procedures, which involved taking homeopathic medicine, wearing magical amulets, frequenting thermal spas or Asklepieia.

"An outstanding opportunity for the investigation of the ruined medieval church emerged through the cooperation between the Haaz Rezső Museum and the Canadian company ArchaeoTek, who backed the archaeological excavation in support of academic training. As a result, anthropology students take part in the excavation, after which they analyze and interpret the discovered bones. During six seasons of work we finished the excavation of the entire church, and also we documented 661 graves. Excavation and analysis at the Papdomb site follow American bioarchaeological methods and interpretive strategies. Over the last forty years, bioarchaeology has developed into a sophisticated and collaborative enterprise that draws from a range of people and skillsets to answer social questions using biological data. Areas of expertise and analysis being applied at the Papdomb site include: skeletal excavation methods; the development of biological profiles; radiocarbon dating; diet analysis through isotope testing; and, sex and biological relationship investigation through ancient DNA. The overarching goal in using the bioarchaeological approach is to add valuable insight and complement what historians and other experts of Szekler history already know. Furthermore, work at the Papdomb site stands out for its international and multi‑scalar collaborative approach. An international team of experts works with the descendant community to preserve and study the site and the human remains. Finally, the excavation and materials produced are a valuable teaching tool for aspiring bioarchaeologists and forensic anthropologists because human remains excavation and large human skeletal collections are not common in the United States or are not available for training."

Idea zrównoważonego rozwoju każe nam ponownie spojrzeć na miasta, niekiedy wymyślać je na nowo. Pretenduje ona do przekształcenia sfery ludzkich działań, opiera się na nowych związkach człowieka z otaczającą go przestrzenią. Jak zorganizować publiczne strefy życia, aby zapewnić im wszystkim długie trwanie, rozsądnie korzystając z dostępnych zasobów? Jak stworzyć przyjazną człowiekowi przestrzeń miejską, która aktywnie integruje wszystkie zamieszkujące ją warstwy społeczne? Czym jest współczesne miasto idealne? Niniejszy artykuł przygląda się przestrzeni miejskiej przez pryzmat politycznej ideologii. Politykę tworzą nie tylko działania, ale również wypracowany wcześniej dyskurs. Zarówno sama polityczna praktyka, jak i program operują zaś innym systemem reprezentacji i odmiennym nazewnictwem. Co spowodowało, że to właśnie zrównoważony rozwój, a nie inna koncepcja stała się dominującym instrumentem legitymizowania działań politycznych na poziomie lokalnym? Artykuł odnosi się w szczególności do sprzeczności samej idei: z jednej strony optującej za rozwojem społeczno-gospodarczym i jego dynamiką, z drugiej zaś, wprowadzającej przeciwstawne pojęcie równowagi, stabilności.

The use of fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) for increasing the strength of RC structures became a usual method. FRP presents easy application and demands low space and provide significant strength increase. Usually, the decision for FRP use is made in terms of applied loads and deflections. However, such quantities can vary significantly depending on the characteristics of the structural element e.g. span, effective depth and concrete resistance. Therefore, this paper aims to present an alternative control variable to analyse the behaviour of RC beams repaired with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP), called damage. Such damage variable accounts for concrete cracking and it was experimentally measured before and after the application of GFRP. Note that the application of GFRP increased the ultimate load for all repaired beams. The damage values of such beams also increased when collapse was reached. Furthermore, it was observed that the collapse mechanism shifted to shear and did not occurred the failure of the GFRP.

Актуальність дослідження: Під час розробки ультразвукової терапевтичної апаратури, виникають дві основні проблеми: перевірка наявності контакту перетворювача з біологічним об'єктом, а також можливість виникнення стоячих хвиль. Використовуючи ефект широкополосностi можна уникнути цих проблем. Метою дисертації: є дослідження механізми дії ультразвуку на біолгочні тканини, розрахунок широкосмугових перетворювачів, розрахунок схеми високочастотного збудження елементів. Об’єктом дослідження: є ультразвукові п’єзоелектричні перетворювачі та їх сучасне використання у медицині. Предметом дослідження: широкосмугові п’єзоелектричні перетворювачі та їх характеристки роботи за різних умов. Методи дослідження: проведені в роботі теоретичні та практичні дослідження ґрунтуються на аналізі роботи перетворювачів при взаємодії з біологічними тканинами. Результатом дослідження: є можливість уникнення стоячих хвиль під час взаємодії з біологічними тканинами та розширення діапазону широкосмугових перетворювачів. Новизна отриманих результатів: обґрунтовано необхідність і доцільність застосування використання широкосмугових п'єзоелектричний випромінювачів для терапевтичного апарата. Практичне значення одержаних результатів: результати роботи можуть бути використані при проектуванні терапевтичних апаратів.
Relevance of the research: During the development of ultrasonic therapeutic equipment, there are two main problems: checking the presence of contact of the transducer with a biological object, as well as the possibility of standing waves. These problems can be avoided by using the broadband effect. The purpose of the dissertation: there is a study of the mechanisms of action of ultrasound on biological tissues, the calculation of broadband transducers, the calculation of the scheme of high-frequency excitation of elements. The object of research: are ultrasonic piezoelectric transducers and their modern use in medicine. Subject of research: broadband piezoelectric transducers and their characteristics of operation under different conditions. Research methods: theoretical and practical research is based on the analysis of work of converters at interaction with biological fabrics. The result of the study: it is possible to avoid standing waves when interacting with biological tissues and expand the range of broadband transducers. The novelty of the obtained results: the necessity and expediency of using broadband piezoelectric emitters for the therapeutic apparatus are substantiated. Practical significance of the obtained results: the results of the work can be used in the design of therapeutic devices. Testing the results of the thesis: The results of the master's dissertation were made at the scientific seminar of the department of acoustic and multimedia electronic systems.

В роботі запропонована та розрахована система захисту інформації на основі мінюцій, що надає змогу зменшити ризики несанкціонованого доступу до наукової інформації. Запропонована система захисту дозволить зберегти інтелектуальний ресурс, що отримується зимівниками станції в більш поміркованій собіватрості у порівнянні з існуючими світовими аналогами.

Дисертація на здобуття наукового ступеня кандидата технічних наук за спеціальністю 01.05.02 – математичне моделювання та обчислювальні методи. – Тернопільський національний технічний університет імені Івана Пулюя, Тернопіль, 2019 р. У дисертаційній роботі розв’язано актуальне наукове завдання –удосконалення математичної моделі та методів аналізу фонокардіосиґналу одночасно зареєстрованого з електрокардіосиґналом із врахуванням механізму породження його для підвищення достовірності ранньої діагностики стану серцево-судинної системи людини в автоматизованих діагностичних системах. Обґрунтовано нове застосування періодично корельованого випадкового процесу як математичної моделі фонокардіосиґналу одночасно зареєстрованого з електрокардіосиґналом, яка, на відміну від відомих, відображає механізм породження його (генезу), що дає змогу визначення характеристик моделі за результатами експериментів і враховує поєднання стохастичності із повторністю сигналу. Базуючись на обґрунтованій математичній моделі та на концепції «шунтування», модифіковано синфазний метод статистичного опрацювання фонокардіосиґналу одночасно зареєстрованого з електрокардіосиґналом у системах автоматизованої діагностики, з урахуванням механізму ґенезу фонокардіосиґналу. У результаті опрацювання отримано значення спектральних компонент фонокардіосиґналу, які є його інформативно-інваріантними ознаками та із визначеною достовірністю характеризують функціональний стан серцево-судинної системи людини. Розроблено метод імітаційного моделювання фонокардіосиґналу на основі періодично корельованої випадкової послідовності для верифікації результатів досліджень. Створено пакет комп’ютерних програм для автоматизованого опрацювання фонокардіосиґналу та проведення імітаційних експериментів для автоматизованих діагностичних систем.
Диссертация на соискание научной степени кандидата технических наук за специальностью 01.05.02 – математическое моделирование и вычислительные методы. – Тернопольский национальный технический университет имени Ивана Пулюя, Тернополь, 2019 г. В диссертационной работе решена актуальная научная задача – совершенствование математической модели и методов анализа фонокардиосигналапараллельно зарегистрированного с электрокардиосигналом с учетом механизма порождения его для повышения достоверности ранней диагностики состояния сердечно-сосудистой системы человека в автоматизированных диагностических системах. Обоснованно новое применение периодически коррелированного случайного процесса как математической модели фонокардиосигналапараллельно зарегистрированного в электрокардиосигналом, которая, в отличие от известных, отражает механизм порождения его (генеза), что дает возможность определения характеристик модели по результатам экспериментов и учитывает сочетание стохастичности с повторяемостью сигнала. Базируясь на обоснованной математической модели и на концепции «шунтирования», модифицировано синфазный метод статистической обработки фонокардиосигналапараллельно зарегистрированного в электрокардиосигналом в системах автоматизированной диагностики, с учетом механизма генеза фонокардиосигналу. В результате обработки получено значение спектральных компонент фонокардиосигнала, которые являются его информационно-инвариантными признаками и с определенной достоверностью характеризующих функциональное состояние сердечно-сосудистой системы человека. Разработан метод имитационного моделирования фонокардиосигнала на основе периодически коррелированных случайной последовательности для верификации результатов исследований. Создан пакет компьютерных программ для автоматизированной обработки фонокардиосигнала и проведения имитационных экспериментов для автоматизированных диагностических систем.
Dissertation on the receipt of scientific degree of candidate of engineering sciences after speciality 01.05.02 – mathematical design and calculable methods. – Ternopil Ivan Puluj national technical university, Ternopil, 2019. In dissertation the important scientific task is solved – the phonocardial signal synchronously registered with electrocardiosignal mathematical model and analyzing methods improvement taking into account the mechanism of its generation for the human SSS state early diagnosis in automated diagnostic systems reliability increasing. Modern diagnostic systems widely use the polycardiogram method based on the synchronously recorded electrocardio- (ECG) and phonocardiogram (PCG). Complete information about the cardiovascular system state (CVS) can be obtained only in case when several of pathologies diagnosing methods are used simultaneously. The advantages of a comprehensive approach were indicated in a number of scientific works, by: M. A. Kurshakov, P. E. Lukomsky, S. A. Lupenko, A. A. Selidovkina. The heart rate (HR) is determined by the sinus node automatism, which is modulated by feedback through the influence of vegetative, humoral, and local factors. Therefore, the heart work can be described as «modulation»– each of the action potential impulses sequence causes the response in the form of series of consecutive time-varying heart contractions/relaxation. The shape, duration and phase shifts of these impulses may vary, depending on the physical loadings, the emotional state and a whole set of other exogenous and endogenous influences. The responses wouldn’t have constant parameters depend on the factors such as: the conducting system state: the Gis beam right leg blockade, the effort of the blood flow through the heart structures (prolapse, stenosis, aneurysms), postinfarctional scarring, and many other factors, which has a great diagnostic value. Based on the considerations set in R. M. Baevsky, A. A. Talakov «Balistocardiography» work, the person`s cardiovascular system should be regarded as a closed hemodynamic one, where the primary information carrier about it is, among other things, is a phonocardiosignal generated by mechanical and acoustic processes in the system. It is used for obtaining additional (often critical) data to increase the researched object`s evaluation parameters reliability and the bimedia principle as the separation of the signal energy generated by one source, in space-time into two «flows» of different physical nature and (electric and mechanical) introduced the concept of «shunting». By shunting we understand the principle of obtaining complementary information about the object through «bypass»«short» way, in particular, getting of the certain informative parameters from the signal of another physical process nature (electrical, in contrast to the acoustic) of the same genesis in terms of the signal-system concept. Preprocessing was carried out according to the algorithm: signal detrending, smoothing, finding the repeatability period for the P-wave interval. A new application of the periodically correlated random process as a mathematical model of a phonocardiosignal synchronously registered with electrocardiosignal is obtained, which, unlike known ones, represents the mechanism of its genesis. Based on a previously grounded mathematical model and on the concept of «shunting», the synphase method of statistical processing of a phonocardiosignal synchronously registered with an electrocardiosignal in automated diagnostic systems was modified, taking into account a phonocardiosignal genesis mechanism. As the processing result, the value of the phonocardiosignal spectral components were obtained, which are its information-invariant features and with certain certainty characterizing the functional state of the human SSS. Since the synphase method is insensitive to the coherent components presented in the signal, therefore no need to use alien crosstalk effects minimization procedure. Since the developed algorithm is focused on its application in the patient’s СVS state remote monitoring systems, so in order to trend minimization, it is proposed to use the hardware implementation the high-pass Bessel filter (Sallen-Key topology) implementation, which has uniform (flat) amplitude–frequency response characteristics (AFR) (minimal equiripple in passband), linear phase-frequency characteristic (PFR), and the constant group delay, parameter variation resistance. Bessel Discrete Filters do not have this property. Therefore, to process the signal at the software level, the FIR-filtering (which provides linearity of the PFR) is applied by the overlap-add method (OLA), which gives significant advantage in using hardware and software resources, in comparison with time-domain filtering (convolution) As a result of processing, the phonocardiosignal spectral components, which are its informatively invariant features and with definite reliability characterize the functional state of the human cardiovascular system, is obtained.A method for simulating a phonocardiac signal based on periodically correlated random sequences has been developed to verify the results of studies. A package of computer programs has been created for the automated processing of phonocardiac signals and for carrying out simulation experiments for automated diagnostic systems.Key words: phonocardio-signal, electrocardiogram, genesis of phonocardial signal, periodically correlated random process, spectral components, reliability, verification, computer simulation.
ПЕРЕЛІК УМОВНИХ ПОЗНАЧЕНЬ ТА СКОРОЧЕНЬ …22 ВСТУП…24 РОЗДІЛ 1. СПЕЦИФІКА ЗАДАЧІ ТА СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН ПРОБЛЕМИ ДІАГНОСТИКИ СЕРЦЕВО-СУДИННОЇ СИСТЕМИ ЛЮДИНИ ЗА ДОПОМОГОЮ ФОНОКАРДІОГРАФІЇ...29 1.1. Сучасний стан проблеми та захворюваність серцевими недугами. Динаміка ситуації…29 1.2. Механізм породження серцевих скорочень…32 1.3. Способи реєстрації акустичних показників роботи серця…34 1.4. Обґрунтування необхідності використання фонокардіосиґналу з врахуванням механізму породження серцевих скорочень для своєчасного виявлення патологій…43 1.5. Висновки до розділу 1...46 РОЗДІЛ 2. МАТЕМАТИЧНЕ МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ ФОНОКАРДІОСИҐНАЛУ …48 2.1. Принципи ґенезу фонокардіосиґналу. Принципи бімедійності та шунтування…48 2.2. Методи аналізу фонокардіосигналу…61 2.3. Енергетична теорія стохастичних сиґналів та її засоби опрацювання кардіосигналів…64 2.4. Статистичне оцінювання станів серцево-судинної системи як стохастичної вібраційної системи. Принципи бімедійності та шунтування …75 2.5. Висновки до розділу 2...83 РОЗДІЛ 3. ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ МЕТОДУ АНАЛІЗУ ФОНОКАРДІОСИҐНАЛУ …85 3.1. Обґрунтування способу виділення моментів прояву дії водія ритму для визначення інтервалу повторюваності фонокардіосиґналу …85 3.2. Опрацювання фонокардіосиґналу синфазним методом…99 3.3. Обгрунтування структури системи відбору фонокардіосигналу...102 3.4. Висновки до розділу 3...106 РОЗДІЛ 4. ВЕРИФІКАЦІЯ МОДЕЛІ ФОНОКАРДІОСИГНАЛУ У ВИГЛЯДІ ПЕРІОДИЧНО КОРЕЛЬОВАНОГО ВИПАДКОВОГО ПРОЦЕСУ ТА КОМП’ЮТЕРНЕ ІМІТАЦІЙНЕ МОДЕЛЮВАННЯ …107 4.1. Програмна реалізація алгоритму опрацювання фонокардіосигналу…107 4.2 Комп’ютерне імітаційне моделювання фонокардіосиґналу…111 4.3 Експериментальна верифікація математичної моделі фонокарідосиґналу …127 4.4. Розроблення програмного забезпечення опрацювання фонокардіосигналу…135 4.5. Висновки до розділу 4...137 ВИСНОВКИ…138 СПИСОК ВИКОРИСТАНИХ ДЖЕРЕЛ…140 ДОДАТКИ…150

Dissertação de doutoramento em Química e Engenharia Biológica.
In this work four different studies were proposed with a common interest in image analysis meffiodologies and multivariable statistical techniques yet covering distinct objectives. In an activated sludge study, the aggregates and filamentous bacteria contents and morphology were surveyed by image analysis methodologies. The high Sludge Volume Index values denoted the existence of a severe bulking problem of non-zoogleal nature as pointed out by the predominance of normal flocs. Moreover, the high filamentous bacteria per suspended solids ratio values clearly indicated the existence of a filamentous bulking problem, and were able to follow, at some extent, the Sludge Volume Index behaviour. Furthermore, the Partial Least Squares analysis revealed a strong relationship between the Total Sus pended Solids and the Total Aggregates Arca, although it must be emphasized though that for a wastewater treatment plant working in good operating conditions this relationship may not stand frue. In a protozoa and metazoa identification work the main objective resided on the development of an image anaiysis programme to morphologicaily characterize the protozoa and metazoa and treat the coilected data by multivariable statistical techniques. The studied species attained a satisfactory overali recognition levei in terms of global recognition and misciassification performances, whereas for the main protozoa and metazoa groups as weil as for the ciliated protozoa groups, the results were quite good. Such was also the case for the plant conditions assessment as effluent quaiity, aeration, sludge age, and nitrification presence. However, the assessment of critical conditions such as low effluent quality, low aeration and fresh sludge, proved to be poorer. Comparing the two multivariable statistical techniques, the overall results were iower for the Neural Networks than for the Discriminant Analysis with the exception of the critical conditions assessment. Regarding the anaerobic granuiation process, image analysis methodologies were used to follow morphological changes in the granulation process. This survey allowed for the determination of an overall aggregates size and contents increase throughout the experiment as well as the establishment of the granulation time with the formation of granular structures. It was also possible to identify an initial stage involving the predominant growth of the filamentous bacteria followed by a second stage of aggregates growth using the filamentous bacteria as a backbone and a final stage of balanced filamentous bacteria and aggregates contents growth. Moreover, the strong Up-Flow Velocity and Organic Loading Rate increases led to disturbances within the reactor such as the liberation of filamentous bacteria and aggregates size changes. Concerning the granule deterioration triggered by oleic acid study, the results obtained for the outgoing effluent Volatile Sus pended Solids reflected a biomass wash-out phenomenon throughout the experiment. Furffiermore, the aggregates morphological survey allowed determining a decreasing trend in the aggregates size, as well as an aggregate stratification with the larger aggregates in the top section of the reactor. It could also be estabiished that the granule deterioration process triggered by oleic acid led to more freely dispersed structures in terms of filamentous bacteria and lighter aggregates which ultimately rose to the top of the reactor, where the lighter ones suffered a wash-out phenomenon.
Neste trabalho, foram propostos quatro estudos diferentes utilizando técnicas de análise de imagem e de estatística multivariável com objectivos distintos. Num estudo das lamas activadas foram examinados o conteúdo e morfologia de agregados e bactérias filamentosas por metodologias da análise de imagem. Os valores elevados do índice volumétrico de lamas denotaram a existência de um problema de “bulking” severo de natureza não-zoogleal como indicado pelo predomínio de flocos normais. Adicionalmente, os valores elevados da razão entre as bactérias filamentosas e os sólidos suspensos apontam claramente para a existência de um problema de “bulking” filamentoso, e mimetizaram, em certa medida, o comportamento do índice volumétrico de lamas. De referir ainda que uma análise dos mínimos dos quadrados parciais revelou uma correlação entre os sólidos suspensos totais e a área total dos agregados, devendo contudo ser referido que para estações de tratamento de águas residuais funcionando em boas condições a correlação obtida poderá não se manter válida. Num estudo de identificação dos protozoários e metazoários os objectivos do trabalho consistiram no desenvolvimento de um programa da análise de imagem para a sua caracterização morfológica e tratamento dos dados por técnicas de estatística multivariável. A identificação dos protozoários e metazoários revelou-se satisfatória em termos de reconhecimento global e da classificação errónea, enquanto que para os principais grupos de protozoários e metazoários bem como de ciliados foi bastante elevada. O mesmo se passou na aferição das condições de operação tais como a qualidade do efluente, arejamento, idade das lamas e nitrificação. Contudo, na determinação das condições críticas de funcionamento como baixa qualidade do efluente, arejamento insuficiente e lamas jovens os resultados foram apenas razoáveis. Comparando as duas técnicas de estatística multivariável utilizadas, os resultados globais foram inferiores para as redes neuronais do que para a análise discriminante com a excepção da determinação de condições críticas de funcionamento. Na monitorização do processo anaeróbio de granulação, foram usadas metodologias de análise de imagem para seguir as mudanças morfológicas. A aferição da morfologia dos agregados permitiu a determinação do aumento em tamanho e conteúdo dos agregados ao longo da experiência, bem como na determinação do tempo de granulação. Foi também possível identificar uma fase inicial de crescimento preferencial das bactérias filamentosas, seguida por uma segunda fase de crescimento dos agregados utilizando as bactérias filamentosas como espinha dorsal e uma fase final de crescimento balanceado entre as bactérias filamentosas e os agregados. De referir ainda que os fortes aumentos da velocidade ascencional e carga orgânica provocaram alterações no reactor como a libertação de bactérias filamentosas e modificação do tamanho dos agregados. Em relação ao processo de desgranulação devido a alimentação com oleato, os resultados obtidos para os sólidos suspensos voláteis reflectiram a lavagem da biomassa ao longo da experiência. Adicionalmente, a aferição da morfologia dos agregados permitiu distinguir uma tendência decrescente do tamanho dos mesmos ao longo da experiência bem como a sua estratificação com os maiores a situarem-se no topo do reactor. Foi ainda possível estabelecer que o processo de desgranulação resultou numa estrutura mais dispersa em termos das bactérias filamentosas e agregados mais leves que migraram para o topo do reactor onde os mais leves sofreram um fenómeno de lavagem.
Fundo Social Europeu (FSE) - III Quadro Comunitáriode Apoio.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PRAXIS XXI/BD/20325/99.
Instituto para a Cooperação Científica e Tecnológica Internacional (ICCTI) - 203/B4.
Ambassade de France au Portugal - 203/B4.

Doctoral Dissertation for PhD degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering
The biotechnological production of γ-decalactone (a peach-like aroma compound) by biotransformation of ricinoleic acid carried out by microorganisms is an interesting process to produce the aroma with a “natural” label, which is valuable, considering the preference of consumers. Although there are many works described in the literature about this subject, several factors in the process remain to fully understand and, consequently, to optimize. One of these factors is the effect of oxygen in the overall process. Thus, this work initially aimed to study the oxygen mass transfer phenomenon from gas to the biotransformation medium, an oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by a non-ionic surfactant, Tween 80. The oil is simultaneously the substrate of the process and it works as an oxygen carrier, since the solubility of this compound is higher in the oil than in the aqueous phase. The influence of each operation parameter (aeration rate and presence and concentration of surfactant agent and organic phase) on the variables involved in the oxygen transfer (gas-liquid interfacial area, a; liquid-side mass transfer coefficient, kL; and volumetric mass transfer coefficient, kLa) was analyzed in a bubble column and in an airlift reactor. Results demonstrated that in the bubble column the increase of aeration rates is positive for both gas-liquid interfacial area and mass transfer due to the increase of turbulence and gas hold-up. The surfactant concentration had a positive effect on the interfacial area since it reduced the gas bubbles size and it had a negative effect upon kL because its molecules are located at the gas-liquid interface, obstructing the oxygen mass transfer. Regarding the oil concentration, it had a negative effect upon the interfacial area but it improved kL, since it causes a new distribution of surfactant in the medium, decreasing its concentration in the gas-liquid interface. The overall result was a negative effect of the organic phase upon kLa. In the airlift reactor, it was observed that the increase of the aeration rates had a negative effect on kL. This was attributed to differences in the liquid distribution inside the airlift reactor. Since the main goal of this work was to optimize the production of γ-decalactone, two different ricinoleic acid sources (methyl ricinoleate, MR, and castor oil, CO) were tested, in different concentrations, as substrates of the process. Moreover, different cell inoculation strategies were attempted, differing among each other in the washing or not of the cells. The results revealed that the use of non-washed cells is more beneficial for the aroma production, independently of the substrate used; and a concentration of 30 g L-1 MR was the most adequate among the range tested, since it allowed the highest γ-decalactone productivity (14.9 mg L-1 h-1). This substrate revealed also to be a lipase inducer. The use of CO as substrate of the process allowed to achieve almost 2 g L-1 of aroma but the process was rather slow, resulting in low productivities. It was then hypothesized an insufficient oil hydrolysis and an enzymatic hydrolysis was attempted with different commercial enzymes and operating conditions (temperature and pH). Lipozyme TL IM, pH 8 and 27 °C were selected as the most efficient lipase and operating conditions, respectively, to hydrolyze CO. The results obtained using CO previously hydrolyzed by the selected lipase were compared with the results obtained in experiments in which the enzymatic hydrolysis occurred during the biotransformation and in experiments without adding lipase, indicating that the process was faster when lipase was involved in any form, but the aroma concentrations were lower, resulting in similar productivities. The droplets size of both oils was characterized by laser granulometry in emulsions with different oil concentrations. The impact of the presence of cells on droplets size was also analyzed as well as the relevance of washing inoculum cells. The granulometry of emulsions was related with γ-decalactone production and it was observed that, in the presence of non-washed cells, the smaller droplets disappeared, with both oils, which increased γ-decalactone concentration, suggesting that the access of cells to the substrate occurs by their adhesion around larger oil droplets. Experiments in a stirred bioreactor using 30 g L-1 MR (concentration at which the highest aroma productivity was achieved) and different aeration and agitation rates demonstrated the direct influence of oxygen transfer rate on the production of γ-decalactone and of another compound, 3-hydroxy-γ-decalactone, that can also accumulate in the medium. The accumulation of this compound indicates a deviation in the metabolic pathway of γ-decalactone production, decreasing its yields. A response surface methodology was used to optimize pH (6.17) and dissolved oxygen concentration (44.4%) for the aroma production. These operating conditions were applied in two fed-batch strategies: with constant medium feeding rate and with intermittent feeding. Both strategies were compared with the traditional batch mode in terms of overall productivity and yield in respect to the substrate. Although the productivity was considerably higher in the batch mode, the level of substrate conversion to both lactones was greater in the intermittent fed-batch, allowing the accumulation of high aroma concentrations (6.8 g L-1 γ-decalactone and 10.0 g L-1 3-hydroxy-γ-decalactone). Finally, the production of aroma was attempted in an airlift bioreactor due to the advantages of this type of bioreactor, mainly in terms of high power economies, the non-mechanical agitation which avoids damage to cells and the higher mass transfer coefficients attained. The highest γ-decalactone production was obtained at an air flow-rate of 1 L min-1. The aeration rate increase of 5-fold lead to lower aroma concentrations. However, the time needed to reach the peak of production was also reduced, resulting in higher productivities.
A produção biotecnológica de γ-decalactona (composto com aroma a pêssego) através da biotransformação de ácido ricinoleico por microrganismos é um processo interessante para produzir o aroma com um rótulo de “natural”, o que é uma mais-valia, considerando as actuais preferências dos consumidores. Embora existam muitos trabalhos na literatura sobre este tema, vários factores do processo ainda permanecem por compreender totalmente e, consequentemente, por optimizar. Um desses factores é o efeito do oxigénio no processo global. Assim, este trabalho teve inicialmente como objectivo estudar o fenómeno de transferência de O2 do gás para o meio de biotransformação, uma emulsão do tipo óleo-em-água estabilizada pelo surfactante não-iónico Tween 80. O óleo é simultaneamente o substrato do processo e actua também como transportador de O2, uma vez que a solubilidade deste composto no óleo é maior do que na fase aquosa. A influência de cada parâmetro de operação (arejamento, presença e concentração de surfactante e fase orgânica) nas variáveis envolvidas na transferência de O2 (área interfacial gás-líquido, a; coeficiente de transferência de O2 na fase líquida, kL; e coeficiente volumétrico de transferência de massa, kLa) foi analisada numa coluna de bolhas e num reactor airlift. Os resultados demonstraram que na coluna de bolhas o aumento da taxa de arejamento é positivo tanto para a área interfacial como para a transferência de massa devido ao aumento da turbulência e do gás hold-up. A concentração de surfactante teve um efeito positivo na área interfacial, uma vez que reduziu o tamanho das bolhas de gás e teve um efeito negativo no kL porque as suas moléculas localizam-se na interface gás-líquido, dificultando a transferência de O2. Relativamente à concentração de óleo, esta teve um efeito negativo na área interfacial mas melhorou o kL, uma vez que provocou uma nova distribuição do surfactante no meio, diminuindo a sua concentração na interface gás-líquido. O resultado global foi um efeito negativo da fase orgânica no kLa. No reactor airlift, observou-se que o aumento do arejamento produziu um efeito negativo no kL. Este resultado foi atribuído às diferenças na distribuição do líquido dentro do reactor airlift. Como o principal objectivo deste trabalho era optimizar a produção O uso de OR como substrato do processo permitiu obter quase 2 g L-1 de aroma mas o processo foi bastante lento, resultando em baixas produtividades. Hipotetizou-se então uma insuficiente hidrólise do óleo e testou-se uma hidrólise enzimática com diferentes enzimas comerciais e condições operatórias (temperatura e pH). Lipozyme TL IM, pH 8 e 27 °C foram seleccionadas, respectivamente, como a enzima e as condições operatórias mais eficientes na hidrólise do OR. Os resultados obtidos usando OR previamente hidrolisado pela enzima seleccionada foram comparados com os resultados obtidos em ensaios em que a hidrólise enzimática ocorreu durante a biotransformação e em ensaios em que não se adicionou lipase, indicando que o processo foi mais rápido quando a lipase esteve envolvida de alguma forma, mas as concentrações de aroma foram inferiores, resultando em produtividades idênticas. O tamanho das gotas de ambos os óleos em emulsões com diferentes concentrações de óleo foi caracterizado por granulometria laser. O impacto da presença de células no tamanho das gotas também foi analisado, assim como a relevância de se lavarem as células do inóculo. A granulometria das emulsões foi relacionada com a produção de γ-decalactona e observou-se que, na presença de células não lavadas, as gotas mais pequenas desapareceram, com ambos os óleos, aumentando a produção do aroma e sugerindo que o acesso das células ao substrato ocorre pela sua adesão à volta das gotas de óleo de maior tamanho. Ensaios num bioreactor agitado com 30 g L-1 RM (concentração à qual se obteve a maior produção de aroma) e diferentes arejamentos e agitações demonstraram a directa influência da taxa de transferência de oxigénio na produção de γ-decalactona e de outro composto, a 3-hidroxi-γ-decalactona, que também pode acumular no meio. A acumulação deste composto indica um desvio na via metabólica de produção de γ- decalactona, diminuindo o rendimento. A metodologia de superfície de resposta foi utilizada para optimizar o pH (6.17) e a concentração de O2 dissolvida no meio (44.4%) na produção do aroma. Estas condições foram aplicadas em duas estratégias semi-contínuas: com alimentação contínua de meio e com alimentação intermitente. Ambas as estratégias foram comparadas com o modo descontínuo tradicional em termos de produtividade global e rendimento em relação ao substrato. Embora a produtividade fosse consideravelmente superior no modo descontínuo, o nível de conversão de substrato em lactonas foi superior na estratégia semi-contínua intermitente, acumulando-se elevadas concentrações de aroma (6.8 g L-1 γ-decalactona e 10.0 g L-1 3-OH-γ-decalactona). Por fim, a produção de aroma foi testada num bioreactor airlift devido às vantagens deste tipo de reactor, nomeadamente no que diz respeito à poupança energética, à agitação não mecânica que evita danos nas células e aos elevados coeficientes de transferência de massa que se obtêm. A maior produção de γ- decalactona foi obtida com um caudal de arejamento de 1 L min-1. O aumento do caudal de arejamento em 5 vezes resultou numa diminuição da concentração do aroma. Porém, o tempo necessário para se atingir o pico de produção também foi reduzido, resultando em produtividades mais elevadas.

Tese de doutoramento em Chemical and Biological Engineering
Providing an adequate oxygen supply is critical to the growth and maintenance of most aerobic microbial cultures used in biotechnological processes. Oxygen mass transfer from gas phase to the culture medium is often a major growth limiting factor because of oxygen´s low solubility in an aqueous solution. Thus, ensuring adequate oxygen supply to submerged cultures in bioreactors is not trivial. The use of increased air pressure as a way of improving oxygen mass transfer from gas phase to liquid phase has been developed by some authors. However, the effect of reactor pressurization must be considered on cellular growth and metabolism. The increase of oxygen partial pressure could result in reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and lead to an oxidative environment to the cells. As the effect of increased air and oxygen pressure is strongly dependent of the cell type, species and strains, due to their different abilities of cellular response to possible oxidative stress that can arise, this thesis is focused on the study the behavior of non-conventional yeasts under hyperbaric air. In spite of the well-known importance of Yarrowia lipolytica and Pichia pastoris in several biotechnological processes, few studies are available on the application of air pressure increase for the cultivation of these yeasts. This work was started with the study of the oxygen mass transfer phenomenon from gas phase to the medium in a lab-scale pressurized bioreactor. The influence of operation parameters (aeration and stirring rates and increased air pressure up to 5 bar) on oxygen transfer rate (OTR) was analyzed. An empirical correlation for the prediction of the volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) as a function of air pressure, power input and superficial gas velocity was attempted. The results demonstrated that the increased air pressure is valuable option for OTR enhancement in bioreactors, competing favorable with raising stirring and aeration rates, which can cause cell damage by shear stress. Yeast cells exposed to adverse conditions employ a number of defense mechanisms to respond effectively to the stress effects of reactive oxygen species. The cellular response of Y. lipolytica W29 and P. pastoris CBS 2612 to the exposure to the ROS-inducing agents paraquat (1 mM), hydrogen peroxide (50 mM) and increased air pressure (1 bar and 5 bar) was analyzed. For both strains the cellular viability loss and lipid peroxidation was lower for the cells exposed to increased air pressure than for those exposed to chemical oxidants. Under superoxide stress (paraquat and air pressure), the SOD induction was the main observed mechanism, whereas the hydrogen peroxide was the most efficient inducer of catalase. The results suggested that Y. lipolytica have a more potent antioxidant system than P. pastoris. Batch cultivations of Y. lipolytica W29 under air pressures up to 6 bar were performed to investigate whether increasing air pressure may lead to increasing biomass yields, without giving raise to oxidative stress. The levels of antioxidant enzymes induced were also monitored. Cell growth was strongly enhanced by the pressure raise, since 5- and 3.4-fold improvement in the biomass production and in specific growth rate, respectively, were observed under 6 bar. An increase of the SOD specific activity at 6 bar of 53.4-fold was obtained compared with the experiments under 1 bar. Moreover, the influence of a pre-adaptation phase of cells to hyperbaric conditions on the lipase production by Y. lipolytica cells was investigated. The extracellular lipase activity increased 96% using a 5 bar air pressure instead of air at 1 bar pressure during the enzyme production phase. These results demonstrated that air pressure increase in bioreactors is an effective way for the enhancement of cell mass and enzyme productivity in bioprocesses involving Y. lipolytica cultures. P. pastoris CBS 2612 behavior under air pressures of 1 bar, 3 bar and 5 bar in culture media of glycerol (pure and crude) and methanol was studied. Generally, an enhancement on cellular growth, for all carbon sources, was achieved with the raise of air pressure and for batch and fed-batch processes with different feeding rate strategies. In batch cultures, 1.4-, 1.2-, and 1.5-fold improvement in biomass production was obtained with the increase of air pressure up to 5 bar, using methanol, pure glycerol, and crude glycerol, respectively. The increase of air pressure up to 5 bar using exponential feeding rate led to a 1.4-fold improvement in biomass yield per glycerol mass consumed, for pure and crude glycerol. The results show the possibility of improving cell mass production of P. pastoris under moderate air pressure, using low cost carbon sources. P. pastoris GS115/pPICZ/lacZ (Mut+), expressing intracellular β-galactosidase, and P. pastoris KM71H/pPICZαA/frutalin (MutS), expressing extracellular frutalin, were used to investigate the effect of increased air pressure on yeast growth and heterologous protein expression. The increase of air pressure up to 5 bar had a small effect on biomass production, but led to a 9-fold improvement in β-galactosidase specific activity compared to 1 bar. The recombinant frutalin secretion was enhanced by the increased air pressure up to 5 bar and the protease specific activity reached was 2.4 times lower than that obtained at atmospheric pressure in baffled flasks.
Um dos pontos críticos de processos biotecnológicos consiste no fornecimento de oxigénio suficiente para o crescimento e manutenção das culturas microbianas aeróbias. A velocidade de transferência de oxigénio do gás para o meio de cultura é normalmente um fator limitante do crescimento, devido à baixa solubilidade do oxigénio em soluções aquosas. Assim, garantir o adequado aprovisionamento de oxigénio a culturas submersas num bioreator não é uma tarefa menosprezável. São poucos os investigadores que têm recorrido ao aumento da pressão de ar como forma de melhorar a transferência de oxigénio da fase gasosa para a fase líquida. Neste caso, o efeito da pressurização do reator no crescimento e metabolismo celular deve ser tido em consideração. Além disso, o aumento da pressão parcial do oxigénio pode resultar na formação de espécies reativas de oxigénio e originar um ambiente oxidativo para as células. Uma vez que o efeito do aumento da pressão de ar e de oxigénio depende das espécies e estirpes, devido à diferente capacidade de resposta ao stresse oxidativo, esta tese foca-se no estudo da resposta celular de leveduras não-convencionais ao ar hiperbárico. Apesar da reconhecida importância das espécies Yarrowia lipolytica e Pichia pastoris em muitos processos biotecnológicos, são poucos os estudos sobre a aplicação do aumento da pressão de ar na cultura destas leveduras. Este trabalho começou com o estudo da taxa de transferência de oxigénio da fase gasosa para o meio líquido num reator pressurizado, à escala laboratorial. Foi analisada a influência de parâmetros operacionais (taxa de arejamento e de agitação e aumento da pressão de ar até 5 bar) na taxa de transferência de oxigénio (OTR). Obteve-se uma correlação empírica do coeficiente volumétrico de transferência de oxigénio (kLa) em função da pressão de ar, da potência de agitação e da velocidade superficial do gás. Os resultados demonstraram que o aumento da pressão de ar é uma opção viável para o incremento de OTR nos bioreatores, em alternativa ao aumento da taxa de arejamento e de agitação, que podem causar stresse hidrodinâmico às células. As células de levedura, quando expostas a condições adversas, desenvolvem um sistema de defesa contra os efeitos causados pelas espécies reativas de oxigénio. Assim, foi analisada a resposta celular das estirpes Y. lipolytica W29 e P. pastoris CBS 2612 à exposição aos agentes indutores de espécies reativas de oxigénio paraquat (1 mM), peróxido de hidrogénio (50 mM) e pressão total de ar (1 bar e 5 bar). Em ambas as estirpes, a perda de viabilidade e a peroxidação lipídica foram menores nas células expostas ao aumento da pressão de ar do que nas expostas aos oxidantes químicos. Em ambiente de stresse provocado pelo ião superóxido (paraquat e pressão de ar), o mecanismo de defesa mais observado foi a indução de SOD, enquanto o peróxido de hidrogénio foi o maior indutor da catalase. Os resultados sugerem que a estirpe Y. lipolytica tem um sistema antioxidante mais eficaz que a estirpe P. pastoris. Com o objectivo de investigar se o aumento da pressão de ar podia conduzir a um incremento no rendimento em biomassa, sem originar stresse oxidativo, foram realizados ensaios em modo batch de Y. lipolytica W29 a valores de pressão total de ar até 6 bar. Foi igualmente avaliada a capacidade da levedura em induzir a expressão de enzimas antioxidantes. O crescimento celular foi consideravelmente beneficiado com o aumento da pressão de ar, uma vez que a produção de biomassa e a taxa específica de crescimento aumentaram 5 e 3.4 vezes, respectivamente, no ensaio realizado a 6 bar. A atividade específica da enzima SOD obtida no ensaio a 6 bar foi 53.4 vezes maior do que a alcançada a 1 bar. Foi também analisada a influência de uma fase de pré-adaptação das células às condições hiperbáricas na produção de lipase por Y. lipolytica. A atividade da lipase extracelular aumentou 96% com a aplicação de uma pressão de ar igual a 5 bar, comparativamente ao ensaio realizado a 1 bar, durante a fase de produção da enzima. Estes resultados demonstraram que o aumento da pressão total de ar é uma forma eficaz de aumentar a produtividade em biomassa e em enzima SOD em bioprocessos que utilizem a levedura Y. lipolytica. Foi estudado o comportamento da estirpe P. pastoris CBS 2612 em meios de glicerol (puro e bruto) e metanol, com valores de pressão iguais a 1 bar, 3 bar e 5 bar. De uma maneira geral, foi observado um incremento do crescimento celular com o aumento da pressão de ar, em todas as fontes de carbono e em processos em modo batch e fed-batch com 2 estratégias de alimentação diferentes. Nas culturas em modo batch usando metanol, glicerol puro e glicerol bruto, obtiveram-se aumentos de 1.4, 1.2 e 1.5 vezes, respectivamente, na produção de biomassa com a pressão de 5 bar. No processo fed-batch com alimentação exponencial, o rendimento em biomassa por massa de glicerol consumido (puro e bruto) aumentou 1.4 vezes com o uso de pressão de ar igual a 5 bar. Os resultados demonstram a possibilidade de aumentar a produção de biomassa de P. pastoris sob pressão de ar moderada, usando fontes de carbono de baixo custo. A estirpe P. pastoris GS115/pPICZ/lacZ (Mut+), que expressa β-galactosidase intracelular, e a estirpe KM71H/pPICZαA/frutalina (MutS), que expressa frutalina extracelular, foram usadas com o intuito de estudar o efeito do aumento da pressão de ar no crescimento destas estirpes e na expressão de proteínas heterólogas. O aumento da pressão total de ar até 5 bar não teve um efeito significativo no crescimento celular destas estirpes, mas conduziu a um incremento de 9 vezes na actividade específica da enzima β- galactosidase, comparativamente à obtida a 1 bar. A expressão de frutalina também aumentou a 5 bar e a actividade específica de protease obtida foi 2.4 vezes inferior à obtida nos ensaios em matraz (pressão atmosférica.

Dissertação de mestrado em Biotecnologia e Bio-empreendedorismo em Plantas Aromáticas e Medicinais
Ginkgo biloba L. possui uma ampla gama de actividades biológicas e o seu extracto padronizado comercial, EGb 761, tem sido um dos produtos medicinais mais vendidos em todo o mundo, devido à sua actividade antioxidante. Efeitos benéficos sobre o sistema nervoso central, incluindo efeitos nos pacientes da doença de Alzheimer, e regulação da expressão genética relacionam-se com os dois principais constituintes do extracto de G. biloba: ginkgolidos e bilobalida. Entre os genes modulados pelo EGb 761, existem vários envolvidos na regulação do ciclo celular, como o gene XPC de mamíferos. A regulação do ciclo celular pode ser crucial para a sobrevivência do organismo, uma vez que, danos de DNA não reparados antes do processo de replicação, podem provocar mutações prejudiciais para as células filhas. O objectivo do presente trabalho foi a investigação dos efeitos de extracto vegetal obtido a partir das folhas de G. biloba, no ciclo celular. Os ensaios envolveram incubações de células de Saccharomyces cerevisiae com o extracto de G. biloba antes da exposição ao choque oxidativo, provocado pelo peróxido de hidrogénio. A estimativa das proporções celulares em cada fase do ciclo celular foi efectuada através da contagem das células ao longo do tempo e da determinação dos índices de gemulação. Foram efectuadas ainda as medições de conteúdo de DNA nas células, através de citometria de fluxo. A capacidade de reparação de danos de DNA nas células com o ciclo celular parado e expostas ao choque oxidativo, também foi investigado. Os ensaios envolveram a incubação das células na presença da hidroxiurea, seguida de exposição a H2O2. Os danos e a reparação de DNA foram determinados através do ensaio cometa. Os resultados demonstraram o efeito protector do extracto de G. biloba contra os danos de DNA provocados pelo H2O2 nas células de levedura, promovendo o progressão do ciclo celular após o choque oxidativo. Além disso, as células sob stress replicativo são menos susceptíveis a danos oxidativos de DNA. No entanto, a hidroxyurea não provoca alterações na dinâmica de reparação de DNA.
Ginkgo biloba L. is a plant with a wide range of biological activities and its leaf extract (EGb 761) has been one of the best-selling medicinal products worldwide due to its antioxidant activity. Beneficial effects on the central nervous system, including in patients of Alzheimer's disease, and regulation of gene expression have been related to two main compounds of G. biloba extract: ginkgolides and bilobalide. Among EGb 761 modulated genes, are several involved in cell cycle regulation, like mammalian XPC gene. DNA lesions, which are not repaired before replication, may propagate harmful mutations to the daughter cells, thus, cell cycle control and regulation is crucial to the organism’s survival. DNA damage checkpoints temporarily block the cell cycle progression in G1 or G2 phases in response to genotoxic stress, that allow cells to repair damaged DNA. The aim of the present work was the investigation of G. biloba leaf extract effects on cell cycle. The experiments involved incubation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells with G. biloba leaf extract, before the oxidative shock by hydrogen peroxide. Subsequent estimation of cell proportions in each phase of cell cycle by the budding index approach was performed, as well as measurement of cells DNA content by flow cytometry. DNA damage repair ability in yeast cells under replicative stress, exposed to the oxidative shock, was also investigated. Typical experiments included incubation of cells in the presence of hydroxyurea, followed by exposure to hydrogen peroxide. Determination of DNA damage and repair was performed using the comet assay. The results indicate that G. biloba extract protects yeast cells against DNA damage imposed by hydrogen peroxide, promoting progression of the cell cycle after oxidative shock. This protective effect is probably related to a lower degree of DNA damage and higher repair ability. In addition, cells under replicative stress are less susceptible to oxidative DNA damage, however, hydroxyurea does not provoke changes in the dynamics of DNA damage repair ability.

Dissertação de mestrado em Ecologia
Lançada em 2005 e recorrendo à abordagem da técnica DNA barcoding, a campanha FISH-BOL, integrada na iniciativa Barcode of Life (BOLI), constitui uma iniciativa internacional que tem como objetivo criar uma ampla biblioteca de códigos de barras de DNA - DNA barcodes - para a identificação de qualquer espécie de peixe, examinando igualmente a diversidade molecular dos mesmos através de um esquema de múltiplas espécies/marcadores genéticos únicos. Dividido em duas partes distintas, este trabalho teve como objetivos alargar a biblioteca de referência de DNA barcodes de peixes marinhos da costa portuguesa devidamente validados com um sistema de classificação e investigar padrões filogeográficos da espécie Zeus faber, através da análise conjunta de segmentos de DNA mitocondrial (COI-5P) e de DNA nuclear (intrão do gene S7). Recorrendo às técnicas moleculares e aos protocolos da técnica DNA barcoding, a biblioteca de referência de DNA barcodes de peixes marinhos de Portugal contabiliza, até ao momento, 793 sequências distribuídas por 148 espécies, 120 géneros e 87 famílias. Salvo algumas exceções, os espécimes agruparam em clados monofiléticos da mesma espécie com valores de divergência inferiores a 2%. A aplicação do sistema de classificação à nossa biblioteca de referência resultou num total de 78% das sequências corretamente identificadas. Relativamente ao estudo da espécie Zeus faber, a análise das 87 sequências de COI-5P originou a formação de dois clados significativamente distintos, clado do hemisfério Norte e clado do hemisfério Sul. Igualmente, a análise às 24 sequências do intrão de S7 originou os mesmos resultados sugerindo, assim, que poderemos estar perante um caso de espécie críptica, facto este que merece uma maior atenção em estudos futuros. Para além de facilitar a identificação de espécies de peixes marinhos para profissionais que precisem de uma identificação rápida e objetiva no seu dia-a-dia, resolvendo também conflitos taxonómicos em espécies exploradas comercialmente e de grande importância económica, a compilação final deste trabalho possibilitará uma análise multi-específica de padrões genéticos globais para um conjunto significativo de espécies de peixes marinhas, compreendendo diferentes estratégias reprodutoras, comportamentais ecológicas, podendo ainda servir como base para estudos futuros de monitorização da diversidade aquática marinha.
Launched in 2005 and using the DNA barcoding technique, the FISH-BOL campaign, integrated in Barcode of Life (BOLI) initiative, is an international initiative whose primary objective is to create a large DNA barcodes library to identify any specie of fish, examining the molecular diversity of fish species using a scheme of multiple and unique genetic markers/species. Divided in two distinct parts, the aims of this work were to extend the reference library of DNA barcodes of marine species from Portugal coast properly validated with a ranking system, and to examine the phylogeographics patterns of the specie Zeus faber, by the analysis of the barcode region of the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome oxydase I (COI-5P) and nuclear DNA (S7 intron). Using the molecular approaches and the protocols of DNA barcoding technique, the reference library of DNA barcodes of marine fishes of Portugal reports, still the moment, 793 sequences distributed by 148 species, 120 genus and 87 families. With the exception of few specific cases, the specimens clustered into monophyletic clades of the same specie with intraspecific genetic distance lower than 2%. The application of the ranking system to our reference library has resulted in 78% of sequences correctly identified. Concerning the Zeus faber study, the analyses of the 87 sequences of COI-5P has originated the generation of two significantly distinct clades, hemisphere North clade and hemisphere South clade. In the same way, the analyze of the 24 sequences of S7 intron has originated the same results, suggesting, therefore, that we can be in the presence of a cryptic specie, deserving this case a particular interest in futures studies. Besides subserve the species identification of marine fishes to those who need a fast and objective identification, resolving also some taxonomic incongruences in species commercially explored and with a reasonable economic importance, the final compilation of this work will allow a multi-specific analyze of global genetic patterns to a vast number of marine fishes species, encompassing different strategies of reproduction, behavior and ecologic, that can be useful for futures studies of diversity and monitoring of the marine aquatic diversity.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Projetos FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-010596 e PEst-C/BIA/UI4050/2011.
FEDER através do Programa Operacional de Factores de Competitividade - COMPETE

Tese de doutoramento em Química e Engenharia Biológica
Mediterranean countries are known to have favorable conditions for olive oil production. The three-phase extraction technology demands the addition of hot water to the process, and olive oil, olive cake and olive mill wastewater (OMW) are produced. An approach for using this waste as a renewable resource is of greater interest. Accordingly, the present investigation aims the OMW valorization, by producing high-value compounds (lipase and methane) while degrading this waste. Thus, the research work presented in this thesis essentially describes a study about an integrated process, where the effluents are firstly submitted to a lipase producing aerobic fermentation, followed by an anaerobic degradation process, to produce methane. This work is of great interest, since Portugal is one of the world leading producers of olive oil, with crescent production values from campaign to campaign, in the last years. This work was started with a study about the major problem attributed to the olive mill wastewaters (OMW), the phenolic compounds toxicity. These experiments showed that the nonconventional yeasts Y. lipolytica, C. rugosa and C. cylindracea are able to grow in different phenolic compounds, usually found in OMW. This was later confirmed in bioreactor batch experiments with OMW-based media, where the studied yeasts, not only were capable of achieving similar cell growth, to glucose synthetic media, but also to highly consume the existing and analyzed phenolic compounds. The experiments on batch fermentations, with OMW-based media, were then performed in Erlenmeyer baffled flasks, in order to study the effect of ammonium, cell and surfactant addition as well as to investigate the use of different yeast strains; Candida rugosa (PYCC 3238 and CBS 2275), Candida cylindracea CBS 7869 and Yarrowia lipolytica (CBS 2073, W29 ATCC 20460 and IMUFRJ 50682); and different non-diluted OMW. C. cylindracea was the best strain concerning the effluent degradation. After preliminary tests, a study of optimal batch and fed-batch conditions was performed in bioreactor, using Candida rugosa CBS 2275, Candida cylindracea CBS 7869 and Yarrowia lipolytica W29 ATCC 20460. It was confirmed that C. cylindracea CBS 7869 was the best lipase-producing yeast (6 U mL-1). However, using a fed-batch strategy, with cell pre-growth directly on the bioreactor, C. rugosa CBS 2275 was the strain that obtained the best values of lipase (17 U mL-1); achieving at the same time, a significant effluent degradation (64 % of COD, 27% of phenolics and 77% of total lipids). Anaerobic biodegradability tests showed that the aerobic treatment had a positive effect on the anaerobic degradation of the OMW. Best results were achieved for the initial concentration of 5 g COD-treated OMW L-1, where 78% of the COD added was recovered as methane. Furthermore, when the COD degradation in the aerobic step was higher, even better results were possible to achieve, with a faster conversion of COD to methane. The obtained results demonstrates that the olive mill wastewaters (OMW) are becoming a competitive and valuable growth medium in fermentation processes and also the potential application of non-conventional lipolytic yeasts for OMW valorization, for biomass and enzymes production. This treatment was successful to detoxify the effluent, having a very positive effect in the anaerobic digestion. The utilization of this valorization process will possibly have a positive impact on the environmental problem of OMW management.
Os países que envolvem o Mediterrâneo são conhecidos pelas suas condições favoráveis para a produção de azeite. A tecnologia de extracção de azeite com o sistema em contínuo de 3 fases exige a adição de água quente ao processo, o que dá origem à produção de azeite, águas ruças (OMW) e bagaço. A utilização deste efluente (águas ruças) como um recurso renovável apresenta-se como uma abordagem de elevado interesse, a este problema. Deste modo, o presente trabalho de investigação tem como finalidade a valorização das águas ruças, com produção de produtos de elevado interesse industrial (lipase e metano) enquanto se diminui a carga poluente do resíduo. Assim, o trabalho de investigação apresentado nesta tese descreve essencialmente o estudo de um processo integrado, onde os efluentes são primeiramente submetidos a uma fermentação aeróbia com produção de lipase, à qual se segue um processo de degradação anaeróbia com produção de metano. Este trabalho é de elevado interesse, dado que Portugal está entre os líderes mundiais de produção de azeite, com crescentes valores de produção de campanha para campanha, nos últimos anos. Assim, este trabalho foi iniciado com um estudo focado no problema mais importante associado às águas ruças, a toxicidade dos compostos fenólicos. Estes ensaios mostraram que as leveduras não-convencionais Y. lipolytica, C. rugosa e C. cylindracea são capazes de crescer nos diferentes compostos fenólicos, que frequentemente constituem as águas ruças. Estes resultados foram mais tarde confirmados em bioreactor, onde as referidas leveduras não só foram capazes de crescer, tanto ou até melhor ao que crescem em meio de glucose, como também foram capazes de consumir uma parte considerável de cada composto fenólico, acompanhado ao longo das fermentações. Foram então iniciados os ensaios em descontínuo em matrazes utilizando meio de águas ruças, de modo a fazer um estudo preliminar sobre o efeito da adição de amónio, surfactante e a da concentração de células, bem como o efeito do uso de diferentes leveduras, nomeadamente Candida rugosa (PYCC 3238 e CBS 2275), Candida cylindracea CBS 7869 e Yarrowia lipolytica (CBS 2073, W29 ATCC 20460 e IMUFRJ 50682) e diferentes amostras de águas ruças não diluídas. Foram seleccionadas algumas condições e a C. cylindracea foi a melhor levedura no que diz respeito à degradação do efluente. Depois destes testes preliminares, estudos sobre as condições óptimas a utilizar em descontínuo e semicontínuo foram efectuados em bioreactor, utilizando Candida rugosa CBS 2275, Candida cylindracea CBS 7869 e Yarrowia lipolytica W29 ATCC 20460. Concluiu-se que a C. cylindracea CBS 7869 é a melhor produtora de lipase em fermentações em descontínuo (6 U mL-1), no entanto, utilizando o modo semi-contínuo, com pré-crescimento das células directamente no reactor a C. rugosa CBS 2275 surge como a melhor levedura produtora de lipase, com 17 U mL-1, e com óptimos valores de degradação do efluente (64 % de CQO, 27% de compostos fenólicos totais e 77% dos lípidos totais). Os testes de biodegradabilidade anaeróbia demonstraram que a etapa de tratamento aeróbio que o antecede tem um efeito positivo. Em ensaios posteriores, foram obtidos melhores resultados para a concentração inicial de 5 g L-1 CQO de águas ruças tratadas, com 78 % de conversão do CQO em metano. Mais, verificou-se que quanto melhor é a degradação de CQO na etapa aeróbia do processo integrado, melhores foram os resultados na etapa seguinte, com uma conversão de CQO em metano mais rápida. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que as águas ruças se estão a tornar num meio de crescimento competitivo e importante, mas também o potencial das leveduras lipolíticas não convencionais nos processos fermentativos, para a valorização de águas ruças, com produção de enzimas e biomassa. O sucesso destes processos, na posterior etapa de digestão anaeróbia teve um efeito bastante positivo. A utilização deste processo integrado de valorização de águas ruças poderá assim ter um impacto benéfico para a resolução do problema relacionado com a gestão ambiental das águas ruças.

Dissertação de mestrado em Micro e Nano Tecnologias
There is an increasing public concern about the possible adverse consequences at both human health and wildlife, arising from the release of estrogens into the environment. These endocrine disrupting chemicals include a variety of chemical classes, such as natural and synthetic hormones, plant constituents (phytoestrogens), pesticides, compounds used in the plastics industry, among other industrial by-products and pollutants. They are frequently widely dispersed in the environment. Some can be persistent and can be transported through long distances. Others are rapidly degraded. For these reasons it is necessary to proceed to the environment monitoring of these compounds. Green Fluorescent Protein has been employed as a reporter protein in whole-cell sensing systems based on stress induction. This is a new developed method of reporting systems since it can substitute the assay that frequently has been used, the β-galactosidase as a reporter gene, which is a time-consuming procedure and since it requires cells disruption it increases the errors. Thus, this work aimed to construct a biosensor based on a genetically modified yeast cells expressing the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) upon exposition to estrogenic compounds on wastewater. In order to test the operation of the sensor it was measured the transmittance and fluorescence of slides with alginate and FluoSpheres plotted in three immobilization layouts: 'separated dots', 'dots together' and dip coated. The transmittance and the fluorescence signals were detected by a CMOS optical sensor. FluoSpheres beads were used instead of the yeast cells due to legal issues, it was not possible to bring the genetically modified yeast cells to Portugal The results showed that the transmittance is affected by the thickness of the alginate layer, which scatters the light, therefore the dip coated slides present lower transmittance values. The 'dots together' layout is the most effective in fluorescence detection. High concentrations of FluoSpheres beads presented lower values of fluorescence.
A preocupação pública tem vindo a aumentar relativamente às consequências adversas na sua saúde e nos habitats devido à libertação de compostos estrogénicos no ambiente. Estes disrutores endócrinos incluem uma diversidade de classes químicas como as hormonas naturais e sintéticas, fitoestrogénios (estrogénios presentes nas plantas), pesticidas, químicos usados na indústria dos plásticos, entre outros subprodutos industriais e poluentes. São facilmente dispersos no ambiente e enquanto uns podem ser persistentes e transportados até longas distâncias, outros são rapidamente degradados. Desta forma, é necessário proceder à monitorização ambiental destes compostos. A Proteína Verde Fluorescente (GFP) tem vindo a ser usada como uma proteína repórter em biosistemas através da indução de stresse. Este é um novo método desenvolvido para sistemas repórter uma vez que pode substituir o teste que tem sido usado frequentemente, o de β-galactosidase como gene repórter, que é um procedimento moroso e requerer a desintegração celular. Assim, este trabalho visa a construção de um biossensor baseado em células de leveduras geneticamente modificadas que expressam GFP aquando da exposição a compostos estrogénicos em água. De forma a testar o funcionamento do sensor foi medida a transmitância e a fluorescência usando-se lâminas com alginato e FluoSpheres imobilizados em três layouts diferentes: "separated dots", "dots together" e dip coated. Os sinais de transmitância e fluorescência foram detectados com um sensor óptico CMOS. Usaram-se as FluoSpheres em alternativa às células das leveduras devido a questões legais, uma vez que não era possível trazer as leveduras geneticamente modificadas para Portugal. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que a transmitância é afectada pela espessura da camada de alginato que dispersa a luz. Por conseguinte as lâminas dip coated apresentaram menores valores. O layout "dots together" foi o mais efetivo na deteção de fluorescência. Elevadas concentrações de FluoSpheres apresentaram menores valores de fluorescência.

Considering the implications of population movements for places of origin and destinations, migration has garnered significant interest in recent scholarship. To advance this objective, this chapter examines the influence of migration and crime on development in Lagos, Nigeria. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data from 310 respondents. Data were analysed. Results show that 84.4% of Hausa, Yoruba (76%), others (73.3%) and Igbo (57.8%), planned their migration to Lagos. Overall, 95.8% of the respondents acknowledged that they had no assurances of jobs before migrating to Lagos. As frustration develops, some migrants embrace crime and endanger development. The study concluded that if development is inclusive, migration will be naturally controlled as individuals will remain in their places of origin rather than constituting nuisance to development in Lagos. It therefore suggests that government should control crime so that the people can see the possible constructive interactions between migration and development.

Considering the implications of population movements for places of origin and destinations, migration has garnered significant interest in recent scholarship. To advance this objective, this chapter examines the influence of migration and crime on development in Lagos, Nigeria. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data from 310 respondents. Data were analysed. Results show that 84.4% of Hausa, Yoruba (76%), others (73.3%) and Igbo (57.8%), planned their migration to Lagos. Overall, 95.8% of the respondents acknowledged that they had no assurances of jobs before migrating to Lagos. As frustration develops, some migrants embrace crime and endanger development. The study concluded that if development is inclusive, migration will be naturally controlled as individuals will remain in their places of origin rather than constituting nuisance to development in Lagos. It therefore suggests that government should control crime so that the people can see the possible constructive interactions between migration and development.

In this chapter, the authors explore Fluoride (F) in groundwater as a major issue of water pollution. Geo-statistical analysis of groundwater quality in Newai Tehsil (India) has been done in order to identify the possible spatial distribution of water quality parameters and to assess the spatial dependence of water properties with the help of principal component analysis (PCA) structure. Two types of maps (spatial map and principal component map) of groundwater quality have been developed. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different Fluoride (F) concentration combined with Pseudomonas fluorescens (P.F) on Prosopis juliflora plant. The field design was used as completely randomized block design with three replicates. The study revealed that parameters were found to be positively and highly correlated with principal component. Low and high values (with their acceptable limit) have also been displayed over each spatial map. Plants treated with P. fluorescens showed the highest F uptake in root, shoot, and leaves tissues were 33.14, 19.41, and 15.15 mg kg-1 after 120 days, respectively. Both total bioaccumulation factor (BF) and translocation factor (TF) were obtained above one (i.e., 1.06 and 1.04). This confirmed the high accumulation and translocation of F in plant tissues. The F uptake efficiency of plant was enhanced to 67.7%, and plant biomass was increased to 57.03%. The present study will be beneficial for researchers working towards further improvement of F phytoremediation technology.

OBJECTIVES We examined the variation between 126 New York hospitals in formula supplementation among breastfed infants after adjusting for socioeconomic, maternal, and infant factors and stratifying by level of perinatal care. METHODS We used 2014 birth certificate data for 160 911 breastfed infants to calculate hospital-specific formula supplementation percentages by using multivariable hierarchical logistic regression models. RESULTS Formula supplementation percentages varied widely among hospitals, from 2.3% to 98.3%, and was lower among level 1 hospitals (18.2%) than higher-level hospitals (50.6%–57.0%). Significant disparities in supplementation were noted for race and ethnicity (adjusted odds ratios [aORs] were 1.54–2.05 for African Americans, 1.85–2.74 for Asian Americans, and 1.25–2.16 for Hispanics, compared with whites), maternal education (aORs were 2.01–2.95 for ≤12th grade, 1.74–1.85 for high school or general education development, and 1.18–1.28 for some college or a college degree, compared with a Master’s degree), and insurance coverage (aOR was 1.27–1.60 for Medicaid insurance versus other). Formula supplementation was higher among mothers who smoked, had a cesarean delivery, or diabetes. At all 4 levels of perinatal care, there were exemplar hospitals that met the HealthyPeople 2020 supplementation goal of ≤14.2%. After adjusting for individual risk factors, the hospital-specific, risk-adjusted supplemental formula percentages still revealed a wide variation. CONCLUSIONS A better understanding of the exemplar hospitals could inform future efforts to improve maternity care practices and breastfeeding support to reduce unnecessary formula supplementation, reduce disparities, increase exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration, and improve maternal and child health outcomes.

<em>Abstract</em>.—Recent modeling indicates that increased exploitation on nonnative flathead catfish <em>Pylodictis olivaris</em> may be an avenue for native species recovery. Flathead catfish were illegally introduced into the Satilla River, Georgia, and negative impacts have occurred on native fishes. In an effort to aid in the restoration of native fish on the Satilla River, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources initiated an intensive electrofishing removal effort. In this study, we evaluated the changes in flathead catfish total mortality, condition, and size structure from those efforts. From 2007 to 2009, 13,472 flathead catfish totaling 19,337 kg were removed along a 129-km stretch of the Satilla River. The population size structure changed substantially from containing many large individuals (59% 510 mm total length [TL]) in 2007 to mainly small fish (79% 356 mm TL) by 2009. Total biomass per effort declined from 57.05 kg/h in 2007 to 19.96 kg/h in 2009. Mean individual weight of fish removed decreased from 2.64 kg in 2007 to 1.32 kg in 2008 to 0.61 kg in 2009. Population age structure was also truncated, but there was evidence for higher recruitment and earlier maturation, which would require that intensive harvest be maintained to prevent the population from rebuilding within 2–5 years. Catch-curves revealed increasing total annual mortality rates of 37, 48 and 52%, for 2007–2009, respectively. Considering the life history of the flathead catfish, being a long-lived species that presumably cannot withstand excessive rates of exploitation (i.e., greater than 25% exploitation), our results indicated that an electrofishing removal program is a reasonable management option for areas where this apex predator has been introduced, but continual removal may be required to maintain low biomass.

Many chemical pollutants take their way into different environment ecosystems. One of these pollutants is detergent, which these compounds used widely worldwide. There is less attention to their impact on the Iraqi environment, especially on an aquatic system; most of these compounds discharged into the river directly by non-urban communities, in addition to household uses that it had spent throughout the domestic drainage systems. Tigris river is the primary source of water in Baghdad City, Iraq, and passes throughout Baghdad city north to south of the city. This chapter deal with the qualitative and quantitative of these compounds in the sediment as it’s considered the sink of most pollutant compounds. The four sampling sites were chosen along the river for 13 months, starting from Feb 2017 to Feb 2018 and represent as dry and wet seasons. Physicochemical parameters had measured during this study. For the sediment sample, two methods used Photolab and HPLC. The two types of surfactants were extracted from the sediment as follows anionic and nonionic surfactants which they had found at all the study sites, especially in some locations in the midstream. For temporal variation, the dry seasons noticed a high concentration for nonionic surfactant (56.19 and 467.3 μg/g) by Photolab and HPLC, respectively, and for anionic surfactant (135.74 μg/g) by HPLC. In contrast, by Photolab, only anionic surfactant was recorded a high concentration in wet seasons (72.05 μg/g). The lowest frequency of anionic and nonionic was recorded in wet seasons by Photolab and HPLC, respectively (41.83 μg/g and not detectable) unless for NS by HPLC in the dry season (10.80 μg/g). For spatial variation which according to the cluster diagram, the highest concentration for anionic and nonionic surfactants by Photolab had recorded (57.88 and 34.32 μg/g, respectively) at site1, while for HPLC anionic and nonionic surfactants was recorded highest values (48.37 and 235.79, respectively) at site 4. From this study concluded that sites 1 and 4 are the most pollutant than other sites because the activity of discharge of pollution.

Vehicle counting systems can help with vehicle analysis and traffic incident detection. Unfortunately, most existing methods require some level of human input to identify the Region of interest (ROI), movements of interest, or to establish a reference point or line to count vehicles from traffic cameras. This work introduces a method to count vehicles from traffic videos that automatically identifies the ROI for the camera, as well as the driving trajectories of the vehicles. This makes the method feasible to use with Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras, which are frequently used in developing countries. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed method achieves an average intersection over the union of 57.05% for the ROI and a mean absolute error of just 17.44% at counting vehicles of the traffic video cameras tested.

Vehicle counting systems can help with vehicle analysis and traffic incident detection. Unfortunately, most existing methods require some level of human input to identify the Region of interest (ROI), movements of interest, or to establish a reference point or line to count vehicles from traffic cameras. This work introduces a method to count vehicles from traffic videos that automatically identifies the ROI for the camera, as well as the driving trajectories of the vehicles. This makes the method feasible to use with Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras, which are frequently used in developing countries. Preliminary results indicate that the proposed method achieves an average intersection over the union of 57.05% for the ROI and a mean absolute error of just 17.44% at counting vehicles of the traffic video cameras tested.

Forced convective heat transfer coefficients and friction factor for flow of water and FC-72 in microchannels with a rectangular cross section were measured. An integrated microsystem consisting of five microchannels on one side and a localized heater and seven polysilicon temperature sensors along the selected channels on the other side was fabricated by using a double side polished silicon wafer. For the microchannels tested, the friction factor constant C = f ReDh obtained are values between 35.7 and 81.9, which are close to the theoretical value of 57.0. The measured Nusselt number in the laminar regime tested could be correlated by a correlation, Nu = A ReDh1.37 Pr1/3 where A is the value between 0.000 454 and 0.000 646.

The purpose of this research is trying to design a 6 degree-of-freedom micro-precision positioning stage with monolithic mechanism. It is hoped that this stage can reach 10 μm strokes along linear axis and with rotational angle no less than 50 μrad. The dimension of this positioning stage should be less than 200 mm × 200 mm × 50 mm. By using flexure hinge and piezoelectric actuator, this stage can achieve nanometer resolution. From the experimental results, it is found that the stage can achieve a maximum displacement of 29.3 μm in X axis; 11.94 μm in Y axis; and 6.74 μm in Z axis. The stage can also achieve a maximum rotation of 405.41 μrad around Z axis; 57.18 μrad around X axis; and 63.72 μrad around Y axis. With open loop control, we have shown that the minimum step for the stage is 110 nm in X-axis; 45 nm in Y axis; and 30 nm in Z-axis.

Abstract Local, time-averaged measurements of gas void fraction, gas velocity, gas bubble diameter, and bubble passage frequency in a rectangular channel (15.0 × 1.25 cm) are presented. Profiles of the gas velocity and the void fraction were characterized for the different flow regimes along the cross-sectional, transverse axes. Use of the average slug interval technique and a flow regime map, generated on coordinates of superficial velocities have been determined to be useful tools for characterizing two-phase flows and are in good agreement with established flow regime maps for both round and rectangular channels, especially for the bubble-to-slug transition. An alternative method using the centerline gas void fractions is also used to characterize the flow regimes and shows some promise where these values range from 8.0% to 57.0%.

Background: Germ-cell tumors (GCT) are the commonest ovarian neoplasm in the first two decades of life. Aim: To study the profile of ovarian GCT in children and their outcome. Methods: Retrospective study of all cases of malignant ovarian GCT in the pediatric age (up to 18 years) was done from January 2002 to December 2015. The medical records of all admitted cases during this period were reviewed and the data was analysed with respect to age at diagnosis, clinical presentation, tumor markers, surgical stage, tumor histology, therapy, clinical course, and outcome. Results: Girls with malignant ovarian GCT were seen at our institute during the study period. Out of these 25 underwent treatment. Mean age at presentation was 11.7 years (range: 3-18 years). Abdominal pain was the commonest presentation. Twelve (47.3%) had right sided disease, 11 (42%) had left sided disease and 2 had bilateral disease. Twelve cases (57.8%) were diagnosed as stage I disease, 5 (10.5%) as stage II, 7 (26.3%) as stage III and 1 (5.2%) as stage IV. Elevated AFP >1000 was found in 9 (47.3%), elevated B-HCG (>50) in 7 (42%) and elevated LDH (>1000) in 7 (36.8%) patients at presentation. Twenty (73.6%) patients underwent surgery prior to chemotherapy out of which 4 (21%) patients presented after undergoing surgery at other centre. Fourteen (57.8%) patients received 4 cycles of BEP based chemotherapy, 6 (21%) received 3 cycles, 2 (10.5%) received 2 cycles and 1 patient did not receive any chemotherapy as it was mature teratoma. The most common histology was dysgerminoma in 8 (42%) patients followed by mixed germ cell tumor in 4 (21%), teratoma in 3 (15.7%), embryonal carcinoma in 2 (10.5%) and yolk sac tumor and mature teratoma in 1 patient each. Four (21%) patients had relapse on contralateral side which was salvaged. 1 patient presented with relapse who underwent only surgery outside, 1 patient had ovarian torsion. Median follow up is 27months. The event free survival rate was 78.9%. Conclusion: This study confirms an excellent outcome for girls with ovarian germ cell tumor. Patients with advanced surgical stage relapsed frequently. The mainstay of treatment is fertility preserving surgery and cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

A major factor in global warming is CO2 emission from thermal power plants, which burn fossil fuels. One technology proposed to prevent global warming is CO2 recovery from combustion flue gas and the sequestration of CO2 underground or near the ocean bed. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) can produce highly concentrated CO2, because the reformed fuel gas reacts with oxygen electrochemically without being mixed with air in the SOFC. We therefore propose to operate multi-staged SOFCs with high utilization of reformed fuel to obtain highly concentrated CO2. In this study, we estimated the performance of multi-staged SOFCs considering H2 diffusion and the combined cycle efficiency of a multistage SOFC / gas turbine / CO2 recovery power plant. The power generation efficiency of our CO2 recovery combined cycle is 68.5%, whereas the efficiency of a conventional SOFC/GT cycle with the CO2 recovery amine process is 57.8%.

ABSTRACT Background: Theoretically, organizational commitment mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. An organization with more satisfied employees tends to be more effective and productive. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of job satisfaction and organization commitment on the performance of family planning counselors in Yogyakarta. Subjects and Method: A cross sectional study was conducted at 50 family planning counselor offices in Yogyakarta, from January to February 2020. A sample of 200 family planning counselors was selected by stratified random sampling. The dependent variable was job performance. The independent variables were job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by a multiple logistic regression. Results: Family planning counselor who had good job performance was 57.00%, high job satisfaction was 64.50%, and high commitment was 45.50%. Family planning counselor job performance increased with high satisfaction (OR= 8.84; 95% CI= 1.49 to 3.22; p<0.001) and strong organizational commitment (OR= 4.84; 95% CI= 0.89 to 2.47; p<0.001). Conclusion: Family planning counselor job performance increases with high satisfaction and strong organizational commitment. Keywords: job performance job satisfaction, organization commitment Correspondence: Ikhtiarisca Olifia Mufidatun. Masters Program in Public Health, Universitas Sebelas Maret. Jl. Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java. Email: riscaolifia@gmail.com. Mobile: +6282220030006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.04.50

Novel PSF composite UF membranes incorporating low loadings of polydopamine-functionalized graphene oxide particles (rGO-PDA) were fabricated and investigated. The functionalization was confirmed using FTIR-UATR, Raman spectra, XPS, and SEM. Pristine PSF, PSF/GO, and PSF/rGO-PDA MMMs were then prepared using the phase inversion technique and analyzed using FTIR, SEM, AFM, and contact angle (CA). The cross-section SEM images showed better distribution of rGO-PDA particles in the pores and polymer wall whereas the pristine GO particles aggregate and partially block the pores. Thus, the pure water flux increased with the addition of rGO-PDA without affecting the rejection properties, while the flux decreased with the embedding of pristine GO particles. The highest pure water permeability (PWP) was obtained with PSF/rGO-PDA-0.1 to be approximately twice that of the pristine PSF and PSF/GO-0.1. All membranes exhibited complete rejection of BSA and HA, and showed almost similar performance against different dyes. The FRRs of the pristine PSF after three fouling cycles (FRR3) against BSA and HA were recorded to be 57.8% and 70.7% respectively. FRR3 was enhanced by around 30% with PSF/rGO-PDA composites. The MMMs prepared in this work are expected to have great potential on ultrafiltration and similar studies on other membrane processes.