Torrefaction is a thermal treatment with high potential to be applied in the production of solid fuel from lignocellulosic biomasses. This treatment promotes an increase in the energy quality of the ...raw material, making it a more attractive and competitive source within the primary energy matrix. However, the production of torrefied biomass on a commercial scale is still at an early stage of development with only a few industrial facilities around the world. Although not one of the pioneering countries in biomass torrefaction, Brazil has a great potential for large-scale deployment in this sector due to its availability of agroforestry biomass in quantity and diversity. The Brazilian agricultural and forestry production is one of the largest in the world with favorable conditions to expand it sustainably. The aim of this study was to evaluate the application potential of torrefaction in the solid fuel's production from lignocellulosic biomasses in Brazil. In the first part, it showed the definitions, use for energy purposes and the Brazilian production of agroforestry biomass. In the second part, it reviewed the definitions of thermal treatments, differences between dry and wet torrefaction process, biomass hydrolysis and torrefaction technologies. In the third part, the challenges and opportunities of the Brazilian commercial torrefaction are discussed.
The digitalization of societies, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, is an unstoppable process. This paper seeks to answer the question: what post-COVID-19 digital competences are needed for a ...sustainable society? It also aims to analyze the digitalization processes in education for shaping a sustainable digital society. A bibliographic search was performed on some of the most relevant international databases of scientific literature and the selected documents were analyzed through a content analysis. It is concluded that digital education has experienced a strong increase, reinforced by COVID-19, shaping the digital presence in all dimensions of life. However, it is not sufficient to assume that the new generations are naturally engaged in and can master digital social sustainability. The results demonstrate the importance of literacy and the unavoidable promotion of sustainability in a digital society. However, this digitalization of the educational process poses several challenges: it requires both software and hardware conditions, as well as digital literacy as a result of a complex of literacies. It also implies that teachers and students change their standpoints and practices with the attainment of new teaching and learning competences in order to fight the digital divide and to foster the widest possible social inclusion for the promotion of sustainable society—digitainability.
La salud en la frontera presenta una serie de desafíos y oportunidades para el bienestar de las comunidades fronterizas. Estas zonas geográficas, donde los límites políticos y territoriales se ...entrelazan, enfrentan problemas de salud únicos que requieren enfoques innovadores y colaborativos. Uno de los desafíos principales es el acceso limitado a servicios de atención médica de calidad. Las comunidades fronterizas a menudo carecen de infraestructuras de salud adecuadas, incluyendo hospitales y clínicas, lo que dificulta el acceso a servicios esenciales. Además, las barreras lingüísticas y culturales pueden dificultar aún más la comunicación entre los proveedores de salud y los pacientes, lo que limita la calidad de la atención. A pesar de estos desafíos, también existen oportunidades para mejorar la salud en la frontera. La colaboración transfronteriza puede ser una herramienta poderosa para abordar los problemas de salud comunes. Los países vecinos pueden compartir recursos, conocimientos y mejores prácticas para fortalecer los sistemas de salud en ambos lados de la frontera. Esto incluye la promoción de la formación y capacitación conjunta de profesionales de la salud, el intercambio de información epidemiológica y la armonización de políticas de salud. Además, las comunidades fronterizas pueden aprovechar su diversidad cultural y su conocimiento tradicional para mejorar la atención médica.
Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as a novel class of chemical compounds for the development of advanced (multi)functional materials with outstanding potential in applications of several areas due to ...their unique properties and functionalities. The combination of ILs with polymers, in a composite, allows for developing smart materials, which synergistically combine the features of specific polymers and ILs. Moreover, ILs can be extensively modified by the incorporation of functional groups with specific properties into the cation, anion, or both. Thus, it is possible to tune the IL, the polymer, or both to obtain a broad spectrum of multifunctional composites and address the specific requirements of many applications. This work focusses on advanced materials and strategies concerning ILs and polymers for the development of smart IL/polymer‐based materials for applications including responsive and sensitive sensors, actuators, environment, batteries, fuel cells, and biomedical applications.
Based on their interesting properties, ionic liquids (ILs) are used for the development of polymer‐based multifunctional materials. The suitable combination of both IL and polymer properties allows for developing advanced materials with tailored functional responses and applicability in areas including sensors and actuators, environment (air and water remediation), energy generation and storage, and biomedicine.
Aim
To compare treatment effect sizes between a composite kidney outcome (CKO) and three‐point major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE‐3) outcomes with use of sodium‐glucose cotransporter‐2 (SGLT2) ...inhibitors and glucagon‐like peptide‐1 receptor agonists (GLP‐1RAs), and to investigate the relationship between treatment effects on CKO and MACE‐3 in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Materials and Methods
We performed a MEDLINE database search up to December 31, 2021 to identify all placebo‐controlled Phase 3 trials which investigated the efficacy of glucose‐lowering interventions, and selected those reporting results for CKO and MACE‐3. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for both outcomes were extracted for each trial, and we evaluated differences in treatment effect sizes by using a ratio of HRs (rHR): the HR for CKO to the HR for MACE‐3. A random‐effects meta‐analysis was used to obtain the overall rHR across trials and according to subgroup. We investigated the relationship between treatment effects on CKO and MACE‐3 using the coefficient of determination (R2) with weighted meta‐regression. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022299690).
Results
A total of 12 studies fulfilled the prespecified criteria, and comprised a total of 104 987 patients with T2D. On average, treatment effect sizes were 17% greater for CKO than for MACE‐3 (rHR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92; I2 = 50%; P = 0.03; τ2 = 0.0161), especially for trials of SGLT2 inhibitors compared with GLP‐1RAs. For secondary outcomes, treatment effect size was 22%, 21%, 16% and 9% greater for CKO than for myocardial infarction, stroke, death from cardiovascular causes, and hospitalization for heart disease, respectively. MACE‐3 and CKO were moderately correlated (ρ = 0.40; P = 0.21), and only 11% (95% CI 1% to 54%) of the variability in the MACE‐3 effect could be explained by the variability in the CKO effect.
Conclusion
In T2D patients, treatment effect sizes were greater for kidney than for macrovascular (MACE‐3) outcomes, with important differences according to the drugs considered. CKO and MACE‐3 are independent. Caution must be taken when interpreting CKO in the absence of MACE‐3 data.
Aims
To investigate the impact of glucose‐lowering therapy‐induced glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction on the risk of major clinical events according to body weight change and, as a secondary ...objective, to evaluate the impact of concomitant reductions in HbA1c and body weight on major clinical events.
Materials and Methods
We searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases up to June 30, 2022, for large‐scale studies on glucose‐lowering therapies in which more than 1000 patient‐years of follow‐up in each randomized group were completed. The primary outcome was all‐cause mortality. The study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022355479).
Results
Thirty‐four trials involving 227 220 patients with type 2 diabetes were meta‐analysed using a random‐effects model. Each 1% reduction in HbA1c was associated with a different risk of mortality depending on the ability of glucose‐lowering therapies to induce body weight loss or gain. When glucose‐lowering therapies were associated with weight gain, the risk of mortality increased by 8% (hazard ratio HR 1.08, 95% confidence interval CI 1.00‐1.16) for each 1% reduction in HbA1c. When glucose‐lowering therapies were associated with weight loss, the risk of mortality was reduced by 22% (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.72‐0.85) for each 1% reduction in HbA1c. In addition, concomitant reductions in HbA1c and body weight were associated with a significantly lower risk of mortality and vascular events.
Conclusions
In patients with type 2 diabetes, concomitant reductions in HbA1c and body weight might be more effective in preventing the risk of vascular events and mortality.
In this article, I used data from the 2018 Religion survey of the International Social Survey Programme to compare Protestants affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the religiously ...unaffiliated in the five Nordic countries. I was primarily interested in significant predictors of disaffiliation. I found that the differences between Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated within countries are far more pronounced than the differences between these two groups across the countries, and that the lack of confidence in churches is a very strong predictor of disaffiliation. The religious or nonreligious socialization during the formative period (described by the parents’ affiliation and the frequency of churchgoing during the formative period) is also an important predictor of disaffiliation. Ceasing to believe in God and having negative perceptions about the relevance and timeliness of religion are also significant predictors of disaffiliation, albeit weaker than mistrust in the Churches and religious or nonreligious upbringing. In addition, there are important differences between the countries: the odds of disaffiliating in Norway, Sweden, and (especially) Finland are significantly higher than in Denmark. These differences are due to path-dependent and country-specific factors unaccounted-for by the other predictors. Moreover, disaffiliation occurs across a wide range of ages, and only the elderly (75 years or more) seem to be an exception.
The conditions of aquatic environments have a great influence on the microbiota of several animals, many of which are a potential source of microorganisms of biotechnological interest. In this study, ...bacterial strains isolated from aquatic environments were bioprospected to determine their probiotic profile and antimicrobial effect against fish and food pathogens. Two isolates, identified via 16S rRNA sequencing as Lactococcus lactis (L1 and L2) and one as Enterococcus faecium 135 (EF), produced a bacteriocin-like antimicrobial substance (BLIS), active against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella Choleraesuis and Salmonella Typhimurium. Antimicrobial activity of BLIS was reduced when exposed to high temperatures and proteolytic enzymes (trypsin, pepsin, papain and pancreatin). All strains were sensitive to 7 types of antibiotics (vancomycin, clindamycin, streptomycin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, rifampicin and ampicillin), exhibited a high rate of adherence to Caco-2 cells and expressed no hemolysin and gelatinase virulence factors. EF showed some resistance at pH 2.5 and 3.0, and L2/EF showed higher resistance to the action of bile salts. Finally, the presence of bacteriocin genes encoding for proteins, including Nisin (L1 and L2), Enterocin A, B, P, and Mundticin KS (EF) was detected. The molecular and physiological evidence suggests that the bacterial isolates in this study could be used as natural antimicrobial agents and may be considered safe for probiotic application.
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