The progress of the technology is directly related to the growth of production and consumption of electrical/electronics equipment, especially of personal computers. This type of equipment has a ...relatively short average lifetime, 2–3 years. The amount of defective or obsolete equipment has been increasing substantially; consequently its disposition and/or recycling should be studied.
In this work, printed circuit boards, which are used in personal computers, were studied in order to recover the metals in the circuit boards through mechanical processing, such as crushing, screening, as well as magnetic and electrostatic separation.
The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of using these processes to separate metal fractions from polymers and ceramics, and that it is possible to obtain a fraction concentrated in metals containing more than 50% on average of copper, 24% of tin and 8% of lead.
Knowledge of the diversity of microbial communities and their relationship with biogeochemical cycles is a key factor in understanding and improving the performance of constructed wetland (CW) ...systems, allowing improvements in design and operation methods to reach the desired effluent quality. Assemblies of microbial groups in CWs are driven by several factors, including the environmental conditions of the mesocosm and substrate availability. This study combined physicochemical analyses, high-throughput DNA sequencing, and statistical methods to gain an insight into the influence of operational conditions on the bacteria and archaea communities in a modified constructed wetland system treating raw-light greywater. The EvaTAC system is composed of an upflow evapotranspiration and treatment tank (CEvaT) which has an inbuilt anaerobic chamber (AnC), followed by a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW). Samples were collected after five years of system operation in both units: sludge from the AnC, coarse gravel from the CEvaT, and fine gravel from the CW. The results showed that the system operated predominantly in anaerobic conditions, with redox potential (Eh) increasing from the inlet (−364.1 mV) to the outlet (−240.4 mV) zone. The Eh was the environmental condition that most influenced the microbial community diversity and richness, and, as well as Eh, increased along the light greywater (LGW) flow. Conversely, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) decreased, thus suggesting a negative correlation among these factors. The clustering analyses of microbial community showed that, besides environmental conditions, the media filter and related depth could also be drivers of microbial community composition. The bottom layer of CEvaT was assigned to the Proteobacteria and Synergistetes phyla indicating the accomplishment of the first steps of anaerobic digestion. The next layer was characterised by the presence of Desulfovibrio, Syntrophobacter, and Methanobacterium, microorganisms responsible for the sulfidogenesis and methanogenesis processes. Finally, in the CW zone, the community composition was dominated by microorganisms involved in the methane oxidation, such as Methylosinus, Bradyrhizobium, and Candidatus Koribacter. This study explored the universe of bacteria and archaea communities, and is an initial step in elucidating microbial diversity conversions in CW systems treating greywater, which is important knowledge to steer the conversion pathway and establish the ideal environmental conditions for the development of desired microbial communities in these systems.
Since its commissioning in December 2017, the CERN-MEDICIS facility has been providing non-conventional radionuclides for research in nuclear medicine. Benefitting from decades of experience in the ...production of radioactive ion beams and in the mass separation process from the ISOLDE facility at CERN, MEDICIS quickly became a worldwide key player in the supply of novel medical isotopes dedicated to research in the fields of cancer imaging, diagnostics, and radiation therapy.
After a few years of operation, successful collections have been performed on a large panel of radionuclides such as 128Ba, 149,152,155Tb, 153Sm, 165,167Tm, 169Er, 175Yb, 191Pt, and 225,227Ac. Several milestones have been achieved on the output of the facility, such as the collection of 0.5 GBq of 175Yb, and a total separation efficiency higher than 50% reached for 167Tm in 2020. These collections led to notable recent in-vitro and preclinical results in targeted radionuclide therapy achieved with high molar activity 175Yb and 153Sm products.
Constant developments are ongoing, such as innovative target designs, molecular formation to improve the release of some specific isotopes, laser development in the dedicated MELISSA laboratory, study of new implantation foil materials, and post-collection radiochemistry.
Despite many previous important contributions to the characterization of the liquid−liquid phase behavior of ionic liquids (ILs) plus water systems, a gap still exists as far as the effect of isomers ...(of ILs) is concerned. Therefore, in this work, a comprehensive study of the liquid−liquid equilibria between water and isomeric pyridinium-based ionic liquids has been performed. Atmospheric pressure mutual solubilities between water and pyridinium-based ionic liquids combined with the common anion bis(trifluoromethyl)sulfonylimide were experimentally determined between (288.15 and 318.15) K. The main goal of this work is to study the isomeric effects on the pyridinium-based cation, namely, the structural and positional isomerism, as well as the alkyl side chain length. To the best of our knowledge, the influence of both structural and positional isomerism on the liquid−liquid behavior in ionic-liquid-water-containing systems is an unexplored field and is here assessed for the first time. Moreover, from the experimental solubility data, several infinite dilution molar thermodynamic functions of solution, namely, the Gibbs energy, the enthalpy, and the entropy, were estimated and discussed. In addition, aiming at gathering a broader picture of the underlying thermodynamic solvation phenomenon, molecular dynamics simulations were also carried out for the same experimental systems.
Nature has produced intricate machinery to covalently diversify the structure of proteins after their synthesis in the ribosome. In an attempt to mimic nature, chemists have developed a large set of ...reactions that enable post-expression modification of proteins at pre-determined sites. These reactions are now used to selectively install particular modifications on proteins for many biological and therapeutic applications. For example, they provide an opportunity to install post-translational modifications on proteins to determine their exact biological roles. Labelling of proteins in live cells with fluorescent dyes allows protein uptake and intracellular trafficking to be tracked and also enables physiological parameters to be measured optically. Through the conjugation of potent cytotoxicants to antibodies, novel anti-cancer drugs with improved efficacy and reduced side effects may be obtained. In this Perspective, we highlight the most exciting current and future applications of chemical site-selective protein modification and consider which hurdles still need to be overcome for more widespread use.
The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for scrotal circumference at 365 (SC365) and 450 (SC450) days of age, age at first calving (AFC), ribeye area (REA), backfat (BF) thickness, ...and rump fat (RF) thickness, in order to provide information on potential traits for Nelore cattle breeding program. Genetic parameters were estimated using the Average Information Restricted Maximum Likelihood method in single- and multitrait analyses. Four different animal models were tested for SC365, SC450, REA, BF, and RF in single-trait analyses. For SC365 and SC450, the maternal genetic effect was statistically significant (P < 0.01) and was included for multitrait analyses. The direct heritability estimates for SC365, SC450, AFC, REA, BF, and RF were equal to 0.31, 0.38, 0.24, 0.32, 0.16, and 0.19, respectively. Maternal heritability for SC365 and SC450 was equal to 0.06 and 0.08, respectively. The highest genetic correlations were found among the scrotal circumferences. Testing for the inclusion of maternal effects in genetic parameters estimation for scrotal circumference should be evaluated in the Nelore breeding program, mostly for correctly ranking the animal's estimated breeding values. Similar heritability estimates were observed for scrotal circumference, as well as favorable genetic correlations of this trait with AFC and carcass traits. Thus, scrotal circumference measured at 365 days of age could be a target trait for consideration in the Nelore selection index in order to improve most of the traits herein analyzed.
The aim of this study was to elucidate the differential gene expression in the RNA sequencing transcriptome of isolated perfused udders collected from 4 slaughtered Holstein × Zebu crossbred dairy ...cows experimentally inoculated with Streptococcus agalactiae. We studied 3 different statistical tools (edgeR, baySeq, and Cuffdiff 2). In summary, 2 quarters of each udder were experimentally inoculated with Strep. agalactiae and the other 2 were used as a control. Mammary tissue biopsies were collected at times 0 and 3 h after infection. The total RNA was extracted and sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA). Transcripts were assembled from the reads aligned to the bovine UMD 3.1 reference genome, and the statistical analyses were performed using the previously mentioned tools (edgeR, baySeq, and Cuffdiff 2). Finally, the identified genes were submitted to pathway enrichment analysis. A total of 1,756, 1,161, and 3,389 genes with differential gene expression were identified when using edgeR, baySeq, and Cuffdiff 2, respectively. A total of 122 genes were identified by the overlapping of the 3 methods; however, only the platelet activation presented a significantly enriched pathway. From the results, we suggest the FCER1G, GNAI2, ORAI1, and VASP genes shared among the 3 methods in this pathway for posterior biological validation.
Abstract Cnesterodon hypselurus is a small fish that has a restricted distribution in southern Brazil, including headwaters of the Tibagi and Itararé river basins (Upper Paraná River). This study ...reported C. hypselurus in a headwater of Cinzas River basin, where there were no previous records of this species, and employed microsatellite loci and mitochondrial haplotypes in a population genetic analysis. A total of 57 specimens was analyzed, including 30 from Cinzas River basin, 25 from Itararé River basin and two from Tibagi River basin. Results indicated low genetic diversity levels (HE = 0.334 and h = 0.246) for the sample from Cinzas River, suggesting reflections of a founder effect after the species had dispersed from one watershed to another, possibly by headwater captures. Since different populations were detected between the Cinzas and Itararé rivers (DEST = 0.248, P-value < 0.05) and other occurrence sites are still unknown in the Cinzas River basin, the data herein have great relevance and should be taken into account in future management and conservation actions, as well as in evolutionary studies of C. hypselurus.
Resumo Cnesterodon hypselurus é um pequeno peixe que possui distribuição restrita no sul do Brasil, incluindo cabeceiras das bacias dos rios Tibagi e Itararé (alto rio Paraná). Este estudo reportou C. hypselurus na cabeceira da bacia do rio das Cinzas, onde não havia registros prévios desta espécie, e empregou locos microssatélites e haplótipos mitocondriais em uma análise genética de populações. Um total de 57 espécimes foi analisado, incluindo 30 do rio das Cinzas, 25 da bacia do rio Itararé e dois da bacia do rio Tibagi. Os resultados indicaram baixos níveis de diversidade genética (HE = 0,334 e h = 0,246) para a amostra do rio das Cinzas, sugerindo reflexos de um efeito fundador após a espécie ter dispersado de uma bacia para a outra, possivelmente a partir de captura de cabeceiras. Uma vez que diferentes populações foram detectadas entre os rios das Cinzas e Itararé (DEST = 0,248, valor de P < 0,05) e que outros pontos de ocorrência ainda são desconhecidos na bacia do rio das Cinzas, os dados do presente estudo mostram grande relevância e deveriam ser considerados em futuras ações de manejo e conservação, bem como em estudos evolutivos de C. hypselurus.
The main purpose of this work was the investigation of the immobilization of chromium ion present in the ash from the incineration of chromium-tanned leather shavings (ACS) by means of vitrified ...ceramic bodies. To achieve the immobilization samples were initially produced adding soda-lime glass to ACS. After that, new formulations were produced with the addition of pure oxides, TiO
2 and MgO, to the soda-lime glass and ACS sample. These samples were conformed by pressing and fired in an eletrical furnace, at temperatures of 750, 800, 950 and 1000
°C.
The ceramic bodies were evaluated with respect to their physical properties and mineralogical composition by X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) mapping. The chromium immobilization was characterized by leaching tests according to Brazilian Regulations (NBR 10005). The results confirmed the immobilization of the chromium ion within the allowed limits of Brazilian Regulations, NBR 10004 (5
mg/L), with the use of glass and vitrification/densification agents such as titanium and magnesium oxides.
A polysulfide material was synthesized by the direct reaction of sulfur and d‐limonene, by‐products of the petroleum and citrus industries, respectively. The resulting material was processed into ...functional coatings or molded into solid devices for the removal of palladium and mercury salts from water and soil. The binding of mercury(II) to the sulfur‐limonene polysulfide resulted in a color change. These properties motivate application in next‐generation environmental remediation and mercury sensing.
Waste not: A polysulfide has been synthesized from the industrial by‐products sulfur and limonene. The material can be processed into coatings or molded into objects and responds selectively to mercury(II), producing a bright yellow deposit that adheres to the material (see picture). The use of the polysulfide in water and soil remediation is demonstrated.
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