The present study focused on assessing the effect of the temperature (350, 450 and 550 °C) on the pyrolysis performance of several biomasses: olive stone, almond shell, pine wood and olive-tree ...pruning. First, they were subjected to thermogravimetric and Differential Scanning Calorimetric analyses to determine their thermal decomposition and heat flux. Afterwards, several tests were performed in a pilot plant reactor for char production. Moreover, a characterisation of the pyrolysis products and an assessment of both energy requirements and potentially energy self-sufficient process were performed. Our results show that the process was feasible with low grade pretreated biomass and it would become self-sufficient with the energy from gas and liquid fractions at 350 °C. The analyses of the char samples (proximate, elemental and organic carbon (Corg) analyses) show that almost all of them had features indicating that they were “biochar”, suggesting high stability at higher formation temperatures based on their molar ratios (H/Corg; O/Corg). However, a more detailed characterisation is necessary to assess the quality of char as a soil amendment.
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•Almond shell, olive stone, olive-tree pruning and pine wood were pyrolysed.•Thermal decomposition and heat flux facilitated a better understanding of the process.•Three temperatures were selected to deter mine the mass and energy distributions.•The liquid and gas fractions could provide energy to sustain an auto-thermal process.
Banking crises threaten the stability and growth of economies around the world. In response, politicians restore banks to solvency by redistributing losses from bank shareholders and depositors to ...taxpayers, and the burden the citizenry must bear varies from case to case. Whereas some governments stay close to the prescriptions espoused by Sir Walter Bagehot in the nineteenth century that limit the costs shouldered by taxpayers, others engage in generous bank bailouts at great cost to society. What factors determine a government's response? In this comparative analysis of late-twentieth-century banking crises, Guillermo Rosas identifies political regime type as the determining factor. During a crisis, powerful financial players demand protection of their assets. Rosas maintains that in authoritarian regimes, government officials have little to shield them from such demands and little incentive for rebuffing them, while in democratic regimes, elected officials must weigh these demands against the interests of the voters—that is, the taxpayers. As a result, compared with authoritarian regimes, democratic regimes show a lower propensity toward dramatic, costly bailouts.
•Crude glycerol and corn straw were analysed in a thermo balance in pyrolytic conditions.•Crude glycerol and corns straw blends at different ratios were tested in a slow pyrolysis laboratory ...reactor.•The ratio of residues in blends affects the yields of pyrolysis products.•Crude glycerol presented the gas and bio-oil products of the highest heating value.•The yield of gas fraction can be improved by mixing the crude glycerol with corn straw.
In recent years the amount of crude glycerol, by product of the biodiesel production process, has been increasing as a result of the high demand of biodiesel. Developing new processes for crude glycerol revalorization could make the biodiesel production process more profitable. An alternative use of crude glycerol by means of a co-pyrolysis with corn straw is studied at the following ratios 1:0, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3 and 0:1 in the present work aimed to energy recovery.
Initially, thermal analysis (TG and DTG profiles) was performed to identify possible interactions and they were found throughout all the devolatilization process at different degrees. Then, a series of slow pyrolysis tests were run in a laboratory size reactor. Yields of pyrolysis fractions: char, bio-oil and gas were measured. And the products were analysed and characterised.
The pyrolysis of crude glycerol produced rich gas and bio-oil. The gas had a L.H.V of 46MJ/m3 but low yield (23wt.%). Mixing the crude glycerol with corn straw the gas yield could be increased and still having good heating value, for instance the blend 1:1 presented a LHV: 29MJ/m3 and 39wt.% of yield. The resulting gas was rich in light hydrocarbons and had a good H2 concentration. The blending ratios also affected the bio-oil and char production. The selection of blending ratios is a function of the desired fraction to be maximised.
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•Biochar had a positive influence on digestion of sludge and orange peels waste.•Eubacterial populations were more sensitive than archaeal to biochar addition.•Biochar provides higher ...surface area favoured adhesion and growth of microorganisms.•For batch systems biochar leads to a decrease in lag phase and an increase in gas yields.•Under semicontinuous regimen an enhancement of methane yield was observed.
In this study, the effects on process performance and changes in microbial populations with the addition of biochar to the anaerobic digestion of sludge and orange peels were evaluated. Biochar had a positive influence in batch digestions, leading to a decrease in the lag phase and an increase in methane yields; this was even more evident for citrus peel wastes, which reached an increase of approximately 33% when 10 g L−1 of biochar was added and 56% when 30 g L−1 was added. Particle size analysis performed for the experiments shows greater surface area available in biochar systems for biomass immobilization.
Analysis of the microbial communities by means of 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing shows that the biochar addition favoured the electro-active microorganisms consortia creating a synthrophic metabolism between eubacterial and archaeal populations, which resulted in an improvement of the anaerobic digestion performance.
The codigestion of the mixture under a semicontinuous regimen showed an improvement in methane yields of approximately 60% and at hydraulic retention times of 30–20 days (reaching methane production values above 500 L CH4 kg VS−1 at an OLR of 1.49 kg VS m−3 d−1). The enhancement observe in biochar supplemented fermentations may be explained by the adsorption of inhibitors and the relatively high surface area favoured the adhesion and growth of microorganisms.
Political parties provide a crucial link between voters and politicians. This link takes a variety of forms in democratic regimes, from the organization of political machines built around ...clientelistic networks to the establishment of sophisticated programmatic parties. Latin American Party Systems provides a novel theoretical argument to account for differences in the degree to which political party systems in the region were programmatically structured at the end of the twentieth century. Based on a diverse array of indicators and surveys of party legislators and public opinion, the book argues that learning and adaptation through fundamental policy innovations are the main mechanisms by which politicians build programmatic parties. Marshalling extensive evidence, the book's analysis shows the limits of alternative explanations and substantiates a sanguine view of programmatic competition, nevertheless recognizing that this form of party system organization is far from ubiquitous and enduring in Latin America.
Common kinetic parameters were obtained for leached and non-leached samples of vine wood biomass. Both samples were considered to have different proportions of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin ...compositions as a result of the leaching process. The two samples were analyzed in terms of pyrolysis kinetic parameters using non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis. Furthermore, the classic Friedman isoconversional method, a deconvolution procedure using the Fraser–Suzuki function, and a modified Friedman method from a previous study on the delay in conversion degree were satisfactorily applied. The observed difference when the deconvolution technique was applied suggests that the classic Friedman method is not adequate for studying the pyrolysis of individual vine wood biomass components. However, this issue was solved by studying the delay in conversion degree of both biomasses and calculating the kinetic parameters using the resulting information. This procedure was found to be useful for studying and comparing the kinetics of heterogeneous biomasses and has a sound scientific explanation, making this research a basis for future similar studies.
This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of alterations in self-perceived mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associated factors in four Latin American countries. This is a ...cross-sectional study based on data collected from adults in 2021 through the Collaborative Response COVID-19 Survey by the MacDonnell Academy at Washington University in St. Louis (United States). The sample was composed of 8,125 individuals from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile. A generalized linear model for a binary outcome variable with a logistic link and fixed country effects was used. There were 2,336 (28.75%) individuals who considered having suffered alterations in self-perceived mental health. Unemployed individuals (OR = 1.40; 95%CI: 1.24-1.58), those with bad/regular quality of life (OR = 5.03; 95%CI: 4.01-6.31), and those with high socioeconomic status (OR = 1.66; 95%CI: 1.41-1.96) had a higher risk of self-perceived mental health alterations than those with full-time employment, excellent quality, and low socioeconomic status. According to the fixed-effects model, Brazilians living in the country during the pandemic, who disagreed with their government's decisions (OR = 2.05; 95%CI: 1.74-2.42) and lacked trust in their government (OR = 2.10; 95%CI: 1.74-2.42) had a higher risk of having self-perceived mental health alterations. Nearly 30% of respondents indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic altered their self-perceived mental health. This outcome was associated with political, sociodemographic, and health risk factors. These findings should help policymakers develop post-pandemic community interventions.
Abstract Extant literature on public opinion in international political economy documents the role that domestic corruption perceptions play in the formation of mass attitudes toward a range of ...integration-related foreign policies. Based on this precedent, we conjecture that corruption perceptions also affect opinions toward free trade. We build on a heuristic approach to attitude formation where individual perceptions of corruption among the political elite trigger positive attitudes toward foreign countries, firms, and products, what we refer to as a “foreignness cue.” This cue drives individuals with high perceptions of corruption to be more supportive of free trade. Based on survey data from eighteen Latin American countries, we demonstrate that higher levels of perceived domestic corruption are associated with greater support for free trade. Causal mediation analysis provides additional evidence that positive attitudes toward foreign countries and firms are a conduit through which the corruption perceptions effect operates. We also offer evidence of external validity of the main effect by analyzing additional surveys on a distinct set of less and more developed countries. Our heuristic-based model of support for free trade complements theories based on material self-interest as a basis for attitude formation in the realm of trade policy.
The aim of this work was to study the effect of ultrasonic pretreatment on sludge digestion, particle size distribution (PSD), and dewaterability of digestates (measured by capillary suction time ...(CST) and specific resistance to filtration (SRF)). Sludge was pretreated with ultrasound (24 kHz) at an energy dosage of 4300 kJ/kg TS. Digestibility of sludge was increased by ultrasound pretreatment resulting in a higher specific methane production (SMP). The digestate of pretreated waste activated sludge (WAS) obtained under batch conditions presented a better dewatering performance. Digestion under semi-continuous conditions was evaluated using sewage sludge (mixture of primary sludge and WAS). In this case, digestates presented a much higher mean particle size for both cases evaluated (pretreated and non-pretreated) than that obtained under batch conditions. A wide PSD was a characteristic of these digestate samples. Flow dynamics inside the reactor resulted in the presence of high-diameter flocs, thus significantly affecting the mean particle size and specific surface area (SSA) values.
Objectives: Staphylococcus epidermidis can cause prosthetic joint infections. Strategies to differentiate between healthy skin and prosthetic joint infections isolates are relatively ineffective, ...which makes necessary to search for new differential biomarkers. Staphylococcus epidermidis has eleven surface proteins, denoted as Ses proteins. In this work, ses genes are used as biomarkers to differentiate between prosthetic joint infections and healthy skin isolates.
Methods: All prosthetic joint infections (n = 51) and healthy skin (n = 51) isolates were genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. icaA, embp, sesA-I, and sdrF genes were determined by PCR. The phenotypic data included biofilm production and antibiotic resistance.
Results: 10 pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles were identified: four profiles were exclusive of prosthetic joint infections isolates, three profiles presented a higher proportion in prosthetic joint infections isolates and three profiles presented a higher proportion in healthy skin isolates. sesA, sesB, sesC, sesD, sesE, sesG, and sesH genes were more prevalent in healthy skin isolates than in prosthetic joint infections isolates (p < .05). Prosthetic joint infections isolates were more resistant to oxacillin (78%), ciprofloxacin (60%), levofloxacin (60%), and moxifloxacin (57%). The principal coordinate analysis and a discriminant analysis found that prosthetic joint infections isolates had as discriminant biomarker the biofilm formation, the icaA gene, oxacillin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gentamicin resistance. In contrast, the healthy skin isolates had as discriminant biomarkers the embp, sesA, sesB, sesC, sesD, sesE, sesG, and sesH genes.
Conclusions: These data suggest that ses genes can be considered biomarkers to differentiate between S. epidermidis commensal and prosthetic joint infections clinical.
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