Scenario evaluation for the management of household solid waste in small Brazilian municipalities

As achieving Brazil’s National Policy on Solid Waste-based goals effectively is not simple, there are alternatives such as intermunicipal cooperation by consortium or privatization. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the Greenhouse Gas emissions and energy use of six scenarios in two landfills contexts (private and consortium) for small municipalities (less than 100,000 inhabitants as per Brazilian standards) located in São Paulo, Brazil. Through the technique of scenario building and method of Waste Reduction Model was possible to obtain the total energy, the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂E) and carbon equivalent (CE) emissions. The best scenario integrates composting and recycling, reducing 72 % for CO₂E and CE emissions, and saving about 410 % in energy. The landfill consortium will only take advantage, if the location is the most ideal as far as possible. Small municipalities that do not dispose their waste in landfills compatible with regulatory standards may seek for intermunicipal cooperation and adopt integrated waste-management programmes to reduce their environmental impacts.     

Determination of alcohols and volatile organic acids in anaerobic bioreactors for H2 production by near infrared spectroscopy

In recent years, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been investigated as a tool for monitoring anaerobic digesters, but several adversities in its application have been reported. This study proposes the application of NIR for the determination of alcohols and volatile organic acids from H₂ production bioreactors and evaluates different approaches to optimize the prediction models. Partial least squad (PLS) models were developed using samples from anaerobic batch reactors fed with crude glycerol for wastewater treatment. The analytes predicted were: methanol, ethanol, 1-butanol, acetic, propanoic, butyric, isocaproic and total volatile organic acids (VFA). The optimization of the predictive capacity of the models was achieved through the orthogonal signal correction (OSC) preprocessing and the selection of variables performed by the genetic algorithm (GA). The application of the proposed models were based on the following figures of merit: accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection and quantitation, measurement interval, sensitivity, selectivity, signal-to-noise ratio and bias. Despite the low selectivity (maximum of 0.12%), the models presented high sensitivity [γ^?1 = 0.19 (mg L^?1)^?1], low LOQ (1 mg L^?1) and correlation between reference and predicted values (r) at least 0.93, except for propanoic acid (r_pred = 0.85). The F-test revealed that the selection of variables by GA significantly improved the accuracy and linearity of the prediction models for methanol, acetic acid, isocaproic acid and VFA. NIR spectroscopy has proved to be a powerful tool for monitoring H₂ production bioreactors since provides fast, low cost and multicomponent information.     

Performance of the most common non‐cryptographic hash functions

Non‐cryptographic hash functions (NCHFs) have an immense number of applications, ranging from compilers and databases to videogames and computer networks. Some of the most important NCHF have been used by major corporations in commercial products. This practical success demonstrates the ability of hashing systems to provide extremely efficient searches over unsorted sets. However, very little research has been devoted to the experimental evaluation of these functions. Therefore, we evaluated the most widely used NCHF using four criteria as follows: collision resistance, distribution of outputs, avalanche effect, and speed. We identified their strengths and weaknesses and found significant flaws in some cases. We also discuss our conclusions regarding general hashing considerations such as selection of the compression map. Our results should assist practitioners and engineers in making more informed choices regarding which function to use for a particular problem. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of triclosan and 4n‐nonylphenol in Colombian reservoir water by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry

In this work were determined triclosan and 4n‐nonylphenol in water from a reservoir that is used to provide water to a purification plant in an important city in Colombia. The analytical methodology was validated using solid‐phase extraction and analysis by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). The analysis by GC‐MS showed good linearity in the range of 0.05–5 μg/L for both compounds. Recoveries from 79 to 109% and standard deviations of 2.5–7.7 for low concentrations and from 3.8 to 9.6 (n = 5) for high concentrations were obtained for both compounds. In Colombia, this is the first time that these compounds have been analysed in water supplying of a drinking water treatment plant. The validated method was applied to the analysis of 27 samples collected in August 2010 in 11 locations from the reservoir and in the influent and effluent of the drinking water treatment plant. In total, seven samples were found to contain triclosan.     

Neural approach for temperature‐dependent modeling of GaN HEMTs

Gallium nitride high electron‐mobility transistors have gained much interest for high‐power and high‐temperature applications at high frequencies. Therefore, there is a need to have the dependence on the temperature included in their models. To meet this challenge, the present study presents a neural approach for extracting a multi‐bias model of a gallium nitride high electron‐mobility transistors including the dependence on the ambient temperature. Accuracy of the developed model is verified by comparing modeling results with measurements. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of combining ethylene/methyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer and an organoclay on the toughening of poly(lactic acid)

Blends of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and ethylene/methyl acrylate/glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (EMA‐GMA) with and without the addition of an organoclay were prepared by melt mixing in a twin screw extruder. Mechanical, morphological, structural, and rheological properties of the systems have been investigated as function of its compositions. The impact strength (IS) of PLA increased with the addition of EMA‐GMA. Furthermore, the addition of 2.5 wt% of organoclay to the PLA/EMA‐GMA blend promoted improvements in the mechanical properties, such as IS, tensile strength, and strain‐at‐break. Further addition of organoclay, 5 wt%, led to a formation of a double percolated network, where the clay particles form bridges across EMA‐GMA droplets and glue them together, however, without coalescence. In addition, morphological and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering analyses evidenced that the clay presents a partially exfoliated structure and that remains inside the EMA‐GMA droplets, probably as a consequence of the approach used to produce the systems. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:1922–1930, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Doxycycline Decreases Atherosclerotic Lesions in the Aorta of ApoE-⁄- and Ovariectomized Mice with Correlation to Reduced MMP-2 Activity

Atherogenic events promote changes in vessel walls, with alteration of the redox state, and increased activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Thus, this study aims to evaluate aortic remodeling, MMP activity, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels after treatment with doxycycline in ApoE^-⁄- and ovariectomized mice (OVX). Female ApoE^-⁄--knockout mice (5 weeks) were submitted to ovariectomy surgery to induce experimental menopause. They then received chow enriched with 1% cholesterol to induce hypercholesterolemia. The animals were divided into two experimental groups: ApoE^-⁄-/OVX vehicle and ApoE^-⁄-/OVX doxycycline (30 mg/kg) administered by gavage once a day for 28 days (15th to the 18th week of life). Blood samples were collected to measure total cholesterol and fractions. The aorta was used for morphometry and to measure the activity and expression of MMP-2 and ROS levels. The ApoE^-⁄-/OVX doxycycline group showed no change in total and fraction cholesterol levels. However, there was a reduction in ROS levels, MMP-2 expression, and activity that correlated with a decrease in atherosclerotic lesions relative to the ApoE^-⁄-/OVX vehicle (p > 0.05). Therefore, we conclude that doxycycline in ApoE^-⁄-/OVX animals promotes a reduction in atherosclerotic lesions by reducing ROS and MMP-2 activity and expression.     

Differences in Transporters Rather than Drug Targets Are the Principal Determinants of the Different Innate Sensitivities of Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanozoon Subgenus Trypanosomes to Diamidines and Melaminophenyl Arsenicals

The animal trypanosomiases are infections in a wide range of (domesticated) animals with any species of African trypanosome, such as Trypanosoma brucei, T. evansi, T. congolense, T. equiperdum and T. vivax. Symptoms differ between host and infective species and stage of infection and are treated with a small set of decades-old trypanocides. A complication is that not all trypanosome species are equally sensitive to all drugs and the reasons are at best partially understood. Here, we investigate whether drug transporters, mostly identified in T. b. brucei, determine the different drug sensitivities. We report that homologues of the aminopurine transporter TbAT1 and the aquaporin TbAQP2 are absent in T. congolense, while their introduction greatly sensitises this species to diamidine (pentamidine, diminazene) and melaminophenyl (melarsomine) drugs. Accumulation of these drugs in the transgenic lines was much more rapid. T. congolense is also inherently less sensitive to suramin than T. brucei, despite accumulating it faster. Expression of a proposed suramin transporter, located in T. brucei lysosomes, in T. congolense, did not alter its suramin sensitivity. We conclude that for several of the most important classes of trypanocides the presence of specific transporters, rather than drug targets, is the determining factor of drug efficacy.     

A Toxoplasma gondii Oxopurine Transporter Binds Nucleobases and Nucleosides Using Different Binding Modes

Toxoplasma gondii is unable to synthesize purines de novo, instead salvages them from its environment, inside the host cell, for which they need high affinity carriers. Here, we report the expression of a T. gondii Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter, Tg244440, in a Trypanosoma brucei strain from which nucleobase transporters have been deleted. Tg244440 transported hypoxanthine and guanine with similar affinity (K_m ~1 µM), while inosine and guanosine displayed K_i values of 4.05 and 3.30 µM, respectively. Low affinity was observed for adenosine, adenine, and pyrimidines, classifying Tg244440 as a high affinity oxopurine transporter. Purine analogues were used to probe the substrate-transporter binding interactions, culminating in quantitative models showing different binding modes for oxopurine bases, oxopurine nucleosides, and adenosine. Hypoxanthine and guanine interacted through protonated N1 and N9, and through unprotonated N3 and N7 of the purine ring, whereas inosine and guanosine mostly employed the ribose hydroxy groups for binding, in addition to N1H of the nucleobase. Conversely, the ribose moiety of adenosine barely made any contribution to binding. Tg244440 is the first gene identified to encode a high affinity oxopurine transporter in T. gondii and, to the best of our knowledge, the first purine transporter to employ different binding modes for nucleosides and nucleobases.