Production of mexican brown macroalgae fucoidan and fucosidases under an integral green technology bioproceses by the biorefinery concept

Marine ecosystem can be considered a rather exploited source of natural substances with enormous bioactive potential. In Mexico macro-algae study remain forgotten for research and economic purposes besides the high amount of this resource along the west and east coast. For that reason the Bioferinery Group of the Autonomous University of Coahuila, have been studying the biorefinery concept in order to recover high value byproducts of Mexican brown macro-algae including polysaccharides and enzymes to be applied in food, pharmaceutical and energy industry. Brown macroalgae are an important source of fucoidan, alginate and laminarin which comprise a complex group of macromolecules with a wide range of important biological properties such as anticoagulant, antioxidant, antitumoral and antiviral and also as rich source of fermentable sugars for enzymes production. Additionally, specific enzymes able to degrade algae matrix (fucosidases, sulfatases, aliginases, etc) are important tools to establish structural characteristics and biological functions of these polysaccharides. The aims of the present work were the integral study of bioprocess for macroalgae biomass exploitation by the use of green technologies as hydrothermal extraction and solid state fermentation in order to produce polysaccharides and enzymes (fucoidan and fucoidan hydrolytic enzymes). This work comprises the use of the different bioprocess phases in order to produce high value products with lower time and wastes.

Fractional pennes' bioheat equation: theoretical and numerical studies

In this work we provide a new mathematical model for the Pennes’ bioheat equation, assuming a fractional time derivative of single order. Alternative versions of the bioheat equation are studied and discussed, to take into account the temperature-dependent variability in the tissue perfusion, and both finite and infinite speed of heat propagation. The proposed bioheat model is solved numerically using an implicit finite difference scheme that we prove to be convergent and stable. The numerical method proposed can be applied to general reaction diffusion equations, with a variable diffusion coefficient. The results obtained with the single order fractional model, are compared with the original models that use classical derivatives.

Implementation of integral viscoelastic constitutive models in OpenFOAM® computational library

This work reports the implementation and verification of a new so lver in OpenFOAM® open source computational library, able to cope with integral viscoelastic models based on the integral upper-convected Maxwell model. The code is verified through the comparison of its predictions with analytical solutions and numerical results obtained with the differential upper-convected Maxwell model

Fractional bioheat equation

In this work we develop a new mathematical model for the Pennes’ bioheat equation assuming a fractional time derivative of single order. A numerical method for the solu- tion of such equations is proposed, and, the suitability of the new model for modelling real physical problems is studied and discussed

Comparison of different numerical methods for the solution of the time-fractional reaction-diffusion equation with variable diffusion coefficient

In this work we perform a comparison of two different numerical schemes for the solution of the time-fractional diffusion equation with variable diffusion coefficient and a nonlinear source term. The two methods are the implicit numerical scheme presented in [M.L. Morgado, M. Rebelo, Numerical approximation of distributed order reaction- diffusion equations, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 275 (2015) 216-227] that is adapted to our type of equation, and a colocation method where Chebyshev polynomials are used to reduce the fractional differential equation to a system of ordinary differential equations

Development of an integral viscoelastic flow solver in OpenFOAM®

The usual high cost of commercial codes, and some technical limitations, clearly limits the employment of numerical modelling tools in both industry and academia. Consequently, the number of companies that use numerical code is limited and there a lot of effort put on the development and maintenance of in-house academic based codes. Having in mind the potential of using numerical modelling tools as a design aid, of both products and processes, different research teams have been contributing to the development of open source codes/libraries. In this framework, any individual can take advantage of the available code capabilities and/or implement additional features based on his specific needs. These type of codes are usually developed by large communities, which provide improvements and new features in their specific fields of research, thus increasing significantly the code development process. Among others, OpenFOAM® multi-physics computational library, developed by a very large and dynamic community, nowadays comprises several features usually only available in their commercial counterparts; e.g. dynamic meshes, large diversity of complex physical models, parallelization, multiphase models, to name just a few. This computational library is developed in C++ and makes use of most of all language capabilities to facilitate the implementation of new functionalities. Concerning the field of computational rheology, OpenFOAM® solvers were recently developed to deal with the most relevant differential viscoelastic rheological models, and stabilization techniques are currently being verified. This work describes the implementation of a new solver in OpenFOAM® library, able to cope with integral viscoelastic models based on the deformation field method. The implemented solver is verified through the comparison of the predicted results with analytical solutions, results published in the literature and by using the Method of Manufactured Solutions.

Modelling integral viscoelastic flows in OpenFOAM

[Excerpt] A large number of constitutive equations were developed for viscoelastic fluids, some empirical and other with strong physical foundations. The currently available macroscopic constitutive equations can be divided in two main types: differential and integral. Some of the constitutive equations, e.g. Maxwell are available both in differential and integral types. However, relevant in tegral models, like K - BKZ, just possesses the integral form. (...)

A new integral viscoelastic flow solver in OpenFOAM®

The usual high cost of commercial codes, and some technical limitations, clearly limits the employment of numerical modelling tools in both industry and academia. Consequently, the number of companies that use numerical code is limited and there a lot of effort put on the development and maintenance of in-house academic based codes . Having in mind the potential of using numerical modelling tools as a design aid, of both products and processes, different research teams have been contributing to the development of open source codes/libraries. In this framework, any individual can take advantage of the available code capabilities and/or implement additional features based on his specific needs. These type of codes are usually developed by large communities, which provide improvements and new features in their specific fields of research, thus increasing significantly the code development process. Among others, OpenFOAM® multi-physics computational library, developed by a very large and dynamic community, nowadays comprises several features usually only available in their commercial counterparts; e.g. dynamic meshes, large diversity of complex physical models, parallelization, multiphase models, to name just a few. This computational library is developed in C++ and makes use of most of all language capabilities to facilitate the implementation of new functionalities. Concerning the field of computational rheology, OpenFOAM® solvers were recently developed to deal with the most relevant differential viscoelastic rheological models, and stabilization techniques are currently being verified. This work describes the implementation of a new solver in OpenFOAM® library, able to cope with integral viscoelastic models based on the deformation field method. The implemented solver is verified through the comparison of the predicted results with analytical solutions, results published in the literature and by using the Method of Manufactured Solutions

Um modelo para a gestão do conhecimento organizacional no contexto dos serviços partilhados com recurso à utilização do e-Learning

Tese de Doutoramento em Tecnologias e Sistemas de Informação

Search for W'→tb- in the lepton plus jets final state in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for new charged massive gauge bosons, called W′, is performed with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√ = 8 TeV, using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. This analysis searches for W′ bosons in the W′→tb¯ decay channel in final states with electrons or muons, using a multivariate method based on boosted decision trees. The search covers masses between 0.5 and 3.0 TeV, for right-handed or left-handed W′ bosons. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed and limits are set on the W′→tb¯ cross-section times branching ratio and on the W′-boson effective couplings as a function of the W′-boson mass using the CLs procedure. For a left-handed (right-handed) W′ boson, masses below 1.70 (1.92) TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level.

Search for production of vector-like quark pairs and of four top quarks in the lepton-plus-jets final state in pp collisions at root 8=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for pair production of vector-like quarks, both up-type (T) and down-type (B), as well as for four-top-quark production, is presented. The search is based on pp collisions at s√=8 TeV recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. Data are analysed in the lepton-plus-jets final state, characterised by an isolated electron or muon with high transverse momentum, large missing transverse momentum and multiple jets. Dedicated analyses are performed targeting three cases: a T quark with significant branching ratio to a W boson and a b-quark (TT¯→Wb+X), and both a T quark and a B quark with significant branching ratio to a Higgs boson and a third-generation quark (TT¯→Ht+X and BB¯→Hb+X respectively). No significant excess of events above the Standard Model expectation is observed, and 95% CL lower limits are derived on the masses of the vector-like T and B quarks under several branching ratio hypotheses assuming contributions from T→Wb, Zt, Ht and B→Wt, Zb, Hb decays. The 95% CL observed lower limits on the T quark mass range between 715 GeV and 950 GeV for all possible values of the branching ratios into the three decay modes, and are the most stringent constraints to date. Additionally, the most restrictive upper bounds on four-top-quark production are set in a number of new physics scenarios.

Measurement of the production and lepton charge asymmetry of W bosons in Pb plus Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detec

A measurement of W boson production in lead-lead collisions at sNN−−−√=2.76 TeV is presented. It is based on the analysis of data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2011 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.14 nb−1 and 0.15 nb−1 in the muon and electron decay channels, respectively. The differential production cross-sections and lepton charge asymmetry are each measured as a function of the average number of participating nucleons ⟨Npart⟩ and absolute pseudorapidity of the charged lepton. The results are compared to predictions based on next-to-leading-order QCD calculations. These measurements are, in principle, sensitive to possible nuclear modifications to the parton distribution functions and also provide information on scaling of W boson production in multi-nucleon systems.

O papel da prática profissional/prácticum na formação de professores: um olhar dos professores tutores universitários

A universidade no Espaço Europeu de Educação Superior (EEES) assume-se como um espaço aberto e permeável a mudanças no processo de ensino e de aprendizagem, reduzindo os “conhecimentos mortos, a favor de conhecimentos vivos”, diversificando metodologias de trabalho (aulas práticas, workshops, seminários, tutorias conjuntas, e-learning, entre outras) e valorizando a relação pedagógica. A ênfase mais ou menos atribuída às Praticas/Practicum nos diferentes planos de estudo de cada universidade, a sua distribuição e organização ao longo da formação, prescrevem a cientificidade do trajeto de construção, desconstrução, co-construção e reconstrução do perfil, competências e identidade profissionais do estudante em formação. Amplia-se a função e ação do professor tutor/supervisor universitário que, sustentado num enfoque formativo competencial, assume ser mais do que um responsável pela formação integral dos estudantes integrando uma aprendizagem profissional relacionadas com o saber e o saber-fazer, mas também está implicado na aquisição e desenvolvimento de um conjunto de habilidades sociais, éticas e de valores humanos relacionados com o saber-ser e o saber-estar. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar o papel dos tutores/supervisores de Práticas/Practicum nos processos de construção e desenvolvimento de competências e identidade profissional através de processos de mediação e transferência de conhecimento profissional. Neste trabalho apresentamos os resultados parciais de um estudo de caso de carácter descritivo-interpretativo. Analisam-se as entrevistas (n=11) realizadas a professores universitários que em 2012-13 constituíam o corpo de tutores de Practicum dos cursos de Educação de Infância e Ensino do1º ciclo do Ensino Básico da Universidade Autónoma de Barcelona. Os resultados valorizam mais os aspetos organizacionais do que os curriculares. As preocupações com o desenvolvimento de competências conceptuais (saber) e procedimentais (saber-fazer) estão mais presentes nos discursos dos tutores/supervisores do que as competências relacionais intra e interpessoais (saber-ser, saber-estar).

A search for t(t)over-bar resonances using lepton-plus-jets events in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for new particles that decay into top quark pairs is reported. The search is performed with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The lepton-plus-jets final state is used, where the top pair decays to W+bW−b¯¯, with one W boson decaying leptonically and the other hadronically. The invariant mass spectrum of top quark pairs is examined for local excesses or deficits that are inconsistent with the Standard Model predictions. No evidence for a top quark pair resonance is found, and 95% confidence-level limits on the production rate are determined for massive states in benchmark models. The upper limits on the cross-section times branching ratio of a narrow Z′ boson decaying to top pairs range from 4.2 pb to 0.03 pb for resonance masses from 0.4 TeV to 3.0 TeV. A narrow leptophobic topcolour Z′ boson with mass below 1.8 TeV is excluded. Upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching ratio for a broad colour-octet resonance with Γ/m = 15% decaying to tt¯. These range from 4.8 pb to 0.03 pb for masses from 0.4 TeV to 3.0 TeV. A Kaluza-Klein excitation of the gluon in a Randall-Sundrum model is excluded for masses below 2.2 TeV.

Measurement of differential J/psi production cross sections and forward-backward ratios in p plus Pb collisions with the ATLAS detector

Measurements of differential cross sections for J/ψ production in p+Pb collisions at sNN−−−−√=5.02 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider with the ATLAS detector are presented. The data set used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 28.1 nb−1. The J/ψ mesons are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel over the transverse momentum range 8