Composition and quantification of the anthropogenic and natural fractions of wastes collected from the stormwater drainage system for discussions about the waste management and people behavior

A study was made of the composition of wastes collected from the pipes of the stormwater drainage system of Sorocaba, SP, Brazil (600 thousand inhabitants). A total of 10 samples weighing at least 100 kg each were sorted into 19 items to determine the fraction that can be considered natural (earth/sand, stones, organic matter, and water, the latter determined after oven-drying the samples) and the anthropogenic fraction (the remaining 15 items, especially construction and demolition wastes and packaging). Soil/sand was found to be the main item collected (52.5 % dry weight), followed by the water soaked into the waste (24.3 %), which meant that all the other wastes were saturated in mud, whose contents varied from 6.4 % (glass) to 87.2 % (metalized plastics packaging). In general, 83 % of the collected wastes can be classified as natural, but the remaining 17 % represent 2,000 kg of the most varied types of wastes discarded improperly every day on the streets of the city. This is an alarming amount of wastes that may clog parts of the drainage systems, causing troubles for all the population (like flooding) and must be strongly considered in municipal solid wastes management and in environmental education programs. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Relationship between age of waste and natural electric potential generation in Sanitary Landfill

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Investigação das propriedades ópticas e elétricas em alexandrita natural e sintética

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Cyatta abscondita: Taxonomy, Evolution, and Natural History of a New Fungus-Farming Ant Genus from Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Prediction of soil shear strength in agricultural and natural environments of the Brazilian Cerrado

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A new heterologous fibrin sealant as scaffold to recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) and natural latex proteins for the repair of tibial bone defects

Tissue engineering has special interest in bone tissue aiming at future medical applications Studies have focused on recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) and natural latex proteins due to the osteogenic properties of rhBMP-2 and the angiogenic characteristic of fraction 1 protein (P-1) extracted from the rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis. Furthermore, heterologous fibrin sealant (FS) has been shown as a promising alternative in regenerative therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate these substances for the repair of bone defects in rats. A bone defect measuring 3 mm in diameter was created in the proximal metaphysis of the left tibia of 60 rats and was implanted with rhBMP-2 or P-1 in combination with a new heterologous FS derived from snake venom. The animals were divided into six groups: control (unfilled bone defect), rhBMP-2 (defect filled with 5 mu g rhBMP-2), P-1 (defect filled with 5 mu g P-1), FS (defect filled with 8 mu g FS), FS/rhBMP-2 (defect filled with 8 mu g FS and 5 mu g rhBMP-2), FS/P-1 (defect filled with 8 mu g FS and 5 mu g P-1). The animals were sacrificed 2 and 6 weeks after surgery. The newly formed bone projected from the margins of the original bone and exhibited trabecular morphology and a disorganized arrangement of osteocyte lacunae. Immunohistochemical analysis showed intense expression of osteocalcin in all groups. Histometric analysis revealed a significant difference in all groups after 2 weeks (p < 0.05), except for the rhBMP-2 and FS/rhBMP-2 groups (p > 0.05). A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed in all groups after 6 weeks in relation to the volume of newly formed bone in the surgical area. In conclusion, the new heterologous fibrin sealant was found to be biocompatible and the combination with rhBMP-2 showed the highest osteogenic and osteoconductive capacity for bone healing. These findings suggest a promising application of this combination in the regeneration surgery.

The steady-state behavior of the synthetic and side-sensitive synthetic double sampling (X)over-bar charts

The steady-state average run length is used to measure the performance of the recently proposed synthetic double sampling (X) over bar chart (synthetic DS chart). The overall performance of the DS X chart in signaling process mean shifts of different magnitudes does not improve when it is integrated with the conforming run length chart, except when the integrated charts are designed to offer very high protection against false alarms, and the use of large samples is prohibitive. The synthetic chart signals when a second point falls beyond the control limits, no matter whether one of them falls above the centerline and the other falls below it; with the side-sensitive feature, the synthetic chart does not signal when they fall on opposite sides of the centerline. We also investigated the steady-state average run length of the side-sensitive synthetic DS X chart. With the side-sensitive feature, the overall performance of the synthetic DS X chart improves, but not enough to outperform the non-synthetic DS X chart. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.

Strategies to improve the mechanical properties of starch-based materials: plasticization and natural fibers reinforcement

Biodegradable polymers are starting to be introduced as raw materials in the food-packaging market. Nevertheless, their price is very high. Starch, a fully biodegradable and bioderived polymer is a very interesting alternative due to its very low price. However, the use of starch as the polymer matrix for the production of rigid food packaging, such as trays, is limited due to its poor mechanical properties, high hidrophilicity and high density. This work presents two strategies to overcome the poor mechanical properties of starch. First, the plasticization of starch with several amounts of glycerol to produce thermoplastic starch (TPS) and second, the production of biocomposites by reinforcing TPS with promising fibers, such as barley straw and grape waste. The mechanical properties obtained are compared with the values predicted by models used in the field of composites; law of mixtures, Kerner-Nielsen and Halpin-Tsai. To evaluate if the materials developed are suitable for the production of food-packaging trays, the TPS-based materials with better mechanical properties were compared with commercial grades of oil-based polymers, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene-terphthalate (PET), and a biodegradable polymer, polylactic acid (PLA).

Produção de lipase por Fusarium oxysporum em fermentação em estado sólido e sua aplicação em reações de síntese de ésteres de biodiesel

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Microbiologia Aplicada) - IBRC

Formação de biofilmes e resistência a antifúngico e biocidas em Candida parapsilosis e C. orthopsilosis isoladas de águas usadas para hemodiálise

Pós-graduação em Biociências e Biotecnologia Aplicadas à Farmácia - FCFAR

Tecnologias para produção de mudas de espinheira-santa: propagação vegetativa por estacas caulinares

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Horticultura) - FCA

Síntese e caracterização de matrizes híbridas para aplicação em sistemas de liberação controlada

Pós-graduação em Ciência dos Materiais - FEIS

Desenvolvimento de procedimentos e métodos analíticos no campo forense aplicando os princípios da química verde

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Natural fibers based composites - Technical and social issues

Brazil is the only country in South America to have an automotive supplier sector based on natural fibers. New opportunities are arising due to an increase demand by the car makers in applying natural fibers in their parts. Several crop fibers have been developed in Brazil. Among them can be listed caroa, piacava, pupunha, mutum and others of regional application. For the automotive industry, which requires large quantities with uniform quality, the alternatives are sisal (170,000 ton/yr), curaua (150 ton/yr in 2003), malva, 200 ton/yr; Brazil is the single largest producer country of sisal, and commercially, the only one in curaua. For South America, the alternatives are fique in Colombia, abaca in equator, flax in Argentina and curaua in Venezuela. It must be understood by the target countries of drugs, is that crop fiber can be an economic alternative to coca in the Andes region, therefore an instrument of land reform and drug reduction plantations. Several companies have a strong program of apply natural fibers based components in their products: Volkswagen do Brazil, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors do Brazil. Among their suppliers can be listed companies such Pematec (curaua), Toro (sisal, coir and jute), Incomer (sisal and jute), Ober (jute, curaua), Indaru (jute and sisal), Antolin (imported kenaf,) Tapetes Sao Carlos (sisal), Poematec (coir) and Art-Gore, with Woodstock'' wood and natural fibers). Figures about production and demand are discussed in the paper.

Infiltrating CD8(+) T lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and expression of IL-10 and TGF-beta 1 in chemically induced neoplasms in male Wistar rats

The present study aimed to estimate the number of CD8(+) T and natural killer (NK) infiltrating cells and the expression of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta1) in chemically induced neoplasms in an initiation-promotion bioassay for carcinogenesis. Male Wistar rats were treated with N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea, N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine, dihydroxy-di-N-propylnitrosamine, and 1,2-dimethylhydrazine for 4 weeks. Two groups were subsequently exposed through diet to phenobarbital (0.05%) or 2-acetylaminofluorene (0.01%) for 25 weeks. An untreated group was used as a control. Immune cells and cytokines were immunohistochemically evaluated in neoplasms and in surrounding normal tissues at the liver, kidneys, lung, and small and large intestines. When compared to the respective normal tissues, an increased number of NK cells was verified infiltrating the colon, lung, and kidney neoplasms, while the number of CD8+ T cells decreased in the intestine and lung neoplasms. Expression of IL-10 was found mainly in kidney tumors. TGF-beta1 was expressed mainly in the liver and kidneys tumors. The results indicate that the differential occurrence of immune cells between neoplastic and normal tissues could be dependent upon tumor microenvironment.