Microbicidal effect of medicinal plant extracts (Psidium guajava Linn. and Carica papaya Linn.) upon bacteria isolated from fish muscle and known to induce diarrhea in children

Out of the twenty-four samples of shrimp and fish muscle used for this study, twelve were collected near a large marine sewer for waste disposal, 3 km off the coast of Fortaleza (Brazil) and used for the isolation of E. coli. Other twelve were collected at the Mucuripe fresh fish market (Fortaleza, Brazil) and used for the isolation of Staphylococcus aureus. Ethanol, water and acetone-diluted extracts of guava and papaya leaf sprouts were tested on the bacteria in order to verify their microbicidal potential. The E. coli strains used in the trials were rated LT positive. The papaya leaf extracts (Carica papaya Linn) showed no microbicidal activity while the guava sprout extracts (Psidium guajava Linn) displayed halos exceeding 13 mm for both species, an effect considered to be inhibitory by the method employed. Guava sprout extracts by 50% diluted ethanol most effectively inhibited E. coli (EPEC), while those in 50% acetone were less effective. It may be concluded that guava sprout extracts constitute a feasible treatment option for diarrhea caused by E. coli or by S. aureus-produced toxins, due to their quick curative action, easy availability in tropical countries and low cost to the consumer.

Melhoria/simplificação ergonómica de linhas de montagem

Hoje em dia, com os avanços constantes na indústria, novas áreas começam cada vez mais a ser foco de atenção por parte das organizações. Motivados pela procura de melhores condições para os seus colaboradores e por todos os benefícios que este tipo de intervenção oferece, tanto a curto, como principalmente a médio e longo prazo, a Grohe Portugal, mais especificamente o seu departamento de montagem, achou relevante potenciar a aplicação da Ergonomia nos seus postos de trabalho. Posto isto, esta dissertação pretende apresentar o trabalho desenvolvido junto da organização que teve como objetivo projetar e executar uma linha de montagem que tivesse em consideração os seguintes aspetos: • Ergonomia; • Automatização ou semi-automatização de operações; • Simplificação de aspetos operacionais; • Sistemas de abastecimento mais robustos e de fácil uso; • Simplificação de setups; • Definição de dimensões normalizadas para futuros projetos. As soluções encontradas tiveram como objetivo primordial satisfazer o maior número possível de colaboradores, sendo que para tal foram utilizados dados referentes a antropometria da população Portuguesa. Para a realização e conclusão deste projeto, o trabalho foi decomposto em varias etapas, de entre as quais se destacam: • Analise e estudo dos métodos de montagem; • Levantamento de todos os componentes e operações que constituem o processo de fabrico das diversas famílias onde foram implementados novos projetos; • Definição e uniformização da estrutura das novas linhas de montagem; • Estudo e definição da disposição dos componentes na nova linha, bem como da sua forma de abastecimento; • Projeto da linha de montagem em 3D com recurso ao software SolidWorks (DassaultSystemes, 2014); • Montagem final da linha, bem como o acompanhamento da sua fase de arranque. Durante o estagio foi ainda pensado e implementado um projeto paralelo com vista a constante manutenção e melhoria do departamento de montagem cujo objetivo, através de “plant walks”, e detetar de entre outras, situações de falta de identificação de componentes ou equipamentos, degradação de ferramentas, fugas ou derrames nas linhas, etc. O balanco final do trabalho foi bastante positivo, tendo-se alcançado melhorias em alguns índices de qualidade, tempos de abastecimento e condições ergonómicas dos postos de trabalho que sofreram intervenção, tendo essas melhorias resultado numa avaliação positiva por parte dos colaboradores que integram essas mesmas linhas.

Characterization of Pinus spp. needles by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry: Application to plant-insect interactions

Dissertação apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Ciências do Ambiente pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecn

Functional and molecular characterization of SR45, a plant-specific factor involved in sugar and stress signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Molecular Biology

Swordfish: an Autonomous Surface Vehicle for Network Centric Operations

The design and development of the swordfish autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) system is discussed. Swordfish is an ocean capable 4.5 m long catamaran designed for network centric operations (with ocean and air going vehicles and human operators). In the basic configuration, Swordfish is both a survey vehicle and a communications node with gateways for broadband, Wi-Fi and GSM transports and underwater acoustic modems. In another configuration, Swordfish mounts a docking station for the autonomous underwater vehicle Isurus from Porto University. Swordfish has an advanced control architecture for multi-vehicle operations with mixed initiative interactions (human operators are allowed to interact with the control loops).

Marine Operations with the SWORDFISH Autonomous Surface Vehicle

IEEE Robótica 2007 - 7th Conference on Mobile Robots and Competitions, Paderne, Portugal 2007

Occurrence of Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in activated sludge samples in Campinas, SP, Brazil

Giardia and Cryptosporidium have caused several outbreaks of gastroenteritis in humans associated with drinking water. Contaminated sewage effluents are recognized as a potential source of waterborne protozoa. Due to the lack of studies about the occurrence of these parasites in sewage samples in Brazil, we compared the efficiency of two procedures for concentrating cysts and oocysts in activated sludge samples of one sewage treatment plant. For this, the samples were submitted to i) concentration by the ether clarification procedure (ECP) and to ii) purification by sucrose flotation method (SFM) and aliquots of the pellets were examined by immunofluorescence. Giardia cysts were present in all samples (100.0%; n = 8) when using ECP and kit 1 reagents, while kit 2 resulted in six positive samples (85.7%; n = 7). As for SFM, cysts were detected in 75.0% and 100.0% of these samples (for kit 1 and 2, respectively). Regarding Cryptosporidium, two samples (25.0%; kit 1 and 28.5% for kit 2) were detected positive by using ECP, while for SFM, only one sample (examined by kit 1) was positive (12.5%). The results of the control trial revealed Giardia and Cryptosporidium recovery efficiency rates for ECP of 54.5% and 9.6%, while SFM was 10.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Considering the high concentration detected, a previous evaluation of the activated sludge before its application in agriculture is recommended and with some improvement, ECP would be an appropriate simple technique for protozoa detection in sewage samples.

Inoculation with Metal-Mobilizing Plant-GrowthPromoting Rhizobacterium Bacillus sp. SC2b and Its Role in Rhizoremediation

A plant growth-promoting bacterial (PGPB) strain SC2b was isolated from the rhizosphere of Sedum plumbizincicola grown in lead (Pb)/zinc (Zn) mine soils and characterized as Bacillus sp. based on (1) morphological and biochemical characteristics and (2) partial 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing analysis. Strain SC2b exhibited high levels of resistance to cadmium (Cd) (300 mg/L), Zn (730 mg/L), and Pb (1400 mg/L). This strain also showed various plant growth-promoting (PGP) features such as utilization of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate, solubilization of phosphate, and production of indole-3-acetic acid and siderophore. The strain mobilized high concentration of heavy metals from soils and exhibited different biosorption capacity toward the tested metal ions. Strain SC2b was further assessed for PGP activity by phytagar assay with a model plant Brassica napus. Inoculation of SC2b increased the biomass and vigor index of B. napus. Considering such potential, a pot experiment was conducted to assess the effects of inoculating the metal-resistant PGPB SC2b on growth and uptake of Cd, Zn and Pb by S. plumbizincicola in metal-contaminated agricultural soils. Inoculation with SC2b elevated the shoot and root biomass and leaf chlorophyll content of S. plumbizincicola. Similarly, plants inoculated with SC2b demonstrated markedly higher Cd and Zn accumulation in the root and shoot system, indicating that SC2b enhanced Cd and Zn uptake by S. plumbizincicola through metal mobilization or plant-microbial mediated changes in chemical or biological soil properties. Data demonstrated that the PGPB Bacillus sp. SC2b might serve as a future biofertilizer and an effective metal mobilizing bioinoculant for rhizoremediation of metal polluted soils.

Planning, operations and data handling of planetary science missions

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia Física

Structured Light System for Underwater Inspection Operations

In this work we propose the development of a stereo SLS system for underwater inspection operations. We demonstrate how to perform a SLS calibration both in dry and underwater environments using two different methods. The proposed methodology is able to achieve quite accurate results, lower than 1 mm in dry environments. We also display a 3D underwater scan of a known object size, a sea scallop, where the system is able to perform a scan with a global error lower than 2% of the object size.

Avaliação e Otimização do Consumo de Água no Processo e do Sistema de Tratamento de Efluentes

O elevado consumo de água associado à escassez deste recurso contribuiu para que alternativas de reutilização/reciclagem de água fossem estudadas que permitam diminuir o seu consumo e minimizar a dependência das indústrias. Monitorizar e avaliar os consumos de água, a nível industrial, é imprescindível para assegurar uma gestão sustentável dos recursos hídricos, sendo este o objetivo da presente dissertação. As alternativas encontradas na unidade industrial em estudo foram a substituição do equipamento sanitário e o aproveitamento do efluente tratado para operações de lavagem e/ou arrefecimento por contacto direto. A maioria do equipamento sanitário não é eficiente, tendo-se proposto a substituição desse sistema por um de menor consumo que permitirá uma poupança de 30 % no consumo de água, que corresponderá a 12 149,37 €/ano, sendo o retorno do investimento estimado em 3 meses. O efluente industrial na entrada da ETAR e nas diferentes etapas - tratamento primário de coagulação/floculação; tratamento secundário ou biológico em SBR; tratamento terciário de coagulação/floculação - foi caracterizado através da medição da temperatura, pH, oxigénio dissolvido e pela determinação da cor, turvação, sólidos suspensos totais (SST), azoto total, carência química de oxigénio (CQO), Carência Bioquímica de Oxigénio ao fim de 5 dias (CBO5) e razão CBO5/CQO. Esta caracterização permitiu avaliar o efluente industrial bruto que se caracteriza por um pH alcalino (8,3 ± 1,7); condutividade baixa (451 ± 200,2 μS/cm); elevada turvação (11 255 ± 8812,8 FTU); cor aparente (63 670 ± 42293,4 PtCo) e cor verdadeira (33 621 ± 19547,9 PtCo) elevadas; teores elevados de CQO (24 753 ± 11806,7 mg/L O2) SST (5 164 ± 3845,5 mg/L) e azoto total (718 mg/L) e um índice de biodegradabilidade baixo (razão CBO5/CQO de 1,4). Este estudo permitiu verificar que a eficiência global do tratamento do efluente foi 82 % na remoção da turvação, 83 % na remoção da cor aparente, 96 % na remoção da cor verdadeira, 85 % na remoção da CQO e 30 % na remoção dos SST. Quanto às eficiências de remoção associadas ao tratamento primário no que diz respeito à turvação, cor aparente, CQO e SST, apresentam valores inferiores aos referidos na literatura para o mesmo tipo de tratamento em efluentes similares. As eficiências de remoção obtidas no tratamento secundário são inferiores às do tratamento primário: turvação, cor aparente, CQO e SST, pelo que procurou-se otimizar a primeira etapa do processo de tratamento Neste estudo de otimização estudou-se a influência de cinco coagulantes – Sulfato de Alumínio, PAX XL – 10, PAX 18, cloreto de ferro e a conjugação de PAX 18 com sulfato de ferro - e seis floculantes – Superfloc A 150, Superfloc A 130, PA 1020, Ambifloc 560, Ambifloc C58 e Rifloc 54 - no tratamento físico-químico do efluente. O PAX 18 e o Ambifloc 560 UUJ foram os que apresentaram as mais elevadas eficiências de remoção (99,85 % na cor, 99,87 % na turvação, 90,12 % na CQO e 99,87 % nos SST). O custo associado a este tratamento é de 1,03 €/m3. Pela comparação com os critérios de qualidade no guia técnico ERSAR, apenas o parâmetro da CQO excede o valor, contudo o valor obtido permite diminuir os custos associados a um tratamento posterior para remoção da CQO remanescente no efluente residual tratado.

Water jet based autonomous surface vehicle for coastal waters operations

This paper presents the design of low cost, small autonomous surface vehicle for missions in the coastal waters and specifically for the challenging surf zone. The main objective of the vehicle design described in this paper is to address both the capability of operation at sea in relative challenging conditions and maintain a very low set of operational requirements (ease of deployment). This vehicle provides a first step towards being able to perform general purpose missions (such as data gathering or patrolling) and to at least in a relatively short distances to be able to be used in rescue operations (with very low handling requirements) such as carrying support to humans on the water. The USV is based on a commercially available fiber glass hull, it uses a directional waterjet powered by an electrical brushless motor for propulsion, thus without any protruding propeller reducing danger in rescue operations. Its small dimensions (1.5 m length) and weight allow versatility and ease of deployment. The vehicle design is described in this paper both from a hardware and software point of view. A characterization of the vehicle in terms of energy consumption and performance is provided both from test tank and operational scenario tests. An example application in search and rescue is also presented and discussed with the integration of this vehicle in the European ICARUS (7th framework) research project addressing the development and integration of robotic tools for large scale search and rescue operations.

Potential of biologically active plant oils to control mosquito larvae (Culex pipiens, Diptera: Culicidae) from an egyptian locality

The insecticidal effect of six commercially available plant oils was tested against 4th larval instars of Culex pipiens. Larvae were originally collected from Meit El-Attar, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, and then reared in the laboratory until F1 generation. The LC50 values were 32.42, 47.17, 71.37, 83.36, 86.06, and 152.94 ppm for fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-grecum), earth almond (Cyperus esculentus), mustard (Brassica compestris), olibanum (Boswellia serrata), rocket (Eruca sativa), and parsley (Carum ptroselinum), respectively. The tested oils altered some biological aspects of C. pipiens, for instance, developmental periods, pupation rates, and adult emergences. The lowest concentrations of olibanum and fenugreek oils caused remarkable prolongation of larval and pupal durations. Data also showed that the increase of concentrations was directly proportional to reduction in pupation rates and adult emergences. Remarkable decrease in pupation rate was achieved by mustard oil at 1000 ppm. Adult emergence was suppressed by earth almond and fenugreek oils at 25 ppm. In addition, the tested plant oils exhibited various morphological abnormalities on larvae, pupae, and adult stages. Consequently, fenugreek was the most potent oil and the major cause of malformation of both larval and pupal stages. Potency of the applied plant oils provided an excellent potential for controlling C. pipiens.

Fate Hazardous elements in soils surrounding a coal-fired power plant complex

Proceedings of the 13th International UFZ-Deltares Conference on Sustainable Use and Management of Soil, Sediment and Water Resources - 9–12 June 2015 • Copenhagen, Denmark

Evaluating vehicle painting plans in an automobile assembly plant using an integrated AHP-PROMETHEE approach

The painting activity is one of the most complex and important activities in automobile manufacturing. The inherent complexity of the painting activity and the frequent need for repainting usually turn the painting process into a bottleneck in automobile assembly plants, which is reflected in higher operating costs and longer overall cycle times. One possible approach for optimizing the performance of the paint shop is to improve the efficiency of the color planning. This can be accomplished by evaluating the relative merits of a set of vehicle painting plans. Since this problem has a multicriteria nature, we resort to the multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methodology to tackle it. A recent trend in the MCDA field is the development of hybrid approaches that are used to achieve operational synergies between different methods. Here we apply, for the first time, an integrated approach that combines the strengths of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), aided by Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA), to the problem of assessing alternative vehicle painting plans. The management of the assembly plant found the results of value and is currently using them in order to schedule the painting activities such that an enhancement of the operational efficiency of the paint shop is obtained. This efficiency gain has allowed the management to bid for a new automobile model to be assembled at this specific plant.