Solubility of red 153 and blue 1 in supercritical carbon dioxide

Solubilities of red 153, (3-[[4-[[5,6(or 6,7)-dichloro-2-benzothiazolyl]azo]phenyl]ethylamino]propanenitrile), an azo compound, and disperse blue1 (1,4,5,8-tetraaminoantraquinone) in supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO(2)) were measured at T = (333.2 to 393.2) K over the pressure range (12.0 to 40.0) MPa by a flow type apparatus. The solubility of red 153 (0.985. 10(-6) to 37.2. 10(-6)) in the overall region of measurements is found to be significantly higher than that of disperse blue 1 (1.12.10(-7) to 4.89.10(-7)). The solubility behavior of disperse red 153 follows the general solubility trend displayed by disperse dyes with a crossover pressure at about 20 MPa. On the other hand, blue 1, which is a disperse anthraquinone dye, exhibits unexpected behavior not recorded previously there is no crossover pressure at the temperature and pressure ranges studied, and the dye's solubility at T = 333.2 K practically does not increase with pressure. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous measurements of blue 1 solubility in SC CO(2) reported in the literature. The experimental data were correlated by using the Soave Redlich Kwong equation of state (EoS) with the one-fluid van der Waals mixing rule, and an acceptable correlation of the solubility data for both dyes was obtained.

Experimental Measurements and Correlation of the Solubility of Three Primary Amides in Supercritical CO2: Acetanilide, Propanamide, and Butanamide

Solubilities of three primary amides, namely, acetanilide, propanamide, and butanamide, in supercritical carbon dioxide were measured at T = (308.2, 313.2, and 323.2) K over the pressure range (9.0 to 40.0) MPa by a flow type apparatus. The solubility behavior of the three solids shows an analogous trend with a crossover region of the respective isotherms between (12 to 14) MPa. The solubility of each amide, at the same temperature and pressure, decreases from propanamide to acetanilide. Pure compound properties required for the modeling were estimated, and the solubilities of the amides were correlated by using the Soave-Redlich-Kwong cubic equation of state with an absolute average relative deviation (AARD) from (1.3 to 6.1) %.

A hybrid MLS technique for room impulse response estimation

The measurement of room impulse response (RIR) when there are high background noise levels frequently means one must deal with very low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR). if such is the case, the measurement might yield unreliable results, even when synchronous averaging techniques are used. Furthermore, if there are non-linearities in the apparatus or system time variances, the final SNR can be severely degraded. The test signals used in RIR measurement are often disturbed by non-stationary ambient noise components. A novel approach based on the energy analysis of ambient noise - both in the time and in frequency - was considered. A modified maximum length sequence (MLS) measurement technique. referred to herein as the hybrid MLS technique, was developed for use in room acoustics. The technique consists of reducing the noise energy of the captured sequences before applying the averaging technique in order to improve the overall SNRs and frequency response accuracy. Experiments were conducted under real conditions with different types of underlying ambient noises. Results are shown and discussed. Advantages and disadvantages of the hybrid MLS technique over standard MLS technique are evaluated and discussed. Our findings show that the new technique leads to a significant increase in the overall SNR. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subunits of the chaperonin CCT are associated with Tetrahymena microtubule structures and are involved in cilia biogenesis

The cytosolic chaperonin CCT is a heterooligomeric complex of about 900 kDa that mediates the folding of cytoskeletal proteins. We observed by indirect immunofluorescence that the Tetrahymena TpCCTalpha, TpCCTdelta, TpCCTepsilon, and TpCCTeta-subunits colocalize with tubulin in cilia, basal bodies, oral apparatus, and contractile vacuole pores. TpCCT-subunits localization was affected during reciliation. These findings combined with atomic force microscopy measurements in reciliating cells indicate that these proteins play a role during cilia biogenesis related to microtubule nucleation, tubulin transport, and/or axoneme assembly. The TpCCT-subunits were also found to be associated with cortex and cytoplasmic microtubules suggesting that they can act as microtubule-associated proteins. The TpCCTdelta being the only subunit found associated with the macronuclear envelope indicates that it has functions outside of the 900 kDa complex. Tetrahymena cytoplasm contains granular/globular-structures of TpCCT-subunits in close association with microtubule arrays. Studies of reciliation and with cycloheximide suggest that these structures may be sites of translation and folding. Combined biochemical techniques revealed that reciliation affects the oligomeric state of TpCCT-subunits being tubulin preferentially associated with smaller CCT oligomeric species in early stages of reciliation. Collectively, these findings indicate that the oligomeric state of CCT-subunits reflects the translation capacity of the cell and microtubules integrity.

Ensaios geomecânicos em rochas metassedimentares do maciço da Mina das Aveleiras (Mosteiro de Tibães): comparação, potencialidades e limitações

Mestrado em Engenharia Geotécnica e Geoambiente

Desenvolvimento e validação de um sistema de recolha de sinal eletromiográfico baseado em placa de aquisição

A eletromiografia é, hoje em dia, uma das técnicas mais utilizadas no estudo dos músculos, estando presente em áreas como a medicina, a biomecânica e a fisiologia, possibilitando o desenvolvimento científico e contribuindo para proporcionar melhorias na qualidade da vida humana. Sendo assim, este trabalho apresenta um protótipo de um aparelho de aquisição de sinais eletromiográficos, explicando também toda a teoria, técnicas, componentes utilizadas e softwares que estiveram presentes na sua implementação. De uma forma sucinta, para a aquisição do sinal eletromiográfico usou-se uma placa de aquisição NI-USB 6009 e para a visualização do mesmo recorreu-se ao software LabVIEW. Para validar o sinal adquirido com o equipamento desenvolvido, utilizou-se um outro equipamento, o Biopac MP36 Student Lab System, fazendo-se assim recolhas de sinais eletromiográficos com ambos os equipamentos. Os sinais recolhidos pelos dois equipamentos foram analisados no software Acknowledge 3.9.0 (Biopac Systems, Inc.), podendo observar-se os espetros de frequência correspondentes a cada sinal e retirar valores para posterior análise estatística. Feita essa análise, concluiu-se que não foram detetadas diferenças significativas entre os sinais eletromiográficos recolhidos com ambos os equipamentos, validando-se assim, o equipamento desenvolvido.

Capillary bridging and long-range attractive forces in a mean-field approach

When a mixture is confined, one of the phases can condense out. This condensate, which is otherwise metastable in the bulk, is stabilized by the presence of surfaces. In a sphere-plane geometry, routinely used in atomic force microscope and surface force apparatus, it, can form a bridge connecting the surfaces. The pressure drop in the bridge gives rise to additional long-range attractive forces between them. By minimizing the free energy of a binary mixture we obtain the force-distance curves as well as the structural phase diagram of the configuration with the bridge. Numerical results predict a discontinuous transition between the states with and without the bridge and linear force-distance curves with hysteresis. We also show that similar phenomenon can be observed in a number of different systems, e.g., liquid crystals and polymer mixtures. (C). 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Unveiling the Biometric Potential of Finger-Based ECG Signals

The ECG signal has been shown to contain relevant information for human identification. Even though results validate the potential of these signals, data acquisition methods and apparatus explored so far compromise user acceptability, requiring the acquisition of ECG at the chest. In this paper, we propose a finger-based ECG biometric system, that uses signals collected at the fingers, through a minimally intrusive 1-lead ECG setup recurring to Ag/AgCl electrodes without gel as interface with the skin. The collected signal is significantly more noisy than the ECG acquired at the chest, motivating the application of feature extraction and signal processing techniques to the problem. Time domain ECG signal processing is performed, which comprises the usual steps of filtering, peak detection, heartbeat waveform segmentation, and amplitude normalization, plus an additional step of time normalization. Through a simple minimum distance criterion between the test patterns and the enrollment database, results have revealed this to be a promising technique for biometric applications.

Como melhorar a preparação física dos alunos do 3º ano vocacional da Academia de Música de Vilar do Paraíso no âmbito da disciplina de Técnica de Dança Clássica

Relatório Final de Estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Dança, com vista à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ensino de Dança.

Comparação de dois protocolos de reabilitação após reconstrução cirúrgica do ligamento cruzado anterior

Mestrado em Fisioterapia

Micro-generation Evaluation of the Zero Emissions Technologies in the Portuguese Market

Micro-generation is the small scale production of heat and/or electricity from a low carbon source and can be a powerful driver for carbon reduction, behavior change, security of supply and economic value. The energy conversion technologies can include photovoltaic panels, micro combined heat and power, micro wind, heat pumps, solar thermal systems, fuel cells and micro hydro schemes. In this paper, a small research of the availability of the conversion apparatus and the prices for the micro wind turbines and photovoltaic systems is made and a comparison between these two technologies is performed in terms of the availability of the resource and costs. An analysis of the new legal framework published in Portugal is done to realize if the incentives to individualspsila investment in sustainable and local energy production is worth for their point of view. An economic evaluation for these alternatives, accounting with the governmentpsilas incentives should lead, in most cases, into attractive return rates for the investment. Apart from the attractiveness of the investment there are though other aspects that should be taken into account and those are the benefits that these choices have to us all. The idea is that micro-generation will not only make a significant direct contribution to carbon reduction targets, it will also trigger a multiplier effect in behavior change by engaging hearts and minds, and providing more efficient use of energy by householders. The diversified profile of power generation by micro-generators, both in terms of location and timing, should reduce the impact of intermittency or plant failures with significant gains for security of supply.

Transitional justice in the judiciary: lessons from the portuguese democratisation

The nature of the Portuguese transition to democracy and the following state crises (1974-1975) created a ‘window of opportunity’ in which the ‘reaction to the past’ was much stronger than in the other Southern or even of Central and Eastern European transitions. In Portugal, initiatives of symbolic rupture with the past began soon after the April 25, 1974, coup d’état and transitional justice policies assumed mainly three formulas. First, the institutional reforms directed primarily to abusive state institutions such as the political police (PIDE-DGS) and political courts (Plenary courts) in order to dismantle the repressive apparatus and prevent further human rights abuses and impunity. Secondly, the criminal prosecutions addressed to perpetrators considered as being the most responsible for repression and abuses. Finally, lustration or political purges (saneamentos, the term used in Portugal to designate political purges) which were, in fact, the most common form of political justice in Portuguese transition to democracy. This paper deals with the peculiarities of transitional justice in Portugal devoting a particular attention to the judicial, a key sector to understand the way the Portuguese dealt with their authoritarian past.

Development of biocompatible and “smart” porous structures using CO2-assisted processes

Dissertação apresentada para a obtenção do grau de Doutor em Engenharia Química, especialidade Engenharia da Reacção Química, pela Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia

ECG-based biometrics: A real time classification approach

Behavioral biometrics is one of the areas with growing interest within the biosignal research community. A recent trend in the field is ECG-based biometrics, where electrocardiographic (ECG) signals are used as input to the biometric system. Previous work has shown this to be a promising trait, with the potential to serve as a good complement to other existing, and already more established modalities, due to its intrinsic characteristics. In this paper, we propose a system for ECG biometrics centered on signals acquired at the subject's hand. Our work is based on a previously developed custom, non-intrusive sensing apparatus for data acquisition at the hands, and involved the pre-processing of the ECG signals, and evaluation of two classification approaches targeted at real-time or near real-time applications. Preliminary results show that this system leads to competitive results both for authentication and identification, and further validate the potential of ECG signals as a complementary modality in the toolbox of the biometric system designer.

Extraction of volatile oil from aromatic plants with supercritical carbon dioxide: experiments and modeling

An overview of the studies carried out in our laboratories on supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of volatile oils from seven aromatic plants: pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium L.), fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), savory (Satureja fruticosa Beguinot), winter savory (Satureja montana L.), cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparisus) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris), is presented. A flow apparatus with a 1 L extractor and two 0.27 L separators was built to perform studies at temperatures ranging from 298 to 353 K and pressures up to 30.0 MPa. The best compromise between yield and composition compared with hydrodistillation (HD) was achieved selecting the optimum experimental conditions of extraction and fractionation. The major differences between HD and SFE oils is the presence of a small percentage of cuticular waxes and the relative amount of thymoquinone, an oxygenated monoterpene with important biological properties, which is present in the oils from thyme and winter savory. On the other hand, the modeling of our data on supercritical extraction of volatile oil from pennyroyal is discussed using Sovova's models. These models have been applied successfully to the other volatile oil extractions. Furthermore, other experimental studies involving supercritical CO2 carried out in our laboratories are also mentioned.