RESUMO

A novel High-Frequency Electric Energy Metering System to inspect non-conventional features that may be relevant for studying real-time energy disaggregation and control of household appliances is presented. Integration of a data acquisition and control board, designed and built to be assembled with an Arduino Due, with the M90E36A Demo Board, allows for flexible and configurable electrical energy measurements. A key feature is that up to 4 current channels can be measured synchronously. On the one hand, samples can be obtained and processed by the M90E36A IC internal Digital Signal Processor at 3 Hz in the time domain and 2 Hz in the frequency domain. On the other hand, the M90E36A IC direct access memory mode can be operated, allowing 8 kHz pure voltage and current signals to be obtained. Finally, integration with Raspberry Pi allows to design and incorporate a custom signal processor into the study. Additionally, in this article, an application example is presented where the variation of the residual harmonic components of a household appliance is obtained.

RESUMO

Perturbations in the native structure, often caused by stressing cellular conditions, not only impair protein function but also lead to the formation of aggregates, which can accumulate in the cell leading to harmful effects. Some organisms, such as plants, express the molecular chaperone HSP100 (homologous to HSP104 from yeast), which has the remarkable capacity to disaggregate and reactivate proteins. Recently, studies with animal cells, which lack a canonical HSP100, have identified the involvement of a distinct system composed of HSP70/HSP40 that needs the assistance of HSP110 to efficiently perform protein breakdown. As sessile plants experience stressful conditions more severe than those experienced by animals, we asked whether a plant HSP110 could also play a role in collaborating with HSP70/HSP40 in a system that increases the efficiency of disaggregation. Thus, the gene for a putative HSP110 from the cereal Sorghum bicolor was cloned and the protein, named SbHSP110, purified. For comparison purposes, human HsHSP110 (HSPH1/HSP105) was also purified and investigated in parallel. First, a combination of spectroscopic and hydrodynamic techniques was used for the characterization of the conformation and stability of recombinant SbHSP110, which was produced folded. Second, small-angle X-ray scattering and combined predictors of protein structure indicated that SbHSP110 and HsHSP110 have similar conformations. Then, the chaperone activities, which included protection against aggregation, refolding, and reactivation, were investigated, showing that SbHSP110 and HsHSP110 have similar functional activities. Altogether, the results add to the structure/function relationship study of HSP110s and support the hypothesis that plants have multiple strategies to act upon the reactivation of protein aggregates.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Thermoeconomics connects thermodynamic and economic concepts in order to provide information not available in conventional energy and economic analysis. Most thermoeconomicists agree that exergy is the most appropriate thermodynamic magnitude to associate with cost. In some applications, exergy disaggregation is required. Despite the improvement in result accuracy, the modeling complexity increases. In recent years, different exergy disaggregation approaches have been proposed, mostly to deal with dissipative components and residues, despite all of them also increasing the complexity of thermoeconomics. This study aims to present a new thermoeconomic approach based on exergy disaggregation, which is able to isolate dissipative components with less modeling complexity. This approach, called the A&F Model, splits the physical exergy into two terms, namely, Helmholtz energy and flow work. These terms were evaluated from a thermoeconomic point of view, through a cost allocation in an ideal Carnot cycle, and they were also applied and compared with the UFS Model, through a cost allocation analysis, in a case study with an organic Rankine cycle-powered vapor compression refrigeration system. The complexity and computational effort reduction in the A&F are significantly less than in the UFS Model. This alternative approach yields consistent results.

RESUMO

This article introduces a high-resolution (0.1°) gridded dataset of hourly precipitation across Peru for the period 2015-2020, called PISCOp_h. The product was developed using a temporal disaggregation technique based on the gridded daily precipitation dataset PISCOp and additional data from 309 automatic weather stations and three satellite precipitation products (IMERG-Early, PERSIANN-CCS, and GSMaP_NRT). The workflow of PISCOp_h involved the spatial interpolation of hourly precipitation and a bias correction of the diurnal rainfall cycle. Based on a technical validation, we demonstrated that PISCOp_h provides moderate to high efficiency in characterizing the frequency, intensity, and temporal coherence of hourly precipitation, particularly in central and southern Peru. PISCOp_h represents an important advance to construct gridded hourly precipitation products under challenging environmental conditions in, e.g., mountain regions with complex terrain. This new dataset provides a useful baseline for future studies in hydrology, climatology, and meteorology. The data collection described is available on figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5743166.

RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Monitoring health inequalities is an important task for health research and policy, to uncover who is being left behind - and where - and to inform effective and equitable policies and programmes to tackle existing inequities. The choice of which measure to use to monitor and analyse health inequalities is thereby not trivial. This article explores a new measure of socioeconomic deprivation status (SDS) to monitor health inequalities. METHODS: The SDS measure was constructed using the Alkire-Foster method. It includes eight indicators across two equally weighted dimensions (education and living standards) and specifies a four-level gradient of socioeconomic deprivation at the household-level. We conducted four exercises to examine the value-added of the proposed SDS measure, using Demographic and Health Surveys data. First, we examined the discriminatory power of the new measure when applied to outcomes in four select reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH) indicators across six countries: skilled birth attendance, stunting, U5MR, and DTP3 immunisation. Then, we analysed the behaviour and association of the new SDS measure vis-à-vis the DHS Wealth Index, including chi-squared test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Third, we analysed the robustness of the SDS measure results to changes in its structure, using pairwise comparisons and Kendal Tau-b rank correlation. Finally, we illustrated some of the advantageous properties of the new measure, disaggregation and decomposition, on Haitian data. RESULTS: 1) Higher levels of socioeconomic deprivation are generally consistently associated with lower levels of achievements in the RMNCH indicators across countries. 2) 87% of all pairwise rank comparisons across a range of SDS measure structures were robust. 3) SDS and DHS Wealth Index are associated, but with considerable cross-country variation, highlighting their complementarity. 4) Haitian households in rural areas experienced, on average, more severe socioeconomic deprivation as well as lower levels of RMNCH achievement than urban households. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed SDS measure adds analytical possibilities to the health inequality monitoring literature, in line with ethically and conceptually well-founded notions of absolute, multidimensional disadvantage. In addition, it allows for breakdown by its dimensions and components, which may facilitate nuanced analyses of health inequality, its correlates, and determinants.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Heterologous hosts are highly important to detect the expression of biosynthetic gene clusters that are cryptic or poorly expressed in their natural hosts. To investigate whether actinorhodin-overproducer Streptomyces coelicolor ∆ppk mutant strain could be a possible prototype as a heterologous expression host, a cosmid containing most of the elm gene cluster of Streptomyces olivaceus Tü2353 was integrated into chromosomes of both S. coelicolor A3(2) and ∆ppk strains. Interestingly, it was found that the production of tetracyclic polyketide 8-demethyl-tetracenomycin (8-DMTC) by recombinant strains caused significant changes in the morphology of cells. All the pellets and clumps were disentangled and mycelia were fragmented in the recombinant strains. Moreover, they produce neither pigmented antibiotics nor agarase and did not sporulate. By eliminating the elm biosynthesis genes from the cosmid, we showed that the morphological properties of recombinants were caused by the production of 8-DMTC. Extracellular application of 8-DMTC on S. coelicolor wild-type cells caused a similar phenotype with the 8-DMTC-producing recombinant strains. The results of this study may contribute to the understanding of the effect of 8-DMTC in Streptomyces since the morphological changes that we have observed have not been reported before. It is also valuable in that it provides useful information about the use of Streptomyces as hosts for the heterologous expression of 8-DMTC.

Assuntos

RESUMO

The ß-amyloid peptide (1-42) is a molecule capable of aggregating into neurotoxic structures that have been implicated as potential etiological factors of Alzheimer's Disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inhibition of ß-amyloid aggregation of ethyl acetate and ethanolic extracts obtained from Ugni molinae leaves on neurotoxic actions of ß-amyloid aggregates. Chemical analyses were carried out with the extracts in order to determine their phenolic profile and its quantification. Both extracts showed a tendency to reduce neuronal deaths caused by ß-amyloid. This tendency was inversely proportional to the evaluated concentrations. Moreover, the effect of EAE and ETE on ß-amyloid aggregation was studied by fluorimetric T Thioflavin assay and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM); the extracts showed a modulation in the aggregation process. Partly, it is believed that these effects can be attributed to the polyphenolic compounds present in the extracts.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Interaction between porphyrins and quantum dots (QD) via energy and/or charge transfer is usually accompanied by reduction of the QD luminescence intensity and lifetime. However, for CdSe/ZnS-Cys QD water solutions, kept at 276 K during 3 months (aged QD), the significant increase in the luminescence intensity at the addition of meso-tetrakis (p-sulfonato-phenyl) porphyrin (TPPS4) has been observed in this study. Aggregation of QD during the storage provokes reduction in the quantum yield and lifetime of their luminescence. Using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques, we demonstrated that TPPS4 stimulated disaggregation of aged CdSe/ZnS-Cys QD in aqueous solutions, increasing the quantum yield of their luminescence, which finally reached that of the fresh-prepared QD. Disaggregation takes place due to increase in electrostatic repulsion between QD at their binding with negatively charged porphyrin molecules. Binding of just four porphyrin molecules per single QD was sufficient for total QD disaggregation. The analysis of QD luminescence decay curves demonstrated that disaggregation stronger affected the luminescence related with the electron-hole annihilation in the QD shell. The obtained results demonstrate the way to repair aged QD by adding of some molecules or ions to the solutions, stimulating QD disaggregation and restoring their luminescence characteristics, which could be important for QD biomedical applications, such as bioimaging and fluorescence diagnostics. On the other hand, the disaggregation is important for QD applications in biology and medicine since it reduces the size of the particles facilitating their internalization into living cells across the cell membrane.

RESUMO

The behavior of a soil regarding the dispersion and aggregation of its particles is very important for the development of environmental and agricultural soil functions. This study was conducted to determine how aggregate distribution and stability are impacted by land uses and how the release of Water Dispersible Clay (WDC) relates to disaggregation in Oxisols from subtropical Brazil. Samples from two Oxisols, collected at three depths from sites under no-tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT) and native vegetation (NV) land uses were shaken in 250 mL plastic bottles for intervals up to 27 hours. The mass of aggregates was measured in five size classes ranging from 53 to 2000 µm. Most aggregates larger than 500 mm disappeared during the first 7.5 hours of shaking, concurrent with an increase in WDC release and without change in soil suspension pH and electrical conductivity, without increase in smaller aggregates. Therefore, there is no aggregate hierarchy in these soils and the release of WDC was caused by breaking aggregates within the 500 to 2000 mm range. Land uses affect mass of aggregates in each size class, but the aggregate stability depends on its size, not land use.

O comportamento do solo em relação ao seu estado de agregação e dispersão é de alta relevância agrícola e ambiental. Este estudo foi conduzido para determinar como a distribuição e estabilidade de agregados são afetados por diferentes usos e como a liberação de argila dispersa em água (WDC) se comporta em relação à desagregação em Latossolos subtropicais brasileiros. Amostras de dois Latossolos coletadas em três profundidades em locais sob plantio direto (NT), plantio convencional (CT) e vegetação nativa (NV) foram agitados em garrafas plásticas de 250 mL por até 27 horas. A massa de agregados foi medida em cinco classes de tamanho desde 53 até 2000 µm. A maioria dos agregados maiores que 500 mm desapareceu durante as primeiras 7,5 horas de agitação, paralelamente à um aumento na liberação de WDC sem variação nos valores de pH e condutividade elétrica da suspensão, e sem aumento na massa de agregados menores. Portanto, não há hierarquia de agregados nestes solos e a liberação de WDC foi causada pela quebra de agregados com tamanho no intervalo entre 500 e 2000 mm. O tipo de uso afetou a massa de agregados em cada classe de tamanho mas a estabilidade de agregados é dependente do seu tamanho, não do tipo de uso.

RESUMO

The behavior of a soil regarding the dispersion and aggregation of its particles is very important for the development of environmental and agricultural soil functions. This study was conducted to determine how aggregate distribution and stability are impacted by land uses and how the release of Water Dispersible Clay (WDC) relates to disaggregation in Oxisols from subtropical Brazil. Samples from two Oxisols, collected at three depths from sites under no-tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT) and native vegetation (NV) land uses were shaken in 250 mL plastic bottles for intervals up to 27 hours. The mass of aggregates was measured in five size classes ranging from 53 to 2000 µm. Most aggregates larger than 500 mm disappeared during the first 7.5 hours of shaking, concurrent with an increase in WDC release and without change in soil suspension pH and electrical conductivity, without increase in smaller aggregates. Therefore, there is no aggregate hierarchy in these soils and the release of WDC was caused by breaking aggregates within the 500 to 2000 mm range. Land uses affect mass of aggregates in each size class, but the aggregate stability depends on its size, not land use.

O comportamento do solo em relação ao seu estado de agregação e dispersão é de alta relevância agrícola e ambiental. Este estudo foi conduzido para determinar como a distribuição e estabilidade de agregados são afetados por diferentes usos e como a liberação de argila dispersa em água (WDC) se comporta em relação à desagregação em Latossolos subtropicais brasileiros. Amostras de dois Latossolos coletadas em três profundidades em locais sob plantio direto (NT), plantio convencional (CT) e vegetação nativa (NV) foram agitados em garrafas plásticas de 250 mL por até 27 horas. A massa de agregados foi medida em cinco classes de tamanho desde 53 até 2000 µm. A maioria dos agregados maiores que 500 mm desapareceu durante as primeiras 7,5 horas de agitação, paralelamente à um aumento na liberação de WDC sem variação nos valores de pH e condutividade elétrica da suspensão, e sem aumento na massa de agregados menores. Portanto, não há hierarquia de agregados nestes solos e a liberação de WDC foi causada pela quebra de agregados com tamanho no intervalo entre 500 e 2000 mm. O tipo de uso afetou a massa de agregados em cada classe de tamanho mas a estabilidade de agregados é dependente do seu tamanho, não do tipo de uso.