Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T14:04:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lorena Frasson.pdf: 1448726 bytes, checksum: 03fe202b674cae2a7d55326aec28abec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar as características físico-químicas do carvão ativado (CA) gerado a partir da casca de coco e do pinus e tentar associá-las à capacidade de adsorção do herbicida 2,4-D pelos carvões ativados estudados por meio de ensaios de isotermas de adsorção em água destilada e deionizada (ADD) e em água filtrada (AF) a partir dos modelos de Freundlich e de Langmuir, assim como verificar se a redução da granulometria do carvão interfere na capacidade de adsorção do 2,4-D. O motivo pelo qual inicialmente se utilizou ADD foi avaliar a eficiência do CA em adsorver o herbicida sem que houvesse qualquer outro interferente que pudesse competir com o 2,4-D e para comparar os resultados obtidos em ADD com os obtidos na AF. O pH da solução de 2,4-D (6,86) foi ajustado para valores/condições reais de operação da ETA Carapina - ES, que forneceu a AF utilizada nesse trabalho. A pesquisa utilizou carvões ativados vegetais fornecidos por dois fabricantes brasileiros. Uma das empresas forneceu o CAG e o CAP derivados da casca de coco. O CAG foi utilizado na sua granulometria original (08x30 mesh), onde foi denominado de CA-1, e na granulometria menor que 325 mesh, denominado de CA-2. Já o CAP, fornecido por esta mesma empresa, foi denominado de CA-3. O outro fabricante forneceu o CAP derivado do pinus e este carvão foi denominado de CA-4. Dentre os carvões estudados, o CA-3 apresentou maior capacidade adsortiva máxima (qA,máx). As análises fisíco-químicas não contribuíram para a escolha do carvão mais eficiente e, estatisticamente, não houve diferença entre os ensaios realizados em ADD e AF / This research aims to evaluate the activated carbon (AC) physical-chemicals characteristics generated from coconut´s peel and pinus and associate them to 2,4-D herbicide adsorption capacity of studied activated carbons by adsorption isotherms assay in destilated and deionized water (DDW) and filtered water (FW) from Freundlich and Langmuir models, as well as verifying the carbon granulometry reduction interference on the 2,4-D adsorption capacity. Firstly, the DDW was used to evaluate the AC herbicide adsorption efficiency without any interferent which might compete with 2,4-D and to compare the results obtained from DDW with FW results. 2,4-D pH solution (6,86) was fitted to real operational values/conditions of Carapina Water Treatment Plant (WTP) ES, which provide the FW used in this study. The research used vegetable AC provided by two Brazilian producers. One company provided GAC and PAC derivated from coconut peel. The GAC used with the normal granulometry (08x30 mesh) was named CA-1, and with a granulometry lower than 325 mesh was named CA-2. CAP was named CA-3. The another company provided PAC derivated from pinus, which was named CA-4. CA-3 showed higher maximum adsorption capacity (qAmax). The physical-chemicals analysis did not contributed to the most efficient coal selection and, statistically, there were not differences between DDW and FW assays

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No description available.

Com o objetivo de estudar a redução na geração de resíduos sólidos no processo por lodo ativado por meio de adição química, foi montada uma Estação de Tratamento Piloto na área do Centro Tecnológico de Hidráulica, situado dentro do Campus da Universidade de São Paulo, na cidade de São Paulo. A ETE Piloto é composta de dois sistemas em paralelo, e idênticos, de tratamento por lodo ativado convencional em mistura completa. A pesquisa foi realizada em três fases distintas e consecutivas. Em todas as três etapas, o primeiro sistema de tratamento da ETE Piloto (Sistema I) recebeu a adição do produto Dosfolat XS, com a intenção de verificar se esse provocaria realmente, a redução do lodo gerado, em comparação com o segundo sistema (Sistema II) que não recebeu Dosfolat XS. As três fases da pesquisa consistiram, respectivamente, na operação dos dois sistemas, em paralelo, durante 94, 79 e 133 dias efetivos, com alimentação de esgoto decantado na vazão de 5 m3/dia nas duas primeiras etapas e com esgoto bruto na vazão de 2m3/dia na fase final. Ao longo das três fases do experimento, foram verificadas as condições de sedimentabilidade, as concentrações de sólidos em suspensão totais e voláteis do lodo dos reatores biológicos, e as eficiências de remoção de DBO, DQO, Nitrogênio Total e Fósforo dos dois sistemas paralelos. Os resultados obtidos nessa pesquisa somente indicaram eficiência do produto Dosfolat XS na redução da geração de lodo no tratamento de esgoto por lodo ativado, em relação ao tratamento por lodo ativado sem a adição de Dosfolat XS. / Aiming to study the reduction in waste production in the activated sludge process, a Treatment Pilot Plant was built at Centro Tecnológico de Hidráulica, situated at the campus of Universidade de São Paulo, in São Paulo. The Pilot Plant was composed of two parallel and identical systems, that were operated in the conventional activated sludge process with complete mixing. This study was conducted in three different and successive phases. In each phase, the first system received addition of Dosfolat XS, in order to verify if this product would decrease the quantity of produced sludge, in comparison with the second system, which did not receive any addition. The three phases above mentioned were consisted in the operation of those two systems during 94, 79 and 133 effective days respectively. There was, in the first and second phases, primary effluent feeding at 5m3/day flow and, in the third phase, raw wastewater feeding at 2m3/day. During this three phase experiment, its several parameters were monitored: settleability parameters, total and volatile suspended solids concentration of the sludge in the biologic reactors, and the removal efficiency of BOD, COD, TKN and Phosphorus for those two parallel systems. The results of this study indicated only the efficiency of Dosfolat XS to decrease the quantity of produced sludge in wastewater treated by activated sludge process, in comparison with the activated sludge process without Dosfolat XS addition.

Homeostatic plasticity is important in neurobiology for stabilising neuronal networks in the face of Hebbian forms of synaptic plasticity that are thought to mediate memory storage. Impairment of homeostatic plasticity has also been implicated in neurological diseases such as Rett syndrome and fragile X syndrome. Homeostatic plasticity can be achieved through scaling of the strength of synaptic connections between neurones or by changes in intrinsic excitability. While homeostatic plasticity has been studied mainly using in vitro preparations, it is for the most part not known whether changes of neural activity in vivo induce homeostatic changes. The molecular pathway responsible for homeostatic plasticity still remains unclear. In this thesis, I have used stereotaxic surgery to over express Kir2.1, an inwardly rectifying potassium channel, in vivo in the brains of adult mice. I show that the expression of Kir2.1 through adeno-associated virus (AAV) does not cause any adverse effects in the dentate gyrus nor the CA1 of the mouse hippocampus. I go on to use slice patch clamp methods to measure the change in electrical properties of granule cells in the dentate gyrus and pyramidal cells in CA1 caused by expression of Kir2.1. I show that the excitability of neurones expressing Kir2.1 was reduced compared to control neurones. By 2 weeks after virus injection the neurones showed homeostatic plasticity in response to Kir2.1 over expression. Interestingly, the mechanism of adaptation was different in different types of cells; dentate gyrus granule cells adapted through change in their intrinsic excitability, whereas CA1 pyramidal cells adapted by modifying the strength of their synaptic inputs. To establish whether induction of homeostatic plasticity is associated with changes in gene expression I used fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACs) to isolate pure population of neurones infected with viruses. I then sequenced RNA extracted from neurones expressing Kir2.1 and control neurones. Analysis of the RNAseq data revealed molecular candidates involved in homeostatic plasticity. In summary, I show that Kir2.1 over expression causes change in excitability and subsequent homeostatic plasticity in vivo. The mechanism of adaptation differs between cell types. RNAseq results identify novel candidates for future investigation.

Ischaemic stroke has become one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. Protease activated receptors (PARs, PAR-1 to PAR-4) belong to G protein coupled receptors that can be self-activated by tethered ligands (TL) revealed through proteolytic cleavage. Based on these TL, many activating peptides (APs) and antagonists have been synthesized to investigate PARs actions. / In the present study, the roles of PARs were examined in two models of ischaemic stroke. For the in vivo model, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO) was performed to establish cerebral ischaemia in rats. For the in vitro model, oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) was used to mimic an ischaemia insult in primary cultured rat embryonic cortical neurones. / Western blot studies showed that expressions of PAR-1 and PAR-2 were increased in the rat ischaemic brain cortex, whereas PAR-1 was reduced in the rat cortical neurones subjected to OGD. Pretreatments of PAR-1 AP (SFLLRN-NH₂) and PAR-2 AP (SLIGRL-NH₂) produced significant protection against ischaemia-induced damage. Pretreatment of PAR-3 AP (SFNGGP-NH₂) only improved ischaemic symptoms in in vivo but not in in vitro model. When treated after ischaemia, only PAR-1 AP produced significant reductions on ischaemia-induced damage. Protective actions of PAR-1 and PAR-2 APs were inhibited by PAR-1 antagonist (BMS-200261) and PAR-2 antagonist (ENMD-1068) respectively, but PAR-1 antagonist did not affect posttreatment effects of PAR-1 AP in in vitro model. Pre- and posttreatments of thrombin, and pretreatment of trypsin also protected ischaemia-induced damage in the two models. / PAR-1 AP produced marked increase in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and ratio of bcl-2/bax, but reduced contents of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in both ipsilateral ischaemic brain cortices and in rat cortical neurones subjected to OGD. In the in vitro model, PAR-1 AP greatly decreased caspase-3 activity and TUNEL positive cells, while markedly increased mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). All these protective actions were inhibited by its antagonist, which suggests it was mediated via activation of PAR-1. / In MCA isolated from normal and ischameic rats, PAR-2 AP and trypsin produced vasodilatation while PAR-3 AP elicited vasoconstriction. However, another PAR-3 AP had no effect in the two types of MCA. A high concentration of PAR-1 AP relaxed MCA isolated form ischaemic rats, and it was not inhibited by a PAR-1 antagonist. The vasodilator action of PAR-2 AP was inhibited by one of two PAR-2 antagonists tested. The vasodilator actions induced by PAR-1 and PAR-2 APs involved NO production since L-NAME was effective in inhibiting their actions. / In conclusion, PAR-1 AP was found to be the most efficacious in protecting the brain from ischaemia-induced damage when administered either before or after ischaemia insults. The protective actions were likely to be attributed to its anti-oxidant properties in the ischaemic brain that reduced apoptosis of brain cells. Therefore, PAR-1 was identified as a promising target for development of novel prophylactic and therapeutic treatments of ischaemic brain disease. / 缺血性腦中風已經成為全世界導致死亡和殘疾的最主要的疾病之一。蛋白酶激活受體（PARs, PAR-1 to PAR-4）屬於G蛋白偶聯受體並且可以通過蛋白水解生成系鎖配體（TL）從而作用於受體本身而激活信號通路。根據TL的序列已經合成了很多激活肽和拮抗劑，它們可以作為有價值的工具藥進行PAR的作用研究。 / 當前，PAR的作用在兩個缺血性腦中風模型中進行研究。體內模型是通過大鼠大腦中動脈阻塞手術而建立；體外模型是通過對大鼠胚胎大腦皮層神經元進行氧糖剝奪模擬缺血性損傷。 / 蛋白質印跡法的實驗表明PAR-1和PAR-2的表達在缺血側大腦皮層中有所增多，而PAR-1在氧糖剝奪的大鼠皮層神經元中表達卻有所降低。預處理PAR-1（SFLLRN-NH₂）和PAR-2（SLIGRL-NH₂）的激活肽顯著改善了缺血導致的損傷。預處理PAR-3激活肽（SFNGGP-NH₂）僅僅改善了體內缺血症狀，卻對體外缺血模型沒有效果。然而，當這些激活肽在缺血后給予的時候，只有PAR-1的激活肽顯著改善了缺血損傷。PAR-1的拮抗劑（BMS-200261）和PAR-2的拮抗劑（ENMD-1068）抑制了PAR-1和PAR-2激活肽的保護作用，但是體外實驗後處理PAR-1激活肽的保護作用卻未收影響。預處理及後處理凝血酶，預處理胰酶都在這兩個模型中顯示出保護缺血性損傷的作用。 / PAR-1激活肽在缺血同側大腦皮層以及經受氧糖剝奪的大鼠皮層神經元中，顯著提高了超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、過氧化氫酶（CAT）、谷胱甘肽過氧化物酶（GSH-Px）的活力以及bcl-2/bax的比例，同時顯著降低了活性氧自由基（ROS）、一氧化氮（NO）以及丙二醛（MDA）的含量。在體外模型中，PAR-1激活肽還顯著降低了caspase-3的活力以及TUNEL陽性細胞的比例，同時顯著提高了線粒體膜電位（MMP）。所有這些作用都可以被拮抗劑抑制，說明PAR-1激活肽的保護作用是通過激活PAR-1介導的。 / 不管是從正常還是缺血的大鼠中分離出來的大腦中動脈，PAR-2激活肽和胰酶都可以使之舒張，PAR-3激活肽卻對其有收縮作用。然而，另外一種PAR-3激活肽卻未顯現出對血管活性的影響。高劑量的PAR-1激活肽只可以在分離于缺血大鼠的大腦中動脈中引起舒張，但此作用不能被其拮抗劑所抑制。PAR-2激活肽導致的血管舒張只可以被檢測的兩個拮抗劑中的其中一個所抑制。PAR-1和PAR-2激活肽引起的血管舒張與NO的產生有關，因為L-NAME可以有效抑制它們的作用。 / 總之，不管是預處理還是後處理的給藥方式，PAR-1的激活肽在保護大腦的缺血性損傷中都是最有效果的。保護作用可能可以歸因于其抗氧化以及抗凋亡的特性。所以，PAR-1是研究防治缺血性腦疾病的發展中富有希望的一個靶點。 / Zhen, Xia. / Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 194-206). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 11, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Tendo em vista a existência de muitas comunidades no Estado de São Paulo (e em outros estados do Brasil), que utilizam água muitas vezes com qualidade imprópria ao consumo humano, o presente trabalho visa o desenvolvimento de uma instalação de filtração utilizando Carvão Ativado Impregnado com Prata (CAIP) com o intuito de eliminar alguma contaminação na água tratada devido à problemas tais como anomalias operacionais na ETA, tecnologia de tratamento inadequada, contaminação da rede de distribuição, reservação, dentre outros. Para a investigação experimental foram preparados três tipos de água de estudo, com baixos valores de turbidez e cor aparente. A água tipo I era isenta de contaminação, as águas tipo II e III apresentaram coliformes totais e fecais, sendo que a água tipo III utilizada na simulação da instalação como filtro domiciliar. Os ensaios realizados apresentaram taxa de filtração entre 200 e 250 m3/m2*d. Os resultados indicam que o CAIP apresentou propriedades adsorventes e é um poderoso agente desinfetante, reduzindo significativamente o NMP de coliformes totais e fecais de águas contaminadas. Porém, a desinfecção não foi completa e ocorreu excessivo desprendimento da prata do CAIP, inviabilizando o uso deste CAIP nesta instalação desenvolvida. / Minding the existence of many communities within the state of São Paulo (and other Brazilian states) which often use water unfit for human consumption, this work aims at the development of a filtering installation that uses Activated Carbon supporting Silver (AC(Ag)) in an attempt to eliminate any contamination in treated water. Such water contamination problems include, operational anomalies in the WTP, inadequate treatment technologies, contamination in the distribution net, and other filter specific problems. For the experimental investigation three types of test water were prepared, with low turbidity and apparent color values. Water type I was contarnination-free, water type II and III had total and fecal coliforms, and water type III was used in the simulation of domestic filtering installation. Tests showed a filtering rate between 200 and 250 m3/m2*d. Results point that AC(Ag) has adsorbent capabilities, in addition to being a powerful disinfection agent, and reduced significantly the number of total and fecal coliforms of contaminated waters. However, disinfection was not thoroughly, and silver was excessively dragged away, from the Activated Carbon, thus rendering the use of AC(Ag) unadvisable in the developed installation.

Given the dramatic rise in obesity and the diseases linked with it, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the mechanisms that underlie the body's ability to recognize fat. The chemoreception of dietary fat in the oral cavity has largely been attributed to activation of the somatosensory system that relays the textural properties of fat. However, the ability of fatty acids, which are believed to represent the proximate stimulus for fat taste, to activate trigeminal ganglionic neurons has remained unexplored. In general, my research has provided the first evidence of fatty acids activating the somatosensory system by increasing the intracellular calcium concentration and generating receptor potentials. Other experiments were focused on identifying fatty acids-responsive pathways in acute isolated trigeminal neurons involved with fat somatosensory perception. My results revealed that fatty acids-activated pathways involved the release of intracellular calcium stores in subpopulations of trigeminal neurons. By using pseudorabies virus as a "live-cell" tracer, a subpopulation of lingual-innervated trigeminal neurons was labeled. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction on individual neurons showed several transient receptor potential channel markers were expressed in these labeled neurons, which indicated the identification of lingual-innervated neurons was successful. This technique helped resolve the problem of trigeminal neurons being a mixed population of cells, and confirmed the role of the release of intracellular calcium stores in fatty acid-activated pathways. Using patch clamp recording, I discovered that the linoleic acid activated signaling pathway involved the activation of G protein and phospholipase C. I further began to characterize the downstream conductance that is activated by linoleic acid in rat trigeminal neurons. Using perforated patch clamp recording, I have recorded linoleic acid-induced currents that exhibited many of the properties of transient receptor potential-like channels, suggesting that this "cellular sensor" is probably playing an important role in the somatosensory perception of fat. Taken together, this dissertation research has revealed the ability of fatty acids to act as effective tactile stimuli and identified several elements of the fatty acids-activated signaling pathway involved in the somatosensory perception of fat.

Disposable filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) include a wide range of products that may be certified or non-certified. Many of these respirators are being produced with activated carbon claiming nuisance level organic vapor (OV) relief. OV includes a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which have been linked to major and minor health discomfort such as headaches, upper extremity discomfort, nausea, respiratory irritation, asthma nervous system complications, hearing loss, cancer, and death. Common industries that have been identified that may expose employees to nuisance level OV, resulting in minor symptoms, include beautician salons, dry cleaning operations, and pesticide applications. FFRs with activated carbon (FFR-AC) may provide a more convenient alternative for reusable respirators which could also protect employees from OV exposure. This study investigated the adsorption capabilities of one certified respirator (3M) and two alternatively designed respirators (RZ Hunting Mask, Surgical Mask) with activated carbon filtering media. The three FFRs were tested to determine the 50% breakthrough time for two hydrocarbons and one non-carbon-based vapor. 50% breakthrough was chosen because we felt that reducing nuisance level exposures by half would still be protective. Non-certified respirators were exposed to 15 parts per million (ppm) and 50 ppm for all three vapors. Concentrations of 15 ppm and 50 ppm were standardized to achieve similar mass per time exposures across all contaminants and because these values represented the range of nuisance level exposure documented in literature. The 3M respirator was exposed to 15 and 50 ppm of acetone and ammonia, and perchloroethylene was evaluated at 50 ppm. Perchloroethylene was not evaluated at 15 ppm because breakthrough was longer than 8 hours. 3M respirators were also evaluated at 95% relative humidity using 50 ppm of acetone, ammonia, and perchloroethylene. The total number of trials was 43 (n=43). These contaminants and concentrations were chosen based on published data on occupational exposures. The non-certified respirators, (RZ Hunting Mask and Surgical Mask) , were ineffective for all vapors and offered less than 10 minutes of protection before 50% breakthrough occurred. Respirators performed poorly, when exposed to ammonia, with breakthrough less than 5 mins at 50 ppm and 10 minutes at 15 ppm. The 3M respirator had the longest breakthrough times for all trials. Acetone breakthrough occurred at 121 minutes for 50 ppm and 233 minutes at 15 ppm. Perchloroethylene took over 400 minutes to achieve 50% breakthrough at 50 ppm. When acetone at 50 ppm and perchloroethylene at 50 ppm were evaluated with 95% R.H. breakthrough times decreased to 39 and 144 minutes respectively, a nearly 70% decrease in time for both vapors. The results of this study show that non-certified respirators advertised as nuisance level relief may not offer protection for OV. Certified respirators show much more promise, but their performance is highly dependable upon the characteristics of the vapor and environment the respirators are being used in. Additional research is needed to increase our understanding of FFR-ACs performance under more conditions.

From June to November 2007, a microscopic analysis was conducted on the activated sludge from eleven selected wastewater treatment plants (WWTP's) belonging to the City of Cape Town. The primary objective was the identification of the dominant and secondary filamentous organisms. Other important criteria included were the floe character, diversity, filament index (Fl) and identification of the protozoan and metazoan communities. The operational data determined from routine analyses of the sludge, influent and effluent were used to assess the relationship of the filamentous population to wastewater characteristics and to compare this with previous findings. Fl values of >3 and dissolved sludge volume indices (DSVI's) of >150 were chosen as representing the possibility of bulking conditions being present. The five most prevalent dominant filaments were Type 0092, Type 1851, actinomycetes, Microthrix parvicella and Type 021N, being present in 74%, 31%, 22%, 17% and 14% of samples respectively. Type 0092 did not appear to be associated with bulking in any of the WWTP's, although it was often incidentally present as a co-dominant species when bulking conditions existed. All three WWTP's with the Modified Ludzack-Ettinger configuration harboured Type 1851 as the major dominant species, irrespective of whether the plants treated domestic or industrial effluent. Conditions suggestive of bulking were present in two of these WWTP's. Contrary to expectations, Type 1851 was often found as a dominant species where domestic waste was the primary influent. Type 021N and actinomycetes were strongly implicated when bulking occurred. The overgrowth of these filaments appeared to be related to factors such as nutrient deficiency (Type 021N) or the presence of large amounts of low molecular weight substances in the influent. Microthrix parvicella did not cause major bulking problems. There was a strong association between low levels of nitrates/nitrites in the clarifier supernatant and good phosphorous removal, irrespective of the configuration of the WWTP. The converse was also true. / Thesis ((M. Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.