Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-04-07"
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- Nutrient removal in an aerobic granular sludge system facing events of saltwater intrusionPublication . Miranda, Catarina; Amorim, Catarina L.; Castro, Paula M. L.In coastal environments, especially under the high tide levels, the occurrence of seawater intrusion can directly affect the wastewater composition of the nearby wastewater treatment plants (WWTP); Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) systems are robust treatment processes, presenting excellent nutrient removal ability, high biomass retention and tolerance to toxic compounds. The daily variation of salinity levels in wastewater can affect the biological removal processes in WWTPs, a phenomenon scarcely explored for granular sludge systems.
- BioTech agrifood innovation: a pre-acceleration program and contest to promote knowledge and technology transfer in agri-food and agri-environmental sectorsPublication . Oliveira, Leandro; Santos, Telmo; Cardoso, Eduardo LuísThe European agri-food sector needs to overcome several related to sustainability and food security [1]. For this, it is necessary for professionals working in this area to be able to innovate, and to propose solutions that must be based on scientific knowledge, and on models of lifelong and postgraduate education, which allow the efficient transfer of knowledge between industry and higher education institutions [2]. This study aims to develop and implement a contest and pre-acceleration program for business projects in the agri-food and agri-environment areas through academic entrepreneurship. This research involved a single exploratory case study, with primary data collected through instruments developed for the Lab2Business project and observations of different project actions. The contest and program developed was called BioTech Agrifood Innovation. This consisted of three phases: screening/selection/admission, development and assessment/awarding of prizes. Once admitted, participants had to develop a business plan, to prepare a poster to present their idea, and deliver a pitch to stakeholders, for which they were supported by 17 business mentors and attended an 81-hour acceleration program. The two editions of the BioTech Agrifood Innovation contest had 64 competitors, of which 30 were admitted to the contest. All participants were researchers or PhD students, mostly were female (73.3%), under 30 years of age (52.0%), resident in Porto (80,0%). In these two editions, 12 products/services were launched, 7 in the agri-food area and 5 in the agri-environmental area, which gave rise to 5 patentability studies. Projects were evaluated based on product, potential to disrupt, financials and quality of pitch. Four prizes were awarded (2 prizes per category “+ Potential” and “+ Innovation”) worth €2000. The innovation program and contest proved to be easy to implement and replicate among PhD students and researchers in the areas of biotechnology, food engineering, environment, and nutrition. The program and contest allowed participants to consolidate and develop skills and knowledge, complementing their training, namely in management/entrepreneurship/marketing through the development of business and marketing plans for their products. It allowed innovation in agri-food and environmental sector through the development of new products or optimization of processes, also valuing the results of research/doctoral activities.
- Uma leitura teológica do cosmos : Adolphe Gesché e a teologia da criaçãoPublication . Alexandre, Fábio José Santos; Palma, Alexandre Coutinho Lopes de Brito«Lamentamos um mundo sem Deus. Não será porque temos pensado demasiado Deus sem o mundo?». Esta afirmação de Gesché é particularmente esclarecedora da sua interpretação teológica do cosmos e de como este tem sido pensado de forma isolada da divindade que o criou. O cosmos é uma instância independente de Deus e do Homem, mas, simultaneamente, complementar. Desta complementaridade surgem as seguintes interrogações: Que lugar desempenha o cosmos no conhecimento de Deus e do próprio Homem? Que importância assumem a conservação e o cuidado na teologia da criação? Diante do crescente cuidado humano pela natureza, na presente dissertação pretende-se aprofundar a leitura teologal do cosmos elaborada por Gesché e, a partir dela, retirar consequências para o sentido da preservação do cosmos confiado ao ser humano. Preservação que vai para além do simples adorno ou pensamento ambientalista, para assumir implicações na realização vocacional do ser humano, isto é, tornar-se semelhante a Deus.
- Energetic valorisation of sunflower and maize crops used in phytoremediation of soil contaminated with heavy metalsPublication . Paulo, Ana; Castro, Paula; Marques, Ana Paula
- A importância da monitorização do Índice Bispectral (BIS) no doente neurocríticoPublication . Almeida, André Magalhães de; Oliveira, Irene
- Training an AGS reactor to treat high salinity wastewaterPublication . Paulo, Ana; Castro, Paula; Amorim, CatarinaAerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a promising technology for treating industrial wastewater, with higher biomass retention and tolerance to toxic substrates than conventional activated sludge systems. The presence of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the AGS structure increases the bacterial protection and stability of the granules. Several industrial wastewaters contain high salt concentrations in their composition that often inhibit the bacteria responsible for nutrients removal. A strategy to prepare the system to high salinity is the gradual adaptation of the aerobic granules to increased salt concentrations. In this study, an AGS reactor was operated for 248 days and fed with synthetic wastewater containing ammonium, phosphate and acetate (40, 20 and 680 mg L-1, respectively) in its composition. Over operation, a stepwise addition of NaCl to the wastewater from 0 to 14 g L-1 was performed. Carbon and ammonium removal processes were stable throughout the operation, with an average removal efficiency of ca. 90 and 100 %, respectively. Nitrification and phosphate removal processes were only affected when NaCl concentration reached 8.5 g L-1, that lead to nitrite and phosphate accumulation in the outlet up to 0.7 mg NO2 - L-1 and 20 mg PO4 3- L-1. Both processes resumed while treating wastewater containing 10 g NaCl L-1 and remained stable thereafter. The microbial community presented a high diversity while treating wastewater containing up to 3 g NaCl L-1. Further increase up to 6 NaCl g L-1 caused a bacterial diversity reduction. From this point onwards, despite the salinity increase until 14 g NaCl L-1, the microbial community diversity was kept similar, indicating its adaptation to the wastewater composition. The stepwise addition of salt to the wastewater allowed the granular biomass to preserve stable carbon and nutrient removal processes. It also led to a selection of the microbial community, without causing detrimental effects on the biological removal performance. This strategy can be valuable to adapt biomass for treating high salinity wastewater as those produced in industrial settings.
- Nutrient removal in an aerobic granular sludge system facing events of saltwater intrusionPublication . Miranda, Catarina; Amorim, Catarina L.; Castro, Paula M. L.The presence of saltwater in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) can have diverse origins, for instance from the discharge of industrial saline effluents or the saltwater use for toilet flushing. However, in coastal regions, especially during high tide level, saltwater intrusion occurs changing the wastewater composition, posing a challenge for the nearby WWTPs. The impact of the variable salinity levels of the wastewater over a day can affect the biological removal processes, a topic scarcely studied for granular systems. Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is one of the most promising biotechnologies for wastewater treatment, mainly due to AGS extraordinary properties, such as the simultaneous nutrient removal capability, good settling properties, and the simplicity of operation. In this study, the nutrients removal performance of an AGS system treating domestic wastewater with variable saltwater concentrations was evaluated. First, the reactor was operated for 4 months stepwise increasing the saltwater concentration (up to 15 g L-1). Then, the saltwater concentration of the wastewater was variable during each day, fluctuating from basal (7.5 g L-1) to maximum salinity (22.5 g L-1) levels to mimic flood tide events. During the first stage of operation, the AGS capacity for carbon, ammonium and phosphate removal increased over time, with most of the carbon and nutrients being removed. In the second stage, the saltwater daily intrusion variation due to tidal cycles did not affect neither the granular structure nor the reactor removal performance, as the granulation processes continued to occur and the biomass was able to efficiently treat the wastewater. The AGS system capacity to deal with saltwater intrusion during high tides showed that this technology is promising to use by utilities situated along the coast with saltwater intrusion events.
- Cuidados ao coto umbilical do recém-nascidoPublication . Bessa, Joana; Quelhas, Isabel
- Orange juice by-products from different “Algarve Citrus” cultivars as a sustainable source of bioactive compoundsPublication . Vilas-Boas, Ana A.; Magalhães, Daniela; Correia, Marta; Campos, Débora A.; Pintado, Manuela
- Training an AGS reactor to treat high salinity wastewaterPublication . Paulo, Ana M. S.; Castro, Paula M.L.; Amorim, Catarina L.