Mass production of bacterial communities adapted to the degradation of volatile organic compounds (TEX)

This study focuses on the mass cultivation of bacteria adapted to the degradation of a mixture composed of toluene, ethylbenzene, o-, m- and p-xylenes (TEX). For the cultivation process Substrate Pulse Batch (SPB) technique was adapted under well-automated conditions. The key parameters to be monitored were handled by LabVIEW software including, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. Other parameters, such as biomass, ammonium or residual substrate concentrations needed offline measurements. SPB technique has been successfully tested experimentally on TEX. The overall behavior of the mixed bacterial population was observed and discussed along the cultivation process. Carbon and nitrogen limitations were shown to affect the integrity of the bacterial cells as well as their production of exopolymeric substances (EPS). Average productivity and yield values successfully reached the industrial specifications, which were 0.45kgDWm−3d−1 and 0.59gDWg C −1 , respectively. Accuracy and reproducibility of the obtained results present the controlled SPB process as a feasible techniqu

Modeling Social-Ecological Feedback Effects in the Implementation of Payments for Environmental Services in Pasture-Woodlands

International audienceAn effective implementation of payment for environmental services (PES) must allow for complex interactions of coupled social-ecological systems. We present an integrative study of the pasture-woodland landscape of the Swiss Jura Mountains combining methods from natural and social sciences to explore feedback between vegetation dynamics on paddock level, farm-based decision making, and policy decisions on the national political level. Our modeling results show that concomitant climatic and socioeconomic changes advance the loss of open grassland in silvopastoral landscapes. This would, in the longer term, deteriorate the historical wooded pastures in the region, which fulfill important functions for biodiversity and are widely considered as landscapes that deserve protection. Payment for environmental services could counteract this development while respecting historical land-use and ecological boundary conditions. The assessed policy feedback process reveals that current policy processes may hinder the implementation of PES, even though a payment for the upkeep of wooded pasture would generally enjoy the backing of the relevant policy network. To effectively support the upkeep of the wooded pastures in the Jura, concomitant policy changes, such as market deregulation, must also be taken into account

Algorithmic Details behind the Predator Shape Analyser

This chapter, which is an extended and revised version of the conference paper 'Predator: Byte-Precise Verification of Low-Level List Manipulation', concentrates on a detailed description of the algorithms behind the Predator shape analyser based on abstract interpretation and symbolic memory graphs. Predator is particularly suited for formal analysis and verification of sequential non-recursive C code that uses low-level pointer operations to manipulate various kinds of linked lists of unbounded size as well as various other kinds of pointer structures of bounded size. The tool supports practically relevant forms of pointer arithmetic, block operations, address alignment, or memory reinterpretation. We present the overall architecture of the tool, along with selected implementation details of the tool as well as its extension into so-called Predator Hunting Party, which utilises multiple concurrently-running Predator analysers with various restrictions on their behaviour. Results of experiments with Predator within the SV-COMP competition as well as on our own benchmarks are provided.Comment: Book chapter previe

Paridade e simetria nos contratos empresariais: análise das regras de interpretação na Lei de liberdade econômica

O presente trabalho objetiva analisar a mudança decorrente da lei no 13.874/2019, Lei de Liberdade Econômica, nas regras de interpretação dos contratos empresariais diante da criação do artigo 421-A, do Código Civil, com os princípios fundamentais da Ordem Econômica da Constituição Federal de 1988. Serão analisadas, brevemente, as alterações dos dispositivos 113 e 421, do Código Civil (CC), bem como aspectos relacionados à pandemia do covid-19. O estudo demonstrará que a interpretação dos contratos empresariais está se encaminhando para uma significativa readaptação onde haverá a valorização do pacta sunt servanda, diminuindo, consideravelmente, a intervenção estatal nos negócios jurídicos empresariais. A referida lei destaca que nos contratos empresariais haverá a aplicação subsidiária das regras de direito empresarial, em relação ao avençado, quando as partes forem consideradas simétricas e paritárias, ressalvados os regimes jurídicos previstos em leis especiais, conforme disposto na parte final do artigo 421-A, do Código Civil. Por fim, pretende-se ressaltar a valorização da liberdade contratual no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro após a vigência da Lei da Liberdade Econômica, a partir da criação do artigo 421-A, e, consequentemente, analisar as mudanças de efeitos concretos na jurisprudência dos Tribunais Pátrios.The present work aims to analyze the resulting change arising from law n. 13.874/2019, the Economic Freedom Law, in the business contracts’ interpretation rules in face of the creation of article 421-A, of the Civil Code, with the fundamental principles of the Economic Order of the 1988 Federal Constitution. The changes in the provisions 113 and 421, of the CC, will be briefly analyzed, as well as aspects related to the covid-19 pandemic. The study will demonstrate that the interpretation of corporate contracts is heading towards a significant readaptation where pacta sunt servanda will be valued, considerably reducing the state intervention in corporate legal business. Such law highlights that in corporate contracts will be applied a subsidiary application of the rules of corporate law, in relation to what was agreed upon, when the parties are considered symmetrical and equal, except for the legal frameworks in special laws, accodring to the final part of article 421-A of the Civil Code. Finally, we intend to emphasize the valorization of contractual freedom in the Brazilian legal system after the enactment of the Economic Freedom Law, starting from the creation of article 421-A, and, consequently, to analyze the changes of concrete effects in the jurisprudence of the Brazilian Courts

O DESENVOLVIMENTO ECONÔMICO SUECO: O CAMINHO DA INTERVENÇÃO ESTATAL

This paper, based on the Swedish Economy, shows that all countries that are heavily guided by the public sector to develop their economies tend to have a depression as a consequence. Sooner or later the artificial development based on the public sector has to be reverted with high costs in production and unemployment. The paper studies the origin, early stages, consolidation, the beginning of the decline, the decline itself and the difficult present situation of the Swedish welfare state. Inevitably, the Swedish people is going to pay a high price in production and unemployment in order to bring their economy back to equilibrium. However, this is only possible if Sweden first comes back to the domain of the market rules.Este artigo vale-se do modelo econômico adotado pela Suécia para mostrar que todo desenvolvimento apoiado no Estado, em detrimento da livre iniciativa, não é um desenvolvimento auto-sustentado, mas um desenvolvimento artificial. Cedo ou tarde tem de ser revertido, com grandes custos sociais. Estudou-se a origem, os estágios iniciais, a consolidação, o início da queda, o declínio e a difícil situação atual do Estado intervencionista sueco. O estudo converge para o fato de que, inevitavelmente, o povo sueco vai ter de pagar um preço bem alto - queda da produção e desemprego - para trazer de volta a economia ao equilíbrio. E esse retorno só é viável, dado determinado custo, com a adoção de uma economia guiada pelas leis de mercado

Timing of Favorable Conditions, Competition and Fertility Interact to Govern Recruitment of Invasive Chinese Tallow Tree in Stressful Environments

The rate of new exotic recruitment following removal of adult invaders (reinvasion pressure) influences restoration outcomes and costs but is highly variable and poorly understood. We hypothesize that broad variation in average reinvasion pressure of Triadica sebifera (Chinese tallow tree, a major invader) arises from differences among habitats in spatiotemporal availability of realized recruitment windows. These windows are periods of variable duration long enough to permit establishment given local environmental conditions. We tested this hypothesis via a greenhouse mesocosm experiment that quantified how the duration of favorable moisture conditions prior to flood or drought stress (window duration), competition and nutrient availability influenced Triadica success in high stress environments. Window duration influenced pre-stress seedling abundance and size, growth during stress and final abundance; it interacted with other factors to affect final biomass and germination during stress. Stress type and competition impacted final size and biomass, plus germination, mortality and changes in size during stress. Final abundance also depended on competition and the interaction of window duration, stress type and competition. Fertilization interacted with competition and stress to influence biomass and changes in height, respectively, but did not affect Triadica abundance. Overall, longer window durations promoted Triadica establishment, competition and drought (relative to flood) suppressed establishment, and fertilization had weak effects. Interactions among factors frequently produced different effects in specific contexts. Results support our ‘outgrow the stress’ hypothesis and show that temporal availability of abiotic windows and factors that influence growth rates govern Triadica recruitment in stressful environments. These findings suggest that native seed addition can effectively suppress superior competitors in stressful environments. We also describe environmental scenarios where specific management methods may be more or less effective. Our results enable better niche-based estimates of local reinvasion pressure, which can improve restoration efficacy and efficiency by informing site selection and optimal Management

Using dynamic vegetation models to simulate plant range shifts

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Model to Study Gland Regeneration/Development in Rat: The Expression of Metalloproteinase- 9 and Extracellular Matrix Proteins

A model to study gland regeneration as a similar phenomenon to gland development is proposed. This  study evaluated the expression of metalloproteinases (MMPs), laminin (LN) and type I and III collagen  in the regeneration of the rat submandibular gland (SMG). Eighteen 30-day-old Wistar male rats were  anesthetized, and the lower third of their SMG left lobe was excised. The animals were killed on the 2nd,  3rd, 7th and 15th postoperative days, and their SMG lobes were removed, fixed and processed in paraffin.  Immunohistochemistry was used to label type I and III collagen, laminin, and MMP-9. The avidin-biotin  technique was used, and the reaction was developed with diaminobenzidine. On the 2nd day, MMP9 expression  was intense in the margins of the regenerating area and inside striated duct cells in the preserved gland. On  the 3rd day, duct cytoplasm labeling persisted and was more intense than in the surrounding mesenchyme,  where labeling increased along time. Concurrently, LN labeling in the basal lamina of epithelial buds was  intense and discontinuous. Types I and III collagen were present during the whole process, which showed  their importance for the regeneration process. The behavior of extracellular macromolecules observed in  this study is similar to their behavior in gland development.

Evaluating the spatial uncertainty of future land abandonment in a mountain valley (Vicdessos, Pyrenees-France) : insights form model parameterization and experiments

International audienceEuropean mountains are particularly sensitive to climatic disruptions and land use changes. The latter leads to high rates of natural reforestation over the last 50 years. Faced with the challenge of predicting possible impacts on ecosystem services, LUCC models offer new opportunities for land managers to adapt or mitigate their strategies. Assessing the spatial uncertainty of future LUCC is crucial for the defintion of sustainable land use strategies. However, the sources of uncertainty may differ, including the input parameters, the model itself, and the wide range of possible futures. The aim of this paper is to propose a method to assess the probability of occurrence of future LUCC that combines the inherent uncertainty of model parameterization and the ensemble uncertainty of the future based scenarios. For this purpose, we used the Land Change Modeler tool to simulate future LUCC on a study site located in the Pyrenees Mountains (France) and 2 scenarios illustratins 2 land use strategies. The model was parameterized with the same driving factors used for its calibration. The defintion of static vs. dynamic and quantitative vs. qualitative (discretized) driving factors, and their combination resulted in 4 parameterizations. The combination of model outcomes produced maps of spatial uncertainty of future LUCC. This work involves literature to future-based LUCC studies. It goes beyond the uncertainty of simulation models by integrating the unceertainty of the future to provide maps to help decision makers and land managers