Browsing by Author "Ferreira, R."
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- Ecophysiological traits of highly mobile large marine predators inferred from nucleic acid derived indicesPublication . Alves, Filipe; Dromby, Morgane; Baptista, Vânia; Ferreira, R.; Correia, A. M.; Weyn, M.; Valente, R.; Froufe, E.; Rosso, M.; Sousa-Pinto, I.; Dinis, A.; Dias, E.; Teodosio, M ANucleic acid-derived indices such as RNA/DNA ratios have been successfully applied as ecophysiological indicators to assess growth, nutritional condition and health status in marine organisms given that they provide a measure of tissue protein reserves, which is known to vary depending on changes in the environment. Yet, the use of these biochemical indices on highly mobile large predators is scarce. In this study, we tested the applicability of using nucleic acids to provide insights on the ecophysiological traits of two marine mammal species (common bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales) and explored potential related factors (species, sex, season, and residency pattern), using skin tissue (obtained from biopsy darts) of apparently healthy and adult free-ranging animals. Significantly higher RNA/DNA ratios were obtained for bottlenose dolphins (p < 0.001), and for visitor pilot whales when compared with resident pilot whales (p = 0.001). No significant changes were found between the sexes. Based on the percentile approach, the samples contain individuals in a general good condition (as the 10th percentile is not closer to the mean than the 75th percentile), suggesting that the studied region of Macaronesia may be considered an adequate habitat. The combination of this effective tool with genetic sexing and photographic-identification provided an overall picture of ecosystem health, and although with some limitations and still being a first approach, it has the applicability to be used in other top predators and ecosystems.
- Ethylene removal by Ag-based ZSM-5 adsorbents for the preservation of climacteric fruitsPublication . Ferreira, R.; Lopes, H.; Lourenço, J. P.; Silva, J. M.; João, I. M.; Ribeiro, M. F.; Fernandes, A.Ethylene removal is crucial for fruits and vegetables preservation because even a very low concentration (<0.1ppm) can induce ripening during storage and transportation. Ag+ exchanged ZSM-5 zeolites were investigated as adsorbents for the efficient removal of ethylene. Two ZSM-5 materials (Si/Al ratios of 15 and 40), with different amounts of Ag (up to 6 % by weight) and two compensating cations, Na+ and H+, were used for this purpose. The adsorbents were characterized by X-ray Diffraction, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and H2- TPR experiments. Their performance in ethylene adsorption was determined by the means of breakthrough curves experiments, mimicking the atmospheric conditions of industrial fruits cold storage chambers, particularly the high relative humidity levels. Results show that adsorbents are highly efficient in removing ethylene (max. 500 µmol.g-1 in the absence of water). Monovalent Ag+ species have been identified as the main contributors to the excellent performance of the different adsorbents, as they can easily interact with ethylene through strong π interaction. Moreover, statistical analysis (ANOVA) results confirmed that, in the presence of water, Ag-based ZSM-5 materials with a higher Si/Al ratio and Na+ as the charge balancing cation, i.e., those with a higher hydrophobic character, are the best adsorbents for ethylene removal.
- Ethylene removal with metals-based zeolites for climacteric fruits preservationPublication . Ferreira, R.; Lopes, H.; Fernandes, A.; Lourenço, João P.; Silva, J. M.; João, I. M.; Ribeiro, FilipaNowadays, there is a high importance of consuming fresh fruits and vegetables (F&V) in a well-balanced diet. One main issue concerning fruit preservation is ethylene molecule, a natural plant hormone that is responsible for fruits ripening and senescence. Thus, its removal from transportation and cold storage chambers is essential for industrial companies to prevent deterioration or spoilage of F&V and extend their post-harvest life [1].
- Intelligent non-invasive modeling of ultrasound-induced temperature in tissue phantomsPublication . Ferreira, R.; Ruano, M G; Ruano, AntonioRaising temperature of human cells (hyperthermia) is an ancient tool for tumor masses reduction and extinction, actually even before the existence of a molecular understanding of cancer cells. Hyperthermia is being increasingly used for patients' rehabilitation and oncological diseases' treatment but still constitutes a major driver for researching more efficient and reliable therapeutic usage aiming at outstanding patients wellbeing and socio-economic benefits. Efficient hyperthermia practice demands knowledge about the exact amount of heating required at a particular tissue location, as well as information concerning the spatial heating distribution. Both of these processes require accurate characterization. Until now, ultrasound heating treatments are being monitored by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), recognized as being capable of achieving a 0.5 degrees C/cm(3) temperature resolution [1], thereby imposing a gold standard in this field. However, one can notice that MRI-based techniques, besides the inconvenient instrumental cost, obliges the presence of a team of expert clinicians and limits the hyperthermia ultrasound treatment area due to the space restrictions of an MRI examination procedure. This article introduces a novel noninvasive modelling approach of ultrasound-induced temperature propagation in tissues, to be used as a cost effective alternative to MRI monitoring of ultrasound therapeutic techniques, achieving a maximum temperature resolution of 0.26 degrees C/cm(3), clearly inferior to the MRI gold standard resolution of 0.5 degrees C/cm(3). In order to derive the model, and avoiding painful invasive in-vivo sampling, a phantom was employed, whose composition respects the human tissues' reaction to ultrasound beams. In contrast with previous works of the authors, in the present paper we study the possibility of using b-spline neural networks (BSNN) as reliable noninvasive estimator of temperature propagation in phantoms [2,3]. The proposed methodology achieves better results than previous approaches, does not require the use of an Imaging Ultrasound transducer and, as the proposed models are piecewise polynomial models, they can be easily inverted and used in closed-loop control of therapeutic ultrasound instruments. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Non-invasive modelling of ultrasound-induced temperature in tissues: a b-splines neural network solutionPublication . Ferreira, R.; Ruano, M. Graça; Ruano, AntonioEfficient hyperthermia therapy session requires knowledge of the exact amount of heating needed at a particular tissue location and how it propagates around the area. Until now, ultrasound heating treatments are being monitored by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which, besides raising the treatment instrumental cost, requires the presence of a team of clinicians and limits the hyperthermia ultrasound treatment area due to the space restrictions of an MRI examination procedure. This paper introduces a novel non-invasive modelling approach of ultrasound-induced temperature in tissue. This comes as a cost effective alternative to MRI techniques, capable of achieving a maximum temperature resolution of 0.26 degrees C, clearly inferior to the MRI gold standard resolution of 0.5 degrees C/cm(3). Furthermore, we propose an innovative modelling methodology, where various similar models are built and are further combined through an optimization procedure, that we call neural ensemble optimization (NEO). This combination mechanism is shown to be superior to more simple schemes such as simple averages or evolutionary strategy based techniques. (C), 2016 IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All Rights reserved.