Oil spills: impacts and perspectives of treatment technologies with focus on the use of green surfactants.

Oil spills into the oceans cause irreparable damage to marine life and harms the coastal population of the affected areas. The main measures to be taken in response to an oil spill are to reduce the impact on marine life, prevent oil from reaching the shore through its recovery, and accelerate the degradation of unrecovered oil. Any environmental damage can be reduced if the spilled oil is removed from the water quickly and efficiently. Therefore, it is essential to know the treatment strategies for spilled oils. Several technologies are currently available, including booms, skimmers, in situ burning, use of adsorbents, dispersants/surfactants, and bioremediation. The selection of the type of treatment will depend not only on the effectiveness of the technique, but mainly on the type of oil, amount spilled, location, weather, and sea conditions. In this review, the characteristics of oil spills, their origin, destination, and impacts caused, including major accidents around the world, are initially addressed. Then, the main physical, chemical, and biological treatment technologies are presented, describing their advances, advantages, and drawbacks, with a focus on the use of green surfactants. These agents will be described in detail, showing the evolution of research, recent studies, patents, and commercialized products. Finally, the challenges that remain due to spills, the necessary actions, and the prospects for the development of existing treatment technologies are discussed, which must be linked to the use of combined techniques.

Production of green surfactants: market prospects

Science has greatly contributed to the advancement of technology and to the innovation of production processes and their applications. Cleaning products have become indispensable in today's world, as personal and environmental hygiene is important to all societies worldwide. Such products are used in the home, in most work environments and in the industrial sectors. Most of the detergents on the market are synthesised from petrochemical products. However, the interest in reducing the use of products harmful to human health and the environment has led to the search for detergents formulated with natural, biodegradable surfactant components of biological (plant or microbiological) origin or chemically synthesised from natural raw materials usually referred to as green surfactants. This review addresses the different types, properties, and uses of surfactants, with a focus on green surfactants, and describes the current scenario as well as the projections for the future market economy related to the production of the different types of green surfactants marketed in the world.

Avaliação eletrocardiográfica de equinos após exercício de polo (baixo handicap) / Electrocardiographic evaluation of horses after polo exercise

A eletrocardiografia pode ser usada para quantificar o treinamento e o desempenho atlético. Pode ainda avaliar a função cardíaca sob efeito do exercício identificando a influência de anomalias cardíacas, assim como os efeitos deletérios do esforço frente à função cardíaca. Considerando a complexidade do esforço físico inerente a cavalos em competições de polo, juntamente com a carência de relatos na literatura sobre a demanda cardíaca resultante. O objetivo deste estudo foi o de identificar e avaliar eletrocardiograficamente os efeitos cardíacos do exercício de polo em equinos de forma a subsidiar dados para a compreensão da demanda fisiológica cardíaca desta modalidade. Foram avaliados 27 equinos praticante de polo em repouso e entre cinco e dez minutos após o exercício. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que as alterações observadas na duração e amplitude da onda P e duração do intervalo PR e QT foram consideradas fisiológicas em resposta ao aumento da frequência cardíaca. A onda P difásica encontrada em repouso representou hipertrofia atrial e quando bífida representou diferentes pontos de ativação do nó sinoatrial. Como esperado o complexo QRS não sofreu alterações consideráveis entre os dois momentos. O supradesnível do segmento ST e as variações da onda T observadas após o exercício poderiam representar efeito adverso ao miocárdio, entretanto estudos analisando múltiplos fatores são necessários para confirmar esta associação e definir sua real causa. O aumento do QTc sugeriu fadiga miocárdica leve representando alta demanda cardíaca para esta modalidade. O escore cardíaco demonstrou que estes animais estavam dentro do padrão de adaptação cardíaca para um cavalo atleta. A rápida recuperação cardíaca demonstrou bom condicionamento atlético. O marca-passo atrial mutável foi um achado normal encontrado nos equinos de polo. Foi observada baixa incidência de alterações no ritmo cardíaco.(AU)

Electrocardiography can be used to quantify the training and athletic performance as well as evaluating the cardiac function under the effect of exercise identifying the influence of cardiac anomalies, and deleterious effects of stress ahead of heart function. Considering the complexity of the physical efforts inherent in polo ponies in competitions, together with the lack of reports in the literature, on the demand resulting for heart. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate the cardiac effects of electrocardiographic exercise in polo horses in order to support data for understanding the physiological cardiac demand of this sport. We evaluated 27 equine practitioner polo at rest and between five and ten minutes after exercise. The results showed that the observed changes in the duration and P wave amplitude and duration of PR and QT interval were considered in physiological response to increased heart rate. The diphasic P wave found at rest and when atrial hypertrophy represented bifida represented different points of activation of the sinoatrial node. As expected, the QRS complex has not undergone major changes. The ST-segment elevation and T wave changes observed after exercise could pose adverse effects to the myocardium, but studies examining multiple factors are needed to confirm this association and define your actual question. The increase in QTc suggested fatigue mild myocardial represented high heart demand for this type of exercise. The heart score showed that these animals were within the pattern of cardiac adaptation to a horse athlete. The rapid recovery of HR showed good conditioning of these animals. The pacemaker migration was observed in most animals proven to be a normal finding horse athlete. We observed a low incidence of changes in cardiac rhythm.(AU)

Avaliação ecocardiográfica de equinos após exercício de polo / Echocardiographic evaluation of horses after exercise polo

Considerando a complexidade do esforço físico inerente a cavalos em competições de polo e da carência de relatos na literatura sobre os efeitos cardíacos resultantes de um chukker, associado ainda a dinâmica do peso, o objetivo deste estudo foi de avaliar por meio da ecocardiografia, 27 equinos atletas de polo, submetidos à partida treino, em repouso e após o exercício. Os resultados demonstraram que esta modalidade alterou diversos índices ecocardiográfico no período de cinco a dez minutos do término de um chukker. Foram eles, estruturais com: redução da espessura do septo interventricular e parede livre do ventrículo esquerdo e aumento do diâmetro interno do ventrículo esquerdo em sístole, e funcionais como: aumento do débito cardíaco e frequência cardíaca, enquanto que o volume sistólico, a fração de encurtamento e a fração de ejeção reduziram. A perda de peso corporal não foi significativa, portanto não foi associado às alterações ecocardiográficas. Estes resultados sugeriram que a demanda cardíaca foi alta, indicando a importância de um acompanhamento físico e treinamento cardiovascular específico para esta modalidade.

Considering the complexity of the physical effort inherent in polo horses in competitions and the lack of reports about the cardiovascular effects resulting from a Chukker, yet the dynamics of the associated weight, the aim of this study was to evaluate by echocardiography with 27 horses polo athletes who underwent training starting at rest and after exercise. The results showed that this method has changed several echocardiographic indexes within five to ten minutes before the end of a Chukker. It was they, as structural index, thickness reduction interventricular septum and left ventricular free wall and increased left ventricular diameter, and functional as an increase in cardiac output and heart rate, while stroke volume, fractional shortening and ejection fraction reduced. The weight loss was not significant, so was not associated with echocardiographic changes. These results suggest that cardiac demand was high, indicating the importance of the physical and cardiovascular training specific to this modality.

Construction and assessment of reaction models of class I EPSP synthase: molecular docking and density functional theoretical calculations.

The high frequency of contamination by herbicides suggests the need for more active and selective herbicides. Glyphosate is the active component of one of the top-selling herbicides, which is also a potent EPSP synthase inhibitor. That is a key enzyme in the shikimic acid pathway, which is found only in plants and some microorganisms. Thus, EPSP synthase is regarded as a prime target for herbicides. In this line, molecular modeling studies using molecular dynamics simulations and DFT techniques were performed to understand the interaction of glyphosate and its analogs with the wild type enzyme and Gly96Ala mutant EPSP synthase. In addition, we investigated the reaction mechanism of the natural substrate. Our findings indicate some key points to the design of new selective glyphosate derivates.

Homology modeling of wild-type, D516V, and H526L Mycobacterium tuberculosis RNA polymerase and their molecular docking study with inhibitors.

Rifamicyns (Rifs) are antibiotic widely used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB); nevertheless, their efficacy has been limited by a high percentage of mutations, principally in the rpoB gene. In this work, the first three-dimensional molecular model of the hypothetical structures for the wild-type and D516V and H526L mutants of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (mtRNAP) were elucidated by a homology modeling method. In addition, the orientations and binding affinities of some Rifs with those new structures were investigated. Our findings could be helpful for the design of new more potent rifamycin analogs.

Targeting inhibition of COX-2: a review of patents, 2002-2006.

The main COX inhibitors are the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs exert anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects through the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis by blocking COX activity. Currently two COX isoenzymes are known, COX-1 and COX-2. Prostaglandins influenced by COX-1 maintain the integrity of the gastric mucosa. On the other hand, prostaglandins influenced by COX-2 mediate the inflammatory process. The common anti-inflammatory drugs (like aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen) all act by blocking the action of both the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. The COX-2 inhibitors represent a new class of drugs that do not affect COX-1, but selectively block COX-2. This selective action provides the benefits of reducing inflammation without irritating the stomach. This review will focus on the most recent developments published in the field, paying particular attention to promising COX-2 inhibitors, their chemistry and biological evaluation, and to new chemical and pharmaceutical processes. Moreover, we will discuss recent patents of structural analogs of the COX-2 inhibitors celecoxib and valdecoxib, and novel potential pyridazine, triazole, indole, thione derivatives as a future target for the treatment of inflammation, pain and other diseases.