New challenges for Conservar Património

The current issue sets the beginning of a new stage of the journal Conservar Património. From its genesis until issue number 31, António João Cruz and Francisca Figueira were the Editor and Associate editor of the journal. We would like to highlight their great commitment and perseverance in the odyssey of setting up a periodic journal dedicated to the con- servation of heritage within the non-profit association ARP – Associação Profissional de Conservadores-restauradores de Portugal, and of being able to raise the journal to a level of recognized relevance and prominence in both national and international contexts

Actinobacteria isolated from subterranean and cultural heritage: implications for biotechnology

Due to their extraordinary properties, Actinobacteria can thrive in extreme environments, such as limestone caves, lava tubes and stone monuments. They grow forming microbial mats and speleothems on the walls and ceilings of caves, ranging from extensive coatings to small colonies (Riquelme et al. 2015). Their colour includes yellow, tan, orange, grey, pink and white. Recently, we have found abundant yellow and white-coloured bacterial mats coating the cave walls and secondary mineral deposits (speleothems) of lava tubes from La Palma Island, Canary Islands, Spain (Gonzalez-Pimentel et al. 2018) and Mount Etna in Catania (Sicily, Italy). Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) of the coloured microbial mats revealed abundant Actinobacteria-like cells, including a variety of filaments and spore structures with smooth surface ornamentation or profuse surface appendages. The DNA-/RNA-based analyses confirmed that these microbial mats are mainly composed of metabolically active Actinobacteria (Gonzalez-Pimentel et al. 2018). It is well known that Actinobacteria, mainly isolated from marine and soil ecosystems, are an important source of bioactive compounds, with Streptomyces ranking first with a huge number of bioactive secondary metabolites (Guo et al. 2015). These compounds, not only produced by Streptomyces but also by Bacillus, are very important to the industrial sector, such as pharmacology, biofuel and food industries, as well as to the conservation of stone cultural heritage, due to their antimicrobial properties (Silva et al. 2017). In the last decades, these sectors have intensified demands for exploring novel eco-friendly bioactive compounds, which stresses the need to investigate new groups of Actinobacteria from underexplored habitats. Yet, Actinobacteria from caves have not been the target of intensive screening for bioactive secondary metabolites. Hence, Actinobacterial-like microbial mats were collected and isolated from lava tubes in La Palma and Mount Etna to investigate their biotechnological potential. The screening of antimicrobial activity was based both on culture-dependent techniques using the agar diffusion assay and on metagenomics. Our study has showed that the strain Streptomyces sp. MZ0467C isolated from La Palma lava tube has antimicrobial activity against Microbacterium, Rhodococcus, Arthrobacter, Kocuria, Sphingomonas and Paenibacillus due to its ingenious adaptations and metabolic strategies to survive under extreme environmental conditions. This demonstrates that Actinobacteria from subterranean environments are promising sources of antibacterial compounds with interest for cultural heritage conservation

Biodeterioration of Roman tombs: The role of pigmented actinobacteria

Etruscan and Roman necropolises are cemeteries with different types of burial practices, which are remarkable for their magnificent mural paintings. The conservation of these paintings is difficult, mainly derived from environmental factors and the opening of the tombs to public visits. One of the most complex phenomena observed on these sites is biodeterioration. The Circular Mausoleum tomb (Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Seville, Spain) is characterized by a heavy colonization of phototrophic microorganisms on the walls and ceiling. In addition, some areas near the ceiling exhibited an important number of violet stains of unknown origin. Previously, Agarossi (1994) found similar violet stains, attributed to streptomycetes, in two Etruscan tombs. However, no data on the species involved or the chemical structure of the pigments were reported. Here we show that the violet stains observed in the Circular Mausoleum are produced by a strain of the actinobacterium Streptomyces isolated from the mortar walls, and able to synthesize the same violet pigment in the laboratory. Streptomyces parvus MC05 was identified after whole genome study by means of Next Generation Sequencing methods. Pairwise comparisons carried out for genomes of the type strain of S. parvus DSM40348T and the MC05 strain were performed using Jspecies service. While results observed for ANIb, ANIm and Tetra indexes indicated that both strains belong to the same species, the S. parvus MC05 strain differs from the DSM20348T type strain in genome size and secondary metabolites production. AntiSMASH analysis implemented for both strains showed that the S. parvus MC05, isolated from the tomb, presents the capacity of synthesize bioactive compounds which were absents in the type strain. HPLC-MS of the culture extracts from S. parvus MC05 showed the production of three main granaticin derivatives (dihydrogranaticin A, granaticin A and granaticin B) in addition to minor products of other granaticin analogues. Granaticin pigments exhibited antibacterial activity, which justified the low number of clones of Gram positive bacteria found in the whole microbial community study. Gram negative bacteria were not affected (Dominguez-Moñino et al. 2017). To conclude, the origin of the violet stains in the walls of the Circular Mausoleum is the presence of S. parvus MC05, a member of the complex microbial community thriving on the tomb. In growing periods (rainy season) the bacterium excretes the soluble violet granaticins, compounds with a benzoisochromanequinone structure, which diffuses to the mortar and surrounding substrata in wetting periods

Production of biochars from crop residues for the remediation of trace elements contaminated soils

Biochar is the solid material obtained from thermochemical conversion of biomass under oxygen-limited conditions (pyrolysis), which can be applied as soil ameliorant [1]. In general, biochar properties are very heterogeneous due to the diverse pyrolytic conditions and the wide variety of organic residues used as feedstock [2,3]. This study intends to discern the relationship between feedstock, pyrolysis conditions and biochar properties with the goal of producing biochar with a high potential for the stabilization of trace elements in contaminated soils. For that purpose, biochars were produced using four different feedstock (rice husk, pruned olive trees, olive pit and “alperujo”, a byproduct of olive oil production) and two contrasting pyrolysis systems: a batch reactor (temperature ranged from 350 to 600 ºC; reaction time from 0.5 to 4 h under N2 atmosphere with a heating and cooling rate of XY K s-1) and a continuously feed reactor with a screw conveyor (Pyreka reactor; 500 ºC, residence time 12 min and N2 flux). Biochars were characterized by determining their pH, water holding capacity (WHC), elemental composition (C, H, N), ash content, internal structure by micro-computed tomography and chemical composition by field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. To complete the characterization, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area (SSABET; N2 adsorptive) and solid-state 13C-NMR spectroscopy were performed. Biochars produced in the batch reactor showed that pH, WHC, TC, SSABET, ash content and aromaticity increased with temperature and reaction time. Rice husk biochars showed the highest WHC (> 100%), while olive pit biochars the lowest ones. Rice husk and olive pit biochars had the highest aromaticity (between 75 and 91% of aryl carbon). The H/Cat ratio decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperature, which suggests an increase in the condensation degree of the aromatic structures. SSABET surface area ranged from 20 to 100 m2 g-1 and increased with temperature. Biochars produced in the batch reactor resulted in greater SSA values than Pyreka biochars. The pyrolysis conditions of 500 ºC and 2 h at the batch reactor resulted in similar biochars than those produced by the Pyreka reactor at 500 ºC and 12 min. Taking into account the necessity of applying biochar to soil for remediation purposes, we selected those biochars of high stability (ratio H/Cat ≤ 0.7 & high aromaticity by 13C NMR spectroscopy), great capacity for the sorption and stabilization of trace elements2 (SSABET ≥ 100 m2g-1; pH ≥9) and good potential to act as soil amendment (high WHC). The pyrolysis conditions finally selected were 500 ºC and 2 hours for the steel-batch reactor and 500 ºC and 12 min for the continuous reactor. At these conditions, rice husk biochars showed the most appropriate characteristics to be used as soil amendment for trace-elements contaminated soils

Novel Electron Spectroscopy of Tenuously and Weakly Bound Negative Ions

A novel method is proposed that uses very slow electron elastic collisions with atoms to identify their presence through the observation of tenuously bound (electron impact energy, E<0.1 eV) and weakly bound (E<1 eV) negative ions, formed as Regge resonances during the collisions.Comment: 4pages, 3figure

The BIOMEX experiment on-board the International Space Station: limits of life and detection of biomarkers after exposure to space- and to Mars-like conditions

To explore the limits of terrestrial life in space, we have to understand the effects of the space environment on unprotected biological and chemical material, and on the degradation of organic molecules or biomarkers. The exposure platform EXPOSE-R2 on the ISS offer a suitable facility for the exposure of samples of the astrobiological model lichen Circinaria gyrosa, included in the BIOMEX experiment (Biology and Mars Experiment, ESA). During 18 months (2014-2016), the lichens lived in a latent state at space and at simulated Mars-like conditions, to study Mars’ habitability and resistance to space conditions. After the return of the samples in June 2016, initial analysis showed rapid recovery of photosystem II (PSII) activity in the samples exposed exclusively to space vacuum and to Mars-like atmosphere. In contrast, the samples directly exposed to solar UV radiation showed a slow and a lower recovery, in reference to their observed original activity. This tendency was corroborated with the complementary morphological/ultrastructural and biomolecular analyses. Complementary, the biogeochemical variations have been examined with Raman spectroscopy to assess the possible degradation of cell surfaces and pigments which were in contact with terrestrial rocks, and Martian analogue regolith. Identification of the biomarker whewellite (calcium oxalate) and other organic compounds and mineral products of the biological activity of Circinaria gyrosa were detected by Raman Laser. These findings contribute to answer questions on the habitability of Mars, the likelihood of the Lithopanspermia Hypothesis, the capability to detect biomolecules exposed to an extraterrestrial environment by life-detection instruments and will be of relevance for planetary protection issues

The BIOMEX Experiment on-board the International Space Station: Biomolecular- and Bio-geochemical changes of lichens exposed to space- and to Mars-like conditions

Exploration of the solar system is a priority research area of the AstRoMap European Astrobiology Roadmap (Horneck et al., 2015) [1], focused on various research topics, one of them is “Life and Habitability” and an other one is “Biomarkers for easy the detection of life”. Therefore “space platforms and laboratories” are necessary, such as EXPOSE, to gain more knowledment of space- and extraterrestrial habitats, eventually for human interplanetary exploration (Space, Moon, Mars, Encedalus, Titan, Europa). At the exposure platform EXPOSE-R2 on ISS (2014-2016), samples of the astrobiological model system Circinaria gyrosa gyrosa [3,4,5,6], belonging to the BIOMEX experiment [2], (Biology and Mars Experiment, ESA), were exposed during 18 months to space and to a Mars simulated environment, to study Mars habitability and resistance to space conditions. The data obtained by the investigation on biomarkers after being exposed to Mars-like conditions will support the analysis of data obtained during future instrumental detection operations in future space missions on Mars (i.e. ExoMars). After the return of the samples in June 2016, the first preliminary analysis showed a quick and complete recovery of metabolic activity of the control samples exposed to space vacuum and Mars-like atmosphere. In contrast, the samples directly exposed to extraterrestrial UV solar radiation showed slow recovery, in reference to their observed original activity. Here we expose the last results that show the biomolecular changes of the DNA analized by PCR and complementary sequencing techniques, in correlation with the previous results supporting changes in metabolic activity, and changes in viability (Electron- and fluorescence microscopy techniques), as well as in morphology/ultrastructure due to space vacuum and Mars atmosphere. Additionaly, the biogeochemical variations have been examined with spectroscopic analyses (Raman) to look for possible degradation of cell surfaces and pigments which were in contact with terrestrial rocks, and Martian analogue regolith. Moreover, differences were observed between samples irradiated with extraterrestrial UV solar radiation and samples positioned below defined as dark-control samples. These experiments will contribute to answer questions on the habitability of Mars, on the likelihood of the Lithopanspermia Hypothesis and will be of relevance for planetary protection issues

Future and potential spending on health 2015-40: Development assistance for health, and government, prepaid private, and out-of-pocket health spending in 184 countries

Background: The amount of resources, particularly prepaid resources, available for health can affect access to health care and health outcomes. Although health spending tends to increase with economic development, tremendous variation exists among health financing systems. Estimates of future spending can be beneficial for policy makers and planners, and can identify financing gaps. In this study, we estimate future gross domestic product (GDP), all-sector government spending, and health spending disaggregated by source, and we compare expected future spending to potential future spending. Methods: We extracted GDP, government spending in 184 countries from 1980-2015, and health spend data from 1995-2014. We used a series of ensemble models to estimate future GDP, all-sector government spending, development assistance for health, and government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid private health spending through 2040. We used frontier analyses to identify patterns exhibited by the countries that dedicate the most funding to health, and used these frontiers to estimate potential health spending for each low-income or middle-income country. All estimates are inflation and purchasing power adjusted. Findings: We estimated that global spending on health will increase from US$9.21 trillion in 2014 to$24.24 trillion (uncertainty interval [UI] 20.47-29.72) in 2040. We expect per capita health spending to increase fastest in upper-middle-income countries, at 5.3% (UI 4.1-6.8) per year. This growth is driven by continued growth in GDP, government spending, and government health spending. Lower-middle income countries are expected to grow at 4.2% (3.8-4.9). High-income countries are expected to grow at 2.1% (UI 1.8-2.4) and low-income countries are expected to grow at 1.8% (1.0-2.8). Despite this growth, health spending per capita in low-income countries is expected to remain low, at $154 (UI 133-181) per capita in 2030 and$195 (157-258) per capita in 2040. Increases in national health spending to reach the level of the countries who spend the most on health, relative to their level of economic development, would mean $321 (157-258) per capita was available for health in 2040 in low-income countries. Interpretation: Health spending is associated with economic development but past trends and relationships suggest that spending will remain variable, and low in some low-resource settings. Policy change could lead to increased health spending, although for the poorest countries external support might remain essential

Prospects for e+e- physics at Frascati between the phi and the psi

We present a detailed study, done in the framework of the INFN 2006 Roadmap, of the prospects for e+e- physics at the Frascati National Laboratories. The physics case for an e+e- collider running at high luminosity at the phi resonance energy and also reaching a maximum center of mass energy of 2.5 GeV is discussed, together with the specific aspects of a very high luminosity tau-charm factory. Subjects connected to Kaon decay physics are not discussed here, being part of another INFN Roadmap working group. The significance of the project and the impact on INFN are also discussed. All the documentation related to the activities of the working group can be found in http://www.roma1.infn.it/people/bini/roadmap.html.Comment: INFN Roadmap Report: 86 pages, 25 figures, 9 table

Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO-Virgo Run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC-2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: A generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society