Polyhydroxybutyrate Production from the Macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae: Effect of Hydrothermal Acid Pretreatment

This study focuses on mitigating the socio-economic and environmental damage of the invasive macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae and counteracting the pollution from petroleum-based plastics by using the alga as a feedstock for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production. The enzymatic hydrolysis of R. okamurae, non-pretreated and hydrothermally acid-pretreated (0.2 N HCl, 15 min), was carried out, reaching reducing sugar (RS) concentrations of 10.7 g/L and 21.7 g/L, respectively. The hydrolysates obtained were used as a culture medium for PHB production with Cupriavidus necator, a Gram-negative soil bacterium, without supplementation with any external carbon and nitrogen sources. The highest yield (0.774 g PHB/g RS) and biopolymer accumulation percentage (89.8% cell dry weight, CDW) were achieved with hydrolysates from pretreated macroalga, reaching values comparable to the highest reported in the literature. Hence, it can be concluded that hydrolysates obtained from algal biomass hydrothermally pretreated with acid have a concentration of sugars and a C/N ratio that favour PHB production

Procedimientos innovadores utilizados en las prácticas externas para el desarrollo de la identidad profesional

Las prácticas profesionales externas constituyen un momento clave en el proceso de desarrollo y afianzamiento de la identidad profesional del futuro profesional de la educación social. La investigación realizada, centrada en la asignatura de Prácticas Profesionales III del Grado de Educación Social de la UNED, pretende determinar la influencia que la introducción de técnicas e instrumentos cualitativos durante la realización de éstas, ejerce en la identidad profesional de los estudiantes. Así, mediante una metodología mixta, los resultados obtenidos en la investigación efectuada durante el curso 2016-17 evidencian que la utilización de la autobiografía, grupos de discusión y cuestionarios de valoración de la práctica durante la estancia en la institución de prácticas, facilitan la reflexión de los propios estudiantes y la toma de conciencia sobre su avance formativo, aspectos que inciden directamente en la adquisición y reforzamiento de su identidad profesional desde tres dimensiones: la autoimagen, la misión social y el compromiso ético con la profesión

Components of dental clinic patient loyalty as perceived by the dentist

The dental clinic market has been subject to different changes while have led to the development of a new business model for the sector. These changes have been the great increase in the number of dentists, new business models, the demand of new services, churn patients, among others. With the purpose of stopping patient churn, the main objective of this research is to investigate the perception that the dentist has of the behavior of Loyal Patient (LP) and Non-loyal Patient (NLP) in dental clinics. The study analyzes the data obtained from a survey collected among 220 Spanish dentists who were active during 2012. The main findings obtained from the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) are: (i) the dentist perceives that the behavior of the LP is driven by three components: "Same dental clinic and recommendation", "Patient willingness" and "Low sensitivity to prices"; (ii) the dentist perceives that the behavior of the NLP is driven by three components: "High sensitivity to prices", "High churn and few recommendation" and "Less visits". This study allow to understand patient loyalty in dental clinics by a holistic approach, evaluating the dentist's perception; at the same time, it helps in decreasing negative bias in the dentist in order not to condition their professional behavior when a new patient arrives at the clinic

Rugulopteryx okamurae: Effect of hydrothermal acid pretreatment on the saccharification process

The biological invasion caused by the invasive macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae is causing increasing concern in southern Europe. To reduce its impact, this brown alga can be treated from a biorefinery approach. In this study, the macroalga is used as raw material to obtain fermentable sugars, which can be converted into high-value-added products. The alga was exposed to hydrothermal and hydrothermal acid pretreatment and the pretreated biomass was used for enzymatic hydrolysis, achieving a hydrolysate with a reducing sugar concentration of almost 25 g/L (49.2% more than with non-pretreated alga). In addition, the combined severity factor was calculated to identify the best pretreatment conditions, finding the optimum in those pretreatments performed with 0.2 N HCl concentration and 15 min reaction time. Based on the results, it would be interesting to carry out new studies using the saccharified medium obtained under optimal conditions to obtain value-added compounds by fermentation

Rugulopteryx okamurae: Assessment of its potential as a source of monosaccharides for obtaining bio-products

Beach-cast seaweed of the invasive brown macroalga Rugulopteryx okamurae was used in this study as raw material to obtain fermentable sugars, which can be converted into high added-value products. The dietary fibre composition of this macroalgae was determined and compared to other brown and red macroalgae, showing one of the highest proportions of dietary fibre (27.3 %) and cellulose (13.6 %). Therefore, the enzymatic hydrolysis of R. okamurae could lead to obtaining hydrolysates with a high concentration of reducing sugars. The main hydrolysis variables (biomass loading, enzyme dose and stirring rates) and the operation mode (fed-batch versus batch) were evaluated to maximize the sugar concentration. Thus, a maximum total reducing sugar concentration of 13.7 g/L was obtained at the optimum conditions: biomass loading of 10 % (w/v), 50 FPU/g biomass, 250 rpm and operating in batch mode. In addition, a kinetic model has been developed to describe the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass. The model, unlike first-order kinetics, includes a specific term considering the enzyme diffusion through the solid biomass. The proposed kinetic model leads to better fitting of experimental data than the first-order model, especially for long incubation times

Realidad aumentada: laboratorios virtuales como tecnología emergente para el aprendizaje de los estados de agregación de la materia

This work is the result of a reflection about the benefits brought by emerging technologies, particularly augmented reality (ar), which is addressed as a didactic tool for teaching the water cycle in a group of 40 ninth-grade students from the Rafael Bernal Jiménez district school in Bogotá. During the implementation, the concepts related to the states of matter were studied from virtual laboratories (lv); the students were organized into groups according to the number of tablets (10) provided by the school to project the different models designed for the proper development of the topic proposed. The methodological design was carried out in the following stages: (1) documentary review on RA and lv; (2) didactic interventions in the classroom, delving deeper into the subject of the water cycle; (3) implementation of a virtual laboratory designed through the Unity platform version 5.4, consisting of four markers that projected the different states of water aggregation. Finally, the results obtained were analyzed, finding that students show great interest in the innovation of this technology, as well as a good understanding of the concepts presented.Este trabajo surge a partir de la reflexión acerca de los beneficios que traen las tecnologías emergentes, entre las que se destaca la realidad aumentada (ra), la cual se aborda como herramienta didáctica para la enseñanza del ciclo de agua en un grupo de 40 estudiantes del grado 9.º del colegio distrital Rafael Bernal Jiménez de la ciudad de Bogotá. Durante la implementación se estudiaron los conceptos relacionados con los estados de agregación de la materia, desde los laboratorios virtuales (lv); los estudiantes se organizaron en grupos según el número de tabletas (10) que dispuso el colegio para proyectar los diferentes modelos diseñados para el desarrollo adecuado del tema propuesto. El diseño metodológico se llevó a cabo en las siguientes etapas: (1) revisión documental sobre ra y lv; (2) intervenciones didácticas en el aula profundizando el tema ciclo del agua; (3) implementación de un laboratorio virtual diseñado a través de la plataforma Unity versión 5.4, constituida por cuatro marcadores que proyectaban los diferentes estados de agregación del agua. Por último, se analizaron los resultados obtenidos, encontrando que los estudiantes muestran gran interés por la innovación que tiene esta tecnología, además de una buena comprensión de los conceptos expuestos

Modeling the emergence of North African Knapweed (Centaurea diluta), an increasingly troublesome weed in Spain

North African knapweed (Centaurea diluta Aiton) is an annual weed that is widespread in southern Spain and is of increasing concern in dryland cropping systems. Despite its expanding range in Spain, there is limited information on the emergence timing and pattern of this species, which is critical for developing more timely and effective management strategies. Therefore, there is a need to develop simple and reliable models to predict the timing and emergence of this annual weed under dryland conditions. A multi-location field experiment was established across Spain in 2016-2017 to assess the emergence of C. diluta. At each of 11 locations, seeds were sown in the fall, and emergence was recorded. Overall emergence averaged 39% in the first year across all sites and 11% in the second year. In both years, the main emergence flush occurred at beginning of the growing season. The three-parameter Weibull function best described seedling emergence of C. diluta. Emergence models were developed based on thermal time (TT) and hydrothermal time (HTT) and showed high predictability, as evidenced by root mean square error prediction (RMSEP) values of 10.8 and 10.7, respectively. The three cardinal points were established for TT and HHT at 0.5 ºC, 10 ºC and 35 ºC for base, optimal and ceiling temperature, while base water potential was estimated at -0.5MPa.We would like to thank Cátedra Adama and the Spanish Weed Science Society (SEMh) for providing financial support for this project. We are grateful to the many students and technicians who assisted with field work at the different experimental locations. We would like to thank the Spanish Goverment for partial funding, through project AVA 2019.020 "Advances in Technological Research in Winter Cereals: Genetic Improvement and Sustainable Management" financed with FEDER funds (80%). Also, Joel Torra acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant Ramon y Cajal RYC2018-023866-I)

Quantification of inaccurate diagnosis of COPD in primary care medicine: an analysis of the COACH clinical audit

[Background] Inaccurate diagnosis in COPD is a current problem with relevant consequences in terms of inefficient health care, which has not been thoroughly studied in primary care medicine. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the degree of inaccurate diagnosis in Primary Care in Spain and study the determinants associated with it.[Methods] The Community Assessment of COPD Health Care (COACH) study is a national, observational, randomized, non-interventional, national clinical audit aimed at evaluating clinical practice for patients with COPD in primary care medicine in Spain. For the present analysis, a correct diagnosis was evaluated based on previous exposure and airway obstruction with and without the presence of symptoms. The association of patient-level and center-level variables with inaccurate diagnosis was studied using multivariate multilevel binomial logistic regression models.[Results] During the study 4,307 cases from 63 centers were audited. The rate of inaccurate diagnosis was 82.4% (inter-regional range from 76.8% to 90.2%). Patient-related interventions associated with inaccurate diagnosis were related to active smoking, lung function evaluation, and specific therapeutic interventions. Center-level variables related to the availability of certain complementary tests and different aspects of the resources available were also associated with an inaccurate diagnosis.[Conclusions] The prevalence data for the inaccurate diagnosis of COPD in primary care medicine in Spain establishes a point of reference in the clinical management of COPD. The descriptors of the variables associated with this inaccurate diagnosis can be used to identify cases and centers in which inaccurate diagnosis is occurring considerably, thus allowing for improvement.Peer reviewe

Regulación de la actividad económica en el ámbito internacional y libertad de establecimiento. Cuestiones societarias, fiscales de derecho de la competencia, derecho privado y arbitraje

Ponencias presentadas al Seminario Español de Derecho Internacional Privado, que tuvo lugar en Barcelona, del 18 al 20 de octubre de 2017, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelon