Evaluation of biostimulation, bioaugmentation, and organic amendments application on the bioremediation of recalcitrant hydrocarbons of soil

In the present work, the operational conditions for improving the degradation rates of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) in contaminated soil from a machinery park were optimized at a microcosms scale along a 90- days incubation period. In this study, bioremediation strategies and an organic amendment have been tested to verify the remediation of soil contaminated with different hydrocarbons, mineral oils, and heavy metals. Specifically, designed biostimulation and bioaugmentation strategies were compared with and without adding vermicompost. The polluted soil harboring multiple contaminants, partially attenuated for years, was used. The initial profile showed enrichment in heavy linear alkanes, suggesting a previous moderate weathering. The application of vermicompost increased five and two times the amounts of available phosphorus (P) and exchangeable potassium (K), respectively, as a direct consequence of the organic amendment addition. The microbial activity increased due to soil acidification, which influenced the solubility of P and other micronutrients. It also impacted the predominance and variability of the different microbial groups and the incubation, as reflected by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) results. An increase in the alkaline phosphatases and proteases linked to bacterial growth was displayed. This stimulation of microbial metabolism correlated with the degradation rates since TPHs degradation’ efficiency after vermicompost addition reached 32.5% and 34.4% of the initial hydrocarbon levels for biostimulation and bioaugmentation, respectively. Although Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were less abundant in this soil, results also decreased, especially for the most abundant, the phenanthrene. Despite improving the degradation rates, results revealed that recalcitrant and hydrophobic petroleum compounds remained unchanged, indicating that mobility, linked to bioavailability, probably represents the limiting step for further soil recovery.This work is funded by the GREENER project of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 826312). S. Curiel pre-doctoral contract was funded by Junta de Castilla y Leon ´ (ORDEN EDU/1508/2020, de 15 de diciembre)

New Pragian (Lower Devonian) fossils from the Courel Mountains Global UNESCO Geopark (Lugo, NW Spain) and its geological implications

Se presentan los primeros fósiles devónicos reconocidos en el sin-clinorio del Sil (Lugo, NO de España), encontrados en rocas calcáreas incluidas en un contexto local cartografiado como pizarras ordovíci-cas, lo que sugiere la necesidad de abordar una investigación estruc-tural y estratigráfica más detallada. El yacimiento paleontológico se vincula con calizas que contienen una acumulación excepcional de dacrioconáridos aparentemente monoespecífica, un grupo fósil que se reconoce por vez primera en Galicia. La identificación de Nowa-kia cf. acuaria (Richter) permite atribuir al Pragiense el afloramiento estudiado, y correlacionarlo tentativamente con la parte más alta de la Formación Salas en sus afloramientos del extremo oriental del sinclinorio, ya en la provincial de León. Una interpretación alterna-tiva sería considerar a esta caliza como un olistolito en la base del olistostroma + flysch carbonífero de San Clodio. Atendiendo al in-terés científico de tipo paleontológico, estratigráfico y estructural, la localidad ha sido inscrita como nuevo Lugar de Interés Geológico del Geoparque Mundial de la UNESCO Montañas do CourelFor the first time, Devonian fossils are recognized in limestones of the Sil synclinorium (Lugo, NW Spain). Within this tectonic struc-ture, the outcrop was interpreted as belonging to Ordovician sha-les, although observation of Devonian strata recommended a more detailed stratigraphical and tectonic investigation of the area. The palaeontological site contains an exceptional accumulation of da-cryoconarids, apparently monospecific (Nowakia cf. acuaria (Ritch-ter)), a group never recognized before in Galicia. This species allows the attribution of these limestones to the Pragian (Lower Devonian), which are roughly correlated with the upper part of the Salas For-mation of the eastern end of the synclinorium, in León province. An alternative interpretation would be to consider this limestone block as an olistolith at the base of the Carboniferous olistostrome + flysch of San Clodio. Taking into consideration the palaeontological, strati-graphical and structural interest of the outcrop, it has been inscribed as a new Geosite of the Courel Mountains Global UNESCO Geopar

Potential use of elderberry (Sambucus nigra l.) as natural colorant and antioxidant in the food industry: a review

The food industry, in response to current consumer demand for natural and functional foods, is constantly evolving and reformulating traditional products formulations. Thus, during the last decades, multiple natural sources have been investigated to replace the need to add synthetic additives. In addition, the use of natural sources can also increase the nutritional quality of the food. With this in mind, elderberry is used in the food industry for certain purposes. However, its potential is much higher than the number of applications it currently has. Its high content of anthocyanins, as well as other polyphenols and vitamins, means that it can be used by the food industry both as a colorant and as an antioxidant. In addition, the incorporation of these bioactive compounds results in functional foods, with a high antioxidant capacity. Moreover, the inclusion of elderberry products in foods formulation increases their shelf-life, but the correct amount and strategy for adding elderberry to food should be studied to ensure a positive effect on nutritional and technological properties without affecting (or improving) the sensory quality of foods. Therefore, this manuscript aims to review the main bioactive compounds present in elderberries, as well as their potential uses in the food industry.The authors thank GAIN (Axencia Galega de Innovación) for supporting this review (grant number IN607A2019/01). Authors (R.D., M.P., P.E.S.M., E.M.S.L., and J.M.L.) are members of the HealthyMeat network, funded by CYTED (ref. 119RT0568). Authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to the CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). L. Barros thanks the national funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment program for her contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The prevalence and adequacy of antibiotic prescriptions in Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre

Durante o dia 30 de julho de 1987, foram estudados alguns aspectos envolvendo o uso de antibióticos no Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. De 432 pacientes internados, 182 (42%) estavam utilizando antibióticos,e destes, 42% recebiam a medicação de forma inadequada. Dos antibióticos usados terapeuticarhente, os mais prescritos foram ampicilina, penicilina, cefalosporinas e amicacina. Entre os usados profilaticamente, destacaram-se cefa/osporinas, gentamicina e ampicilina. O trabalho sugere que o controle do uso de antibióticos pode reduzir a adoção inapropriada destes agentes.On July 30th 1987 there was made a survey to evaluate the antibiotic use in the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. 432 patients were investigated and 182 (42%) were under antimicrobial therapy. This group showed 42% o f patients receiving antimicrobians inappropriately. The antibiotics most used therapeuticaly were ampicillin, penicillin, cefalosporin and amikacin. For prophylaxis the most used were cefalosporin, gentamicin and ampicillin. This paper suggests that contra/ procedures can reduce the inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents in our hospital

Predictors of Response to Exclusive Enteral Nutrition in Newly Diagnosed Crohn´s Disease in Children: PRESENCE Study from SEGHNP

Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) has been shown to be more effective than corticosteroids in achieving mucosal healing in children with Crohn´s disease (CD) without the adverse effects of these drugs. The aims of this study were to determine the efficacy of EEN in terms of inducing clinical remission in children newly diagnosed with CD, to describe the predictive factors of response to EEN and the need for treatment with biological agents during the first 12 months of the disease. We conducted an observational retrospective multicentre study that included paediatric patients newly diagnosed with CD between 2014–2016 who underwent EEN. Two hundred and twenty-two patients (140 males) from 35 paediatric centres were included, with a mean age at diagnosis of 11.6 ± 2.5 years. The median EEN duration was 8 weeks (IQR 6.6–8.5), and 184 of the patients (83%) achieved clinical remission (weighted paediatric Crohn’s Disease activity index [wPCDAI] 15 mg/L and ileal involvement tended to respond better to EEN. EEN administered for 6–8 weeks is effective for inducing clinical remission. Due to the high response rate in our series, EEN should be used as the first-line therapy in luminal paediatric Crohn’s disease regardless of the location of disease and disease activityS

Estudios en Historia Moderna desde una visión Atlántica. Libro homenaje a la trayectoria de la profesora María Inés Carzolio

Fil: Tarragó, Griselda Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Historia; Argentina.Fil: Gentinetta, Martín. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Historia; Argentina.Este libro homenaje se formula como un diálogo abierto entre grupos de investigación europeos y americanos sobre problemáticas referidas a una visión Atlántica de la proyección de los Imperios Ibéricos en la Edad Moderna. Los ejes convocantes son aquellos que a lo largo de su dilatada trayectoria en la investigación histórica ha desarrollado y publicado la Dra. María Inés Carzolio, tanto en Argentina como en el extranjero: Las raíces medievales de la Europa Moderna, las monarquías del Antiguo Régimen, la organización del espacio social y los agentes sociales en la modernidad, cuestiones sobre creencias y religiosidad, estudios urbanos y, finalmente, problemáticas en torno al campo discursivo y cultural.http://www.libros.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/index.php/libros/catalog/book/94Fil: Tarragó, Griselda Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Historia; Argentina.Fil: Gentinetta, Martín. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Escuela de Historia; Argentina.Otras Historia y Arqueologí

Validation of a histologic scoring index for C3 glomerulopathy

12 p.-4 fig.-4 tab.Rationale & objective: A previous study that evaluated associations of kidney biopsy findings with disease progression in patients with C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) proposed a prognostic histologic index (C3G-HI) that has not yet been validated. Our objective was to validate the performance of the C3G-HI in a new patient population.Study design: Multicenter, retrospective cohort study.Setting & participants: 111 patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria of C3G between January 1995 and December 2019, from 33 nephrology departments belonging to the Spanish Group for the Study of Glomerular Diseases (GLOSEN).Predictors: Demographic, clinical parameters, C3G-HI total activity score, and the C3G-HI total chronicity score.Outcome: Time to kidney failure.Analytical approach: Intraclass correlation coefficients and κ statistic were used to summarize inter-rater reproducibility for assessment of histopathology in kidney biopsies. The nonlinear relationships of risk of kidney failure with the total activity score and total chronicity score were modeled using Cox proportional hazards analysis that incorporated cubic splines.Results: The study group included 93 patients with C3 glomerulonephritis and 18 with dense-deposit disease. Participants had an overall meanage of 35±22 (SD) years. Forty-eight patients (43%) developed kidney failure after a mean follow-up of 65±27 months. The overall inter-rater reproducibility was very good for the total activity score (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]=0.63) and excellent for total chronicity score (ICC=0.89). Baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), 24-hour proteinuria, and treatment with immunosuppression were the main determinants of kidney failure in a model with only clinical variables. Only tubular atrophy and interstitial fibrosis were identified as predictors in a model with histological variables. When the total activity score and total chronicity score were added to the model, only the latter was identified as an independent predictor of kidney failure.Limitations: Only a subset of the kidney biopsies was centrally reviewed. Residual confounding.Conclusions: We validated the performance of C3G-HI as a predictor of kidney failure in patients with C3G. The total chronicity score was the principal histologic correlate of kidney failure.Work in this study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III /Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ISCIII/FEDER) grant PI16/01685 and Red de Investigación Renal (RedInRen) (RD12/0021/0029) (to MP), the Autonomous Region of Madrid (S2017/BMD-3673) (to MP); EGdeJ is supported by the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades" (RYC-2013-13395 and RTI2018-095955-B-100).Peer reviewe

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Development and validation of a nomogram to predict kidney survival at baseline in patients with C3 glomerulopathy

10 p.-4 fig.-2 tab. 1 graph. abst.Background: C3 glomerulopathy is a rare and heterogeneous complement-driven disease. It is often challenging to accurately predict in clinical practice the individual kidney prognosis at baseline. We herein sought to develop and validate a prognostic nomogram to predict long-term kidney survival.Methods: We conducted a retrospective, multicenter observational cohort study in 35 nephrology departments belonging to the Spanish Group for the Study of Glomerular Diseases. The dataset was randomly divided into a training group (n = 87) and a validation group (n = 28). The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to screen the main predictors of kidney outcome and to build the nomogram. The accuracy of the nomogram was assessed by discrimination and risk calibration in the training and validation sets.Results: The study group comprised 115 patients, of whom 46 (40%) reached kidney failure in a median follow-up of 49 months (range 24–112). No significant differences were observed in baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), proteinuria or total chronicity score of kidney biopsies, between patients in the training versus those in the validation set. The selected variables by LASSO were eGFR, proteinuria and total chronicity score. Based on a Cox model, a nomogram was developed for the prediction of kidney survival at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years from diagnosis. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.860 (95% confidence interval 0.834–0.887) and calibration plots showed optimal agreement between predicted and observed outcomes.Conclusions: We constructed and validated a practical nomogram with good discrimination and calibration to predict the risk of kidney failure in C3 glomerulopathy patients at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years.Work on this study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III / Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ISCIII/FEDER; grants PI16/01685 and PI19/1624) and Red de Investigación Renal (RD12/0021/0029; to M.P.) and the Autonomous Region of Madrid (S2017/BMD-3673; to M.P.). S.R.d.C. is supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (grant PID2019-104912RB-I00) and the Autonomous Region of Madrid (grant S2017/BMD-3673).Peer reviewe

Longitudinal change in proteinuria and kidney outcomes in C3 glomerulopathy

11 p.-4 fig.-4 tab.Introduction: The association between a change in proteinuria over time and its impact in kidney prognosis has not been analyzed in C3 glomerulopathy. This study aims to investigate the association between the longitudinal change in proteinuria and the risk of kidney failure.Methods: Retrospective, multicenter observational cohort study in 35 nephrology departments belonging to the Spanish Group for the Study of Glomerular Diseases (GLOSEN). Patients diagnosed with C3 glomerulopathy between 1995 and 2020 were enrolled. A joint modeling of linear mixed-effects models was applied to assess the underlying trajectory of a repeatedly measured proteinuria, and a Cox model to evaluate the association of this trajectory with the risk of kidney failure.Results: The study group consisted of 85 patients, 70 C3 glomerulonephritis and 15 dense deposit disease, with a median age of 26 years (range 13-41). During a median follow-up of 42 months, 25 patients reached kidney failure. The longitudinal change in proteinuria showed a strong association with the risk of this outcome, with a doubling of proteinuria levels resulting in a 2.5-fold increase of the risk. A second model showed that a ≥ 50% proteinuria reduction over time was significantly associated with a lower risk of kidney failure (HR: 0.79; 95% CI : 0.56-0.97; p < 0.001). This association was also found when the ≥50% proteinuria reduction was observed within the first 6 and 12 months of follow-up.Conclusion: The longitudinal change in proteinuria is strongly associated with the risk of kidney failure. The change in proteinuria over time can provide clinicians a dynamic prediction of kidney outcomes.This study was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ISCIII/FEDER) grant PI16/01685 and PI19/1624, and Red de Investigación Renal (RedInRen) (RD12/0021/0029) (to M.P.), the Autonomous Region of Madrid (S2017/BMD-3673) (to M.P.); E.G.d.J. was supported by the Spanish ‘Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades’ (RYC-2013-13395 and RTI2018-095955-B-100); S.R.d.C. was supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad/FEDER grant SAF2015-66287R and Autonomous Region of Madrid grant S2017/BMD3673.Peer reviewe