Effect of alkali and membrane area on the simultaneous recovery of nitrogen and phosphorous from digestate by membrane technology and chemical precipitation

Producción CientíficaNutrient recovery from the agri-food sector waste is an increasingly recognized option within the framework of the bioeconomy. Membrane technologies and chemical precipitation are among the best valued options for their economic and practical feasibility. In this study, the combination of gas-permeable membrane (GPM) technology for the recovery of nitrogen (N) and the chemical precipitation for phosphorous (P) recovery from anaerobically digested swine manure is evaluated. This work studies the effect of the membrane area and the addition of alkali on N and P recovery efficiencies. Specifically, two different membrane area ratios (180 and 100 g of N per m2 of membrane) with and without the addition of alkali were studied. High nutrient recovery efficiencies, of 77% for N and 80% for P, were obtained after 10 days of experiment with a ratio of 180 g N per m2 of GPM and the addition of NaOH (1.5 N), along with the precipitant agent (MgCl2) for P precipitation. Hence, a combined configuration was proposed to perform an effective simultaneous recovery of N and P with the minimum amount of membrane needed in a short time.Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria (INIA), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y Agencia Española de Investigación (AEI) - (project PID2019-106148RR-C41)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) y Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) - (Projects RTA2015- 00060-C04-01 and PID2019-106148RR-C41)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) - (grant BES-2017- 082327)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) - (grant RYC-2020-029030-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Comparison of the ammonia trapping performance of different gas-permeable tubular membrane system configurations

The technology of gas-permeable tubular membranes (GPMs) is promising in reducing ammonia emissions from livestock manure, capturing NH3 in an acidic solution, and obtaining final products suitable for valorization as fertilizers, in line with the principles of the circular economy. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of several e-PTFE membrane systems with different configurations for the recovery of NH3 released from pig slurry. Ten different configurations were tested: only a submerged membrane, only a suspended membrane in the same chamber, only a suspended membrane in an annex chamber, a submerged membrane + a suspended membrane in the same chamber, and a submerged membrane + a suspended membrane in an annex chamber, considering in each case the scenarios without and with agitation and aeration of the slurry. In all tests, sulfuric acid (1N H2SO4) was used as the NH3 capture solution, which circulated at a flow rate of 2.1 L·h−1. The results showed that NH3-N removal rates ranged from 36–39% (for systems with a single submerged or suspended membrane without agitation or aeration of the slurry) to 70–72% for submerged + suspended GPM systems with agitation and aeration. In turn, NH3-N recovery rates were found to be between 44–54% (for systems with a single membrane suspended in an annex compartment) and 88–91% (for systems based on a single submerged membrane). However, when choosing a system for farm deployment, it is essential to consider not only the capture and recovery performance of the system, but also the investment and operating costs (ranging from 9.8 to 21.2 €/kg N recovered depending on the selected configuration). The overall assessment suggests that the simplest systems, based on a single membrane, may be the most recommendable

Wild Edible Plants of Andalusia: Traditional Uses and Potential of Eating Wild in a Highly Diverse Region

A review of ethnobotanical sources focused on traditionally-used wild food plants in Andalusia (southern Spain), one of the most biodiverse regions in Europe, is carried out. With 21 original sources plus some previously unpublished data, the dataset shows a high diversity of these traditional resources, reaching 336 species or c. 7% of the total wild flora. Cultural aspects related to the use of some species are discussed and data are compared with similar works. The results are discussed through the lens of conservation and bromatology. For 24% of the edible plants, informants also mentioned a medicinal use (achieved by consuming the same part of the plant). In addition, a list of 166 potentially edible species is provided based on a review of data from other Spanish territorie

SPECIFICATION OF A BUSINESS TRAINING MODEL USING THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM BEFORE COVID-19

Since its inception, the Internet has been a hegemonic factor in academic and professional training, although its use as a tool for information processing has not even been explored. In this sense, the objective of this work was to establish the reliability and validity of an instrument that measured the perception of Internet use. A non-experimental work was carried out with a non-probabilistic selection of 340 students from a public university in central Mexico. The results show a total percentage of variance explained by two perceptual dimensions that allude to the search and selection of information, although the type of design limited the results to the research scenario, suggesting the inclusion of factors related to the beliefs of use of Internet and the provisions as determinants of intentions and the use of digital networks

Chloroplast redox homeostasis is essential for lateral root formation in Arabidopsis

Redox regulation based on dithiol-disulphide interchange is an essential component of the control of chloroplast metabolism. In contrast to heterotrophic organisms, and non-photosynthetic plant tissues, chloroplast redox regulation relies on ferredoxin (Fd) reduced by the photosynthetic electron transport chain, thus being highly dependent on light. The finding of the NADPH-dependent thioredoxin reductase C (NTRC), a chloroplast-localized NTR with a joint thioredoxin domain, showed that NADPH is also used as source of reducing power for chloroplast redox homeostasis. Recently we have found that NTRC is also in plastids of non-photosynthetic tissues. Because these non-green plastids lack photochemical reactions, their redox homeostasis depends exclusively on NADPH produced from sugars and, thus, NTRC may play an essential role maintaining the redox homeostasis in these plastids. The fact that redox regulation occurs in any type of plastids raises the possibility that the functions of chloroplasts and non-green plastids, such as amyloplasts, are integrated to harmonize the growth of the different organs of the plant. To address this question, we generated Arabidopsis plants the redox homeostasis of which is recovered exclusively in chloroplasts, by leaf-specific expression of NTRC in the ntrc mutant, or exclusively in amyloplasts, by root-specific expression of NTRC. The analysis of these plants suggests that chloroplasts exert a pivotal role on plant growth, as expected because chloroplasts constitute the major source of nutrients and energy, derived from photosynthesis, for growth of heterotrophic tissues. However, NTRC deficiency causes impairment of auxin synthesis and lateral root formation. Interestingly, recovery of redox homeostasis of chloroplasts, but not of amyloplasts, was sufficient to restore wild type levels of lateral roots, showing the important signalling function of chloroplasts for the development of heterotrophic organs.España MINECO BIO2010-15430Junta de Andalucía BIO-182 and CVI-591

La creación artística en adolescentes con altas capacidades y el uso integrado de los dispositivos móviles

Este estudio de investigación participa de un proceso comunicativo y colaborativo entre los protagonistas de este estudio, alumnos de altas capacidades, y otros agentes implicados: padres, docentes universitarios, profesores de educación primaria y secundaria, coordinadores de mentorías universitarias, y expertos de la Junta de Andalucía y la Universidad de Cádiz. La superdotación, concepto utilizado por primera vez en 1972 por Whipple, con intención de nombrar a los niños con una capacidad superior a lo normal y las teorías que han desarrollado este modelo, han mostrado el abanico de características y rasgos que presentan los aprendizajes de estas personas y su interacción entre ellas. Las más destacadas, a juicio de la comunidad científica, serían: habilidad general y/o habilidad específica por encima de la media poblacional; altos niveles de compromiso con la tarea y de creatividad. La investigación se ha llevado a cabo con 13 jóvenes adolescentes con edades entre 8 y 16 años; representa una actividad planificada y guiada por propósitos y fines determinados por el tiempo y el espacio con la intención de entender las realidades que se estudian caracterizadas por los intercambios e interacciones de los protagonistas, alumnos y alumnas de altas capacidades. La metodología utilizada ha sido cualitativa, de tipo observacional y descriptiva basada en el estudio de procesos creativos interdisciplinares y su praxis. Hemos conseguido acercarnos a la realidad social de estos niños, escuchar, interpretar y comprender sus vivencias, formas de actuar, decisiones, dificultades, opiniones y entender sus experiencias tal como se producen en el contexto

Metabolic control of tobacco pollination by sugars and invertases

Pollination in flowering plants is initiated by germination of pollen grains on stigmas followed by fast growth of pollen tubes representing highly energy-consuming processes. The symplastic isolation of pollen grains and tubes requires import of Suc available in the apoplast. We show that the functional coupling of Suc cleavage by invertases and uptake of the released hexoses by monosaccharide transporters are critical for pollination in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Transcript profiling, in situ hybridization, and immunolocalization of extracellular invertases and two monosaccharide transporters in vitro and in vivo support the functional coupling in supplying carbohydrates for pollen germination and tube growth evidenced by spatiotemporally coordinated expression. Detection of vacuolar invertases in maternal tissues by these approaches revealed metabolic cross talk between male and female tissues and supported the requirement for carbohydrate supply in transmitting tissue during pollination. Tissue-specific expression of an invertase inhibitor and addition of the chemical invertase inhibitor miglitol strongly reduced extracellular invertase activity and impaired pollen germination. Measurements of (competitive) uptake of labeled sugars identified two import pathways for exogenously available Suc into the germinating pollen operating in parallel: direct Suc uptake and via the hexoses after cleavage by extracellular invertase. Reduction of extracellular invertase activity in pollen decreases Suc uptake and severely compromises pollen germination. We further demonstrate that Glc as sole carbon source is sufficient for pollen germination, whereas Suc is supporting tube growth, revealing an important regulatory role of both the invertase substrate and products contributing to a potential metabolic and signaling-based multilayer regulation of pollination by carbohydrate

NADPH thioredoxin reductase C is localized in plastids of photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic tissues and is involved in lateral root formation in Arabidopsis

Plastids are organelles present in photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic plant tissues. While it is well known that thioredoxin-dependent redox regulation is essential for leaf chloroplast function, little is known of the redox regulation in plastids of nonphotosynthetic tissues, which cannot use light as a direct source of reducing power. Thus, the question remains whether redox regulation operates in nonphotosynthetic plastid function and how it is integrated with chloroplasts for plant growth. Here, we show that NADPH-thioredoxin reductase C (NTRC), previously reported as exclusive to green tissues, is also expressed in nonphotosynthetic tissues of Arabidopsis thaliana, where it is localized to plastids. Moreover, we show that NTRC is involved in maintaining the redox homeostasis of plastids also in nonphotosynthetic organs. To test the relationship between plastids of photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic tissues, transgenic plants were obtained with redox homeostasis restituted exclusively in leaves or in roots, through the expression of NTRC under the control of organspecific promoters in the ntrc mutant. Our results show that fully functional root amyloplasts are not sufficient for root, or leaf, growth, but fully functional chloroplasts are necessary and sufficient to support wild-type rates of root growth and lateral root formation. © 2012 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.España, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2010-15430Junta de Andalucía BIO-182 and CVI-591

Using an Ontology-based Approach to Build Open Assisting Tools in Foreign Language Writing

[EN] In today’s globalised world where there is a growing need for international communication, non-native speakers (NNS) from a wide range of professional fields are increasingly called upon to write specialised texts in English. More often than not, however, the linguistic competence required to do so is well beyond that of the majority of NNS. While software applications can serve to assist NNS in their English writing tasks, most of the applications available are designed for users of English for general purposes as opposed to English for professional purposes. Therefore, these applications lack the specific vocabulary, style guidelines and common structures required in more specialised documents. Necessary modifications to meet the needs of English for professional purposes tend to be viewed as representing an overly complex and expensive task. To overcome these challenges, we present a software called O-WEAA (Ontology-Writing English Assistant Architecture) which makes use of an ontology that represents the knowledge which, according to our formalisation, is required to write most types of specialised professional documents in the English language. Our formalisation of the required knowledge is based on an exhaustive linguistic analysis of several written genres. The proposed software is composed of two parts: i) a web application named Acquisition Interface Module, which allows experts to populate the ontology with new data and ii) a userfriendly, general web interface named Writing Assistant Interface Module which guides the user throughout the writing process of the English document in the specific domain described in the ontology.S