Multisubstrate Monod Kinetic Model for Simultaneous Degradation of Chlorophenol Mixtures

Chlorophenols (CPs) are persistent and highly toxic compounds rated as priority pollutants by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Frequently, these compounds are present as mixtures of CPs in industrial wastewaters. Therefore the study of biodegradation on mixed pollutants is an important aspect of biodegradation and wastewater treatment. In this work, we studied the multisubstrate degradation of CPs by a mixed culture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a novel Acromobacter sp. capable of using pentachlorophenol (PCP), 2,4,6 trichlorophenol (2,4,6 TCP) and 2,3,5,6 tetrachlorophenol (2,3,5,6 TeCP) as the sole sources of carbon and energy. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of substrate mixtures on the degradation kinetics of PCP. Batch experiments were conducted with each CP separately and in mixtures of PCP + 2,4,6 TCP, PCP + 2,3,5,6 TeCP, and PCP + 2,4,6 TCP + 2,3,5,6 TeCP. Based upon our results we have concluded that the simultaneous degradation of CPs is a key factor contributing to the improvement of PCP degradation. The kinetic parameters for PCP and 2,4,6 TCP were obtained by fitting the data to a Monod kinetics model. Using such parameters, the model was able to predict simultaneous multisubstrate degradation of PCP with others CPs

Degradation of chlorophenol mixtures in a fed-­batch system by two soil bacteria

This work was undertaken to investígate the effect of variations of the feed rate on a fed-batch set-up used to degrade xenobiotics. The mixture of substrates was composed of PCP, 2,4,6 TCP and 2,3,5,6 TeCP (pentachlorophenol, 2,4,6 trichlo- rophenol and 2,3,5,6 tetrachlorophenol respectively). Two acclimated bacteria isolated from soil were used: Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Achromobacter sp. nov. The different flow rates tested were: I: 0.5 ml*min-1, II: 1.67 ml*min$latex ^{}$-1 and III: 2.00 mf-min'1. Our results show that during fed-batch operation the 2,4,6 TCP exhibits an earlier degradation than the other com- pounds, for all of the flow rates tested. This indicates that in this case the degradation of the most recalcitrant compounds (PCP and 2,3,5,6 TeCP) is benefited by the increase in biomass ofbacteria, due to the metabolisation of a less recalcitrant compound (2,4,6 TCP). The defined parameter, specific degradation rate (SDR), was demonstrated to be very useful for comparing the degradation abilities at different flow rates of a fed-batch system. The degradation efficiencies were shown to be higher than 90% for all of the cases and to decrease as the feed rate increases. However, the SDR, a parameter that involves the rate of degradation and the biomass, increases as the flow rate increases. At a feed flow rate of 2 mf-min'1 SDR reaches a maximum of 12.476 x 10'10 mgCP-M-CFU'1. Finally, among the feed flows tested, taking into account both the degradation efficiency and the SDR, 2 ml-min-1 is the most convenient flow rate for chlorophenol degradation in fed-batch Systems. An even higher degradation efficiency (97%) can be achieved by using the feed rate of 2 mf-min'1 followed by an additional batch post-treatment of2 h, with a SDR of 13.136 x 10-10 mg CP-h1-CFU1

How much does it cost to combine supply-side and demand-side RBF approaches in a single intervention? Full cost analysis of the Results Based Financing for Maternal and Newborn Health Initiative in Malawi

Objective: To estimate the economic cost associated with implementing the Results Based Financing for Maternal and Newborn Health (RBF4MNH) Initiative in Malawi. No specific hypotheses were formulated ex-ante. Setting: Primary and secondary delivery facilities in rural Malawi. Participants: Not applicable. The study relied almost exclusively on secondary financial data. Intervention: The RBF4MNH Initiative was a results-based financing (RBF) intervention including both a demand and a supply-side component. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Cost per potential and for actual beneficiaries. Results: The overall economic cost of the Initiative during 2011-2016 amounted to €12 786 924, equivalent to €24.17 per pregnant woman residing in the intervention districts. The supply side activity cluster absorbed over 40% of all resources, half of which were spent on infrastructure upgrading and equipment supply, and 10% on incentives. Costs for the demand side activity cluster and for verification were equivalent to 14% and 6%, respectively of the Initiative overall cost. Conclusion: Carefully tracing resource consumption across all activities, our study suggests that the full economic cost of implementing RBF interventions may be higher than what was previously reported in published cost-effectiveness studies. More research is urgently needed to carefully trace the costs of implementing RBF and similar health financing innovations, in order to inform decision-making in low-income and middle-income countries around scaling up RBF approaches

Estudios de impacto ambiental en el cinturón frutihortícola de Mar del Plata

El Cinturón frutihorticola de Mar del Plata es uno de los principales centros productores del país, el cual abastece al mercado local ya otros grandes centros de consumo a nivel nacional. Desde los comienzos de la horticultura en la zona, se observó una tendencia creciente en cuanto a la superficie sembrada tanto a campo como bajo cubierta (invernáculos). Actualmente, más de 1.000 productores están abocados a la producción de hortalizas y frutas en el Partido de Gral. Pueyrredón, preponderantemente en el período primaveroestivo- otoñal.EEA BalcarceFil: Viglianchino, Liliana Ester. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Agencia de Extensión Rural Mar del Plata; Argentina.Fil: Okada, Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Agencia de Extensión Rural Mar del Plata; Argentina

An embedded approach to plagiarism detection using the TeSLA e-authentication system

Plagiarism continues to remain an ever-present issue throughout academia. It is an anathema to scholarly enterprise, where the proper attribution of the work of others is of fundamental importance. Teaching students the importance of citing and referencing the work of others, and how to correctly do so, is therefore an important role for academic institutions. It is insufficient to teach these things without assessing students’ learning. Effective and accessible tools that can assist in teaching and assessment are sought and are increasingly being developed. This paper describes a new tool designed to assess levels of plagiarism in students’ submitted work and considers its affordances alongside other established tools. TeSLA is an EU funded project that brings eighteen partners together for the development of an embedded suite of tools to deliver the seamless e-authentication of students as they complete online assessments. Within the suite is a plagiarism detection tool that analyses documents and text on submission and provides immediate output. We show that the TeSLA plagiarism detection tool highlights potential collusion, a form of plagiarism. Also, we discuss whether the embedded nature of the TeSLA system could be used to improve constructive alignment between teaching and assessment within modules

A proteomic approach to obesity and type 2 diabetes

The incidence of obesity and type diabetes 2 has increased dramatically resulting in an increased interest in its biomedical relevance. However, the mechanisms that trigger the development of diabetes type 2 in obese patients remain largely unknown. Scientific, clinical and pharmaceutical communities are dedicating vast resources to unravel this issue by applying different omics tools. During the last decade, the advances in proteomic approaches and the Human Proteome Organization have opened and are opening a new door that may be helpful in the identification of patients at risk and to improve current therapies. Here, we briefly review some of the advances in our understanding of type 2 diabetes that have occurred through the application of proteomics. We also review, in detail, the current improvements in proteomic methodologies and new strategies that could be employed to further advance our understanding of this pathology. By applying these new proteomic advances, novel therapeutic and/or diagnostic protein targets will be discovered in the obesity/Type 2 diabetes areaThis work is funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (BFU2011–27492), Fondos de Investigación Sanitaria (PI1302195), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Fisiopatología de Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III and Fundación de Endocrinología y Nutrición. Dr. Elena López Villar is supported by ISCIII Spanish Health System (SNS BOE 2012) and she is Delegate of HUPO (Human Proteome Organization) supporting clinical proteomic studies at Hospital Niño Jesús of Madrid, Spain, to improve diagnosis and therapies via researc

Muestra de resultados del cultivo de frutilla en hidroponía en el cinturón frutihortícola de Mar del Plata.

Se realizó una jornada técnica con el propósito de evaluar los resultados de la campaña productiva 2020-2021 en dos parcelas demostrativas de cultivo de frutilla en hidroponia del cinturón frutihortícola marplatense.EEA BalcarceFil: Adlercreutz, Enrique Gustavo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Agencia de Extensión Rural Mar del Plata; Argentina.Fil: Okada, Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina.Fil: Ischia, Claudia María. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Agencia de Extensión Rural Benito Juárez; Argentina

Antibióticos derivados de actividades agropecuarias: presencia ambiental y desarrollo de resistencia bacteriana a antibióticos

Las actividades de producción animal utilizan una amplia gama de productos farmacéuticos para propiciar la sanidad y aumentar la productividad, de ello emerge un potencial impacto Ambiental. Reflexionamos acerca de la aceleración en el desarrollo de resistencia bacteriana a antibióticos y cómo minimizar su impacto.EEA BalcarceFil: Hernández Guijarro, Keren. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina.Fil: Okada, Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina.Fil: Perez, Débora Jesabel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina

Compostaje de la cama de pollo como procedimiento para la eliminación de microorganismos patógenos

El uso de cama de pollo sin tratar en los sistemas hortícolas, implica un riesgo de salud de magnitud. Ahondamos en el tema para proponer estrategias saludables de su utilizaciónEEA BalcarceFil: Pellegrini, María Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos y Ambiente; Argentina.Fil: Ponce, Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería; Argentina. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos y Ambiente; Argentina.Fil: Okada, Elena. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina.Fil: Lavallén, Carla. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente; Argentina.Fil: Dopchiz, Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción, Sanidad y Ambiente; Argentina.Fil: Rizzo, Pedro Federico. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Mendoza; Argentina.Fil: Pérez, Débora. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina.Fil: Carciochi, Walter. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Innovación para la Producción Agropecuaria y el Desarrollo Sostenible; Argentina.Fil: Carciochi, Walter. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Young, Brian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Microbiología y Zoología Agrícola; Argentina

Signatures of massive sgoldstinos at hadron colliders

In supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model with a very light gravitino, the effective theory at the weak scale should contain not only the goldstino, but also its supersymmetric partners, the sgoldstinos. In the simplest case, the goldstino is a gauge-singlet and its superpartners are two neutral spin-0 particles, S and P. We study possible signals of massive sgoldstinos at hadron colliders, focusing on those that are most relevant for the Tevatron. We show that inclusive production of sgoldstinos, followed by their decay into two photons, can lead to observable signals or to stringent combined bounds on the gravitino and sgoldstino masses. Sgoldstino decays into two gluon jets may provide a useful complementary signature.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures. Corrected misprint, added reference