Scaling-Down Teaching and Research Indicators is Crucial to Define the Holistic Performance of Universities

This article proposes a two-dimensional model that allows for the evaluation of teaching and research based on quantitative indicators. Regarding teaching performance, the hours of face-to-face classes and those of supervised theses were considered. In the case of research activity, several indicators were proposed (e.g. books and book chapters, articles in JCR journals, patents and translations), which allow for the application to multiple academic disciplines in the fields of Arts & Humanities, Science, Engineering, Health Sciences and Social & Legal Sciences.  Our model has been applied to 119 academic disciplines in the 2010s and the results obtained were analyzed under various perspectives: (i) performance timeline, (ii) comparative analysis among different academic disciplines, (iii) scale-down of the analysis to diverse units (e.g. departments, research groups), as well as to the quantification of the individual effort of each faculty member, and (iv) gender perspective. As a model use case, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) was studied. One of the key takeaways of this analysis was that understanding teaching and research reference levels is crucial in defining university-specific targets, both individually and collectively. In fact, this is even more relevant for less hierarchical and more assembly-based academic institutions, where it is difficult to define a minimum standard of research activity

Formulation of Laccase Nanobiocatalysts Based on Ionic and Covalent Interactions for the Enhanced Oxidation of Phenolic Compounds

Oxidative biocatalysis by laccase arises as a promising alternative in the development of advanced oxidation processes for the removal of xenobiotics. The aim of this work is to develop various types of nanobiocatalysts based on laccase immobilized on different superparamagnetic and non-magnetic nanoparticles to improve the stability of the biocatalysts. Several techniques of enzyme immobilization were evaluated based on ionic exchange and covalent bonding. The highest yields of laccase immobilization were achieved for the covalent laccase nanoconjugates of silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles (2.66 U mg−1 NPs), formed by the covalent attachment of the enzyme between the aldehyde groups of the glutaraldehyde-functionalized nanoparticle and the amino groups of the enzyme. Moreover, its application in the biotransformation of phenol as a model recalcitrant compound was tested at different pH and successfully achieved at pH 6 for 24 h. A sequential batch operation was carried out, with complete recovery of the nanobiocatalyst and minimal deactivation of the enzyme after four cycles of phenol oxidation. The major drawback associated with the use of the nanoparticles relies on the energy consumption required for their production and the use of chemicals, that account for a major contribution in the normalized index of 5.28 × 10−3. The reduction of cyclohexane (used in the synthesis of silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles) led to a significant lower index (3.62 × 10−3); however, the immobilization was negatively affected, which discouraged this alternativeThis work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CTQ2013-44762-R and CTQ2016-79461-R, program co-funded by FEDER). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC 2013-032, program co-funded by FEDER. Yolanda Moldes-Diz thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for her predoctoral fellowshipS

Assessing of the most appropriate biotechnological strategy on the recovery of antioxidants from beet wastes by applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology

The valorization of agro-industrial waste streams and residues for the production of antioxidant compounds is a good strategy for circular economy approaches. However, to demonstrate its suitability and operational feasibility, it is necessary to develop environmental assessments to ensure the effectiveness of the production strategy. In this sense, a large-scale simulation has been developed, obtaining ten different scenarios in which both leaves and steam residues are used as process inputs, and five different extraction techniques are applied, both conventional: Soxhlet and maceration, and emerging technologies: ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) and pressurized liquid extraction, (PLE). Environmental results have shown that SFE and PLE technologies have the lowest environmental burdens, while UAE has the worst profile due to high energy demand. Electricity could be considered as the main hotspot with the highest impact, followed by steam requirements and the use of extraction solvent. To improve the environmental profile, sensitivity analyses were performed, considering the use of renewable resources for the production of the energy requirements and the selection of the extraction solvent. Although significant improvements were obtained when electricity and steam production is based on hydropower and waste incineration, the environmental profile did not improve when considering ethanol: water mixture or hexane for extraction. Future research should focus on reducing energy requirements and optimizing the solvent dosage for the extraction processThis research has been supported by the project Enhancing diversity in Mediterranean cereal farming systems (CerealMed) project funded by PRIMA Programme and FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation-Spanish National Research Agency (PCI2020-111978) and by a project granted by Xunta de Galicia (project ref. ED431 F 2016/001). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29) and to the Cross-disciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS Research Center, ED431E 2018/01)S