Biological treatment of contaminated air with toluene in an airlift reactor

In this work the variation in the toluene elimination capacity of an airlift bioreactor as a function of the toluene inlet load, using compost as the support material for the microorganisms was studied. In order to evaluate the flexibility of the reactor under changing toluene load, the toluene biodegradation was measured for flows from 2.4 x 10-2 to 0.132 m3 h-1, and a concentration range from 1.4 to 0.8 g m-3. Results show a 100% removal efficiency (RE) for minor flows, however, for a flow increase of 450% the RE decreased 40%, reflecting the equipments weak flexibility in varying flows. Meanwhile the maximum elimination capacity obtained was 230 g m-3 h-1, for toluene loads of 550 g m-3 h-1, corresponding to a flow of 0.132 m3 h-1. It was found that a average biomass concentration in suspension of 3700 g m-3, reflected EC's of 203 g m-3 h-1

Germline BRCA1 mutation reprograms breast epithelial cell metabolism towards mitochondrial-dependent biosynthesis : evidence for metformin-based "starvation" strategies in BRCA1 carriers

Altres ajuts: This work was supported by grants from the European Regional Development Fund [FEDER] to JJ and Grant CD12/00672 to SFA), co-founded by theand Departament d'Economia I Coneixement, Catalonia, Spain.Altres ajuts: MSCBS/CD15-00033We hypothesized that women inheriting one germline mutation of the BRCA1 gene ("one-hit") undergo cell-type-specific metabolic reprogramming that supports the high biosynthetic requirements of breast epithelial cells to progress to a fully malignant phenotype. Targeted metabolomic analysis was performed in isogenic pairs of nontumorigenic human breast epithelial cells in which the knock-in of 185delAG mutation in a single BRCA1 allele leads to genomic instability. Mutant BRCA1 one-hit epithelial cells displayed constitutively enhanced activation of biosynthetic nodes within mitochondria. This metabolic rewiring involved the increased incorporation of glutamine- and glucose-dependent carbon into tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolite pools to ultimately generate elevated levels of acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, the major building blocks for lipid biosynthesis. The significant increase of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) including the anabolic trigger leucine, which can not only promote protein translation via mTOR but also feed into the TCA cycle via succinyl-CoA, further underscored the anabolic reprogramming of BRCA1 haploinsufficient cells. The anti-diabetic biguanide metformin "reversed" the metabolomic signature and anabolic phenotype of BRCA1 one-hit cells by shutting down mitochondria-driven generation of precursors for lipogenic pathways and reducing the BCAA pool for protein synthesis and TCA fueling. Metformin-induced restriction of mitochondrial biosynthetic capacity was sufficient to impair the tumor-initiating capacity of BRCA1 one-hit cells in mammosphere assays. Metabolic rewiring of the breast epithelium towards increased anabolism might constitute an unanticipated and inherited form of metabolic reprogramming linked to increased risk of oncogenesis in women bearing pathogenic germline BRCA1 mutations. The ability of metformin to constrain the production of mitochondrial-dependent biosynthetic intermediates might open a new avenue for "starvation" chemopreventive strategies in BRCA1 carriers

Spectral-analysis-surface-waves-method in ground characterization

The prediction of train induced vibration levels in structures close to railway tracks before track construction starts is important in order to avoid having to implement costly mitigation measures afterwards. The used models require an accurate characterization of the propagation medium i.e. the soil layers. To this end the spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) method has been chosen among the active surface waves techniques available. As dynamic source a modal sledge hammer has been used. The generated vibrations have been measured at known offsets by means of several accelerometers. There are many parameters involved in estimating the experimental dispersion curve and, later on, thickness and propagation velocities of the different layers. Tests have been carried out at the Segovia railway station. Its main building covers some of the railway tracks and vibration problems in the building should be avoided. In the paper these tests as well as the influence of several parameters on the estimated soil profile will be detailed

Accelerated geroncogenesis in hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome

The geroncogenesis hypothesis postulates that the decline in metabolic cellular health that occurs naturally with aging drives a "field effect" predisposing normal tissues for cancer development. We propose that mutations in the cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1/2 might trigger "accelerated geroncogenesis" in breast and ovarian epithelia. By speeding up the rate at which the metabolic threshold becomes "permissive" with survival and expansion of genomically unstable pre-tumoral epithelial cells, BRCA haploinsufficiency-driven metabolic reprogramming would operate as a bona fide oncogenic event enabling malignant transformation and tumor formation in BRCA carriers. The metabolic facet of BRCA1 one-hit might involve tissue-specific alterations in acetyl-CoA, α-ketoglutarate, NAD +, FAD, or S-adenosylmethionine, critical factors for de/methylation or de/acetylation dynamics in the nuclear epigenome. This in turn might induce faulty epigenetic reprogramming at the "install phase" that directs cell-specific differentiation of breast/ovarian epithelial cells, which can ultimately determine the penetrance of BRCA defects during developmental windows of susceptibility. This model offers a framework to study whether metabolic drugs that prevent or revert metabolic reprogramming induced by BRCA haploinsufficiency might displace the "geroncogenic risk" of BRCA carriers to the age typical for those without the mutation. The identification of the key nodes that directly communicate changes in cellular metabolism to the chromatin in BRCA haploinsufficient cells may allow the epigenetic targeting of genomic instability using exclusively metabolic means. The validation of accelerated geroncogenesis as an inherited "one-hit" metabolic "field effect" might offer new strategies to therapeutically revisit the apparently irreversible genetic-hereditary fate of women with hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome

La colección ictiológica de la campaña Guinea 90

En este informe se presentan los datos referentes a los peces recogidos durante la campaña "GUINEA 90", con el objetivo de dar a conocer a los ictiólogos la existencia de esta colección que se conserva actualmente en el Centro Oceanográfico de Fuengirola. Las 200 especies, pertenecientes a 101 familias, se incluyen en las comunidades demersales del Atlántico Tropical Oriental (FAGER and LONGHURST, 1968; LONGHURST, 1969) y se capturaron entre 20 y 700 m de profundidad en la plataforma y talud continental de Sierra Leona, Liberia, Cote d'lvoire y Ghana, con artes de arrastre de fondo provistos de una luz de malla en el copo de 45 mm (RAMOS et al., 1990; FAO, 1992). Los especímenes fueron fotografiados en fresco, determinados y congelados en abril de 1990, a bordo del B/C "Lagoapesca", arrastrero español a bordo del cúal se llevó a cabo la campaña. Con posterioridad se trasvasaron a frascos de vidrio con una disolución de alcohol etílico (70%) o formaldehído (10%). El archivo de datos de las 308 ejemplares de que consta la colección, está confeccionado en DBASE III PLUS y contiene para cada una de ellos la siguiente información: código, familia, género, especie, autor, año, talla, número de la fotografía, nombre vulgar, zona, latitud geográfica, longitud geográfica, profundidad, nombre de la campaña, arte, número de la estación, método de conservación y observaciones.This report presents data on fishes collected in the "GUINEA 90" Survey with the objective of informing ichthyologists about the existence of this collection which is at the moment stored up in Oceanographic Center of Fuengirola (Málaga). The 200 species and 101 families belong to demersal communities of the Eastern Tropical Atlantic (FAGER and LONGHURST, 1968; LONGHURST, 1969) and were caught from 20 to 700 m depth in continental shelf and slope of Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'lvoire and Ghana, using bottom trawl gear with 45 mm mesh size in the cod-end (RAMOS et al., 1990; FAO, 1992). Specimens were photographeds in fresh, classified and frozen on April 1 990, on board of "Lagoapesca", a Spanish trawler in which the survey was carried out. These were afterwards decanted to glass jars in an alcohol (70%) or formaldehyde (10%) solution. Data file of 308 exemplaires which compose the collection, is in a DBASE III PLUS file and has information on cede, family, genus, species, author, year, size/s, common name, preservation, photographie number/s, zone, geographical latitude, geographical longitude, depth (in meters), Survey name, gear, number station and observations.Versión del editor0,000

Investigaciones Sobre Programación del Riego en Limonero y Olivo Mediante Medidas Directas y Continuas del Estado Hídrico.

En el presente trabajo se realiza una revisión del estado actual de conocimientos sobre aspectos relativos a la utilización de medidas continuas del estado hídrico del limonero y olivo para su utilización en la programación del riego, abarcando, esencialmente, aspectos tales como la sensibilidad de distintos indicadores del estado hídrico medidos de forma continua o discontinua en las plantas, su significado fisiológico, la obtención de niveles de referencia de los indicadores y primeros resultados sobre programación del riegoThe feasibility of irrigation scheduling in olive and lemon trees using continuously recorded plant-based water stress indicators was studied. For this, the characteristics of different plant-based water stress indicators (stem water potential, sap flow and trunk diameter fluctuations), their sensibility and limitations for water stress diagnosis purposes was discussed. The ways in which data can be interpreted, and protocols for irrigation scheduling was also described

El trabajo en Barcelona 2012

Informe aprovat per la Comissió Executiva del Consell Econòmic i Social de Barcelona de 08-04-2013Podeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/117034Podeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/11703

El treball a Barcelona 2012

Informe aprovat per la Comissió Executiva del Consell Econòmic i Social de Barcelona de 08-04-2013Podeu consultar la versió en castellà a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/11703