Hydrophobic air pollutants removal at one second gas contact in a multi-channel capillary bioreactor

Producción CientíficaBiological processes are increasingly applied for gas purification as a sustainable and economical alternative to conventional physical-chemical processes (chemical absorption, incineration, adsorption). Although biological gas treatment is accepted as an economical, safe, and reliable air pollution control technology, it faces important limitations when applied for the treatment of poorly water-soluble compounds due to mass transfer limitations. A twenty-five capillary channels bioreactor was studied to characterize mass transfer coefficients and the removal of hydrophobic air pollutants under segmented gas-liquid flow pattern. The removal efficiency of hexane, toluene and α-pinene vapors reached values up to about 75%, 99% and 75%, respectively, at a gas contact time of less than 1 second, which is at least one, but closer to two orders of magnitude shorter than conventional biological gas purification systems. The bioreactor displayed stable operation for 100 days and was robust against common upsets, which opens the new opportunities for expanding the application field of biological processes for air pollution control and the mitigation of greenhouse gases in dilute air streams.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y Ministerio de Universidades [project RTI2018-0-096441-B-I00]Junta de Castilla y León - EU-FEDER [grant number CLU 2017-09 y CL-EI-2021-07

Clinical performance and head-to-head comparison of CSF p-tau235 with p-tau181, p-tau217 and p-tau231 in two memory clinic cohorts

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) p-tau235 is a novel biomarker highly specific of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, CSF p-tau235 has only been studied in well-characterized research cohorts, which do not fully reflect the patient landscape found in clinical settings. Therefore, in this multicentre study, we investigated the performance of CSF p-tau235 to detect symptomatic AD in clinical settings and compared it with CSF p-tau181, p-tau217 and p-tau231. / Methods: CSF p-tau235 was measured using an in-house single molecule array (Simoa) assay in two independent memory clinic cohorts: Paris cohort (Lariboisière Fernand-Widal University Hospital Paris, France; n=212) and BIODEGMAR cohort (Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; n=175). Patients were classified by the syndromic diagnosis (cognitively unimpaired [CU], mild cognitive impairment [MCI] or dementia) and their biological diagnosis (amyloid-beta [Aβ]+ or Aβ -). Both cohorts included detailed cognitive assessments and CSF biomarker measurements (clinically validated core AD biomarkers [Lumipulse CSF Aβ1–42/40 ratio, p-tau181 and t-tau] and in-house developed Simoa CSF p-tau181, p-tau217 and p-tau231). / Results: High CSF p-tau235 levels were strongly associated with CSF amyloidosis regardless of the clinical diagnosis, being significantly increased in MCI Aβ+ and dementia Aβ+ when compared with all other Aβ− groups (Paris cohort: P ˂0.0001 for all; BIODEGMAR cohort: P ˂0.05 for all). CSF p-tau235 was pronouncedly increased in the A+T+ profile group compared with A−T− and A+T− groups (P ˂0.0001 for all). Moreover, CSF p-tau235 demonstrated high diagnostic accuracies identifying CSF amyloidosis in symptomatic cases (AUCs=0.86 to 0.96) and discriminating AT groups (AUCs=0.79 to 0.98). Overall, CSF p-tau235 showed similar performances to CSF p-tau181 and CSF p-tau231 when discriminating CSF amyloidosis in various scenarios, but lower than CSF p-tau217. Finally, CSF p-tau235 associated with global cognition and memory domain in both cohorts. / Conclusions: CSF p-tau235 was increased with the presence of CSF amyloidosis in two independent memory clinic cohorts. CSF p-tau235 accurately identified AD in both MCI and dementia patients. Overall, the diagnostic performance of CSF p-tau235 was comparable to that of other CSF p-tau measurements, indicating its suitability to support a biomarker-based AD diagnosis in clinical settings

Influence of the diffuser type and liquid-to-biogas ratio on biogas upgrading performance in an outdoor pilot scale high rate algal pond

Producción CientíficaFour different types of biogas diffusers (metallic of 2 µm, porous stone, and two ceramic membranes of 0.2 and 0.4 µm) were evaluated to improve the quality of biomethane in an outdoor pilot scale photobioreactor interconnected to an external biogas absorption unit. Each type of diffuser was tested independently using three different liquid to biogas (L/G) ratios (0.5, 1 and 2). No significant difference was recorded in the CH4 concentrations of biomethane (i.e. > 93.0%) working with the different types of diffusers at L/G ratios > 1. Only the metallic biogas diffuser supported CH4 concentrations higher than 94.0% at a L/G ratio of 0.5. The increase in L/G ratio induced the stripping of the dissolved N2 and O2 into the biogas, which compensated the decrease in CO2 concentration mediated by the higher pH value of the scrubbing solution. The ANOVA of the results here obtained confirmed that both the type of biogas diffuser and the L/G ratio significantly determined the quality of the upgraded biogas.Junta de Castilla y León y EU-FEDER (CLU 2017-09 y UIC 071

Innovative operational strategies in photosynthetic biogas upgrading in an outdoors pilot scale algal-bacterial photobioreactor

Producción CientíficaThree innovative operational strategies were successfully evaluated to improve the quality of biomethane in an outdoors pilot scale photobioreactor interconnected to an external absorption unit: i) the use of a greenhouse during winter conditions, ii) a direct CO2 stripping in the photobioreactor via air stripping during winter conditions and iii) the use of digestate as make-up water during summer conditions. CO2 concentrations in the biomethane ranged from 0.4% to 6.1% using the greenhouse, from 0.3% to 2.6% when air was injected in the photobioreactor and from 0.4% to 0.9% using digestate as make up water. H2S was completely removed under all strategies tested. On the other hand, CH4 concentrations in biomethane ranged from 89.5% to 98.2%, from 93.0% to 98.2% and from 96.3% to 97.9%, when implementing strategies i), ii) and iii), respectively. The greenhouse was capable of maintaining microalgae productivities of 7.5 g m−2 d−1 during continental weather conditions, while mechanical CO2 stripping increased the pH in order to support an effective CO2 and H2S removal. Finally, the high evaporation rates during summer conditions allowed maintaining high inorganic carbon concentrations in the cultivation broth using centrate, which provided a cost-effective biogas upgrading.Junta de Castilla y León y EU-FEDER (CLU 2017-09 y UIC 071

Viability of honeybee colonies exposed to sunflowers grown from seeds treated with the neonicotinoids thiamethoxam and clothianidin

In this study, honeybee colonies were monitored in a field study conducted on sunflowers grown from seeds treated with the systemic neonicotinoids thiamethoxam or clothianidin. This field trial was carried out in different representative growing areas in Spain over a beekeeping season. The health and development of the colonies was assessed by measuring factors that have a significant influence on their strength and overwintering ability. The parameters assessed were: colony strength (adult bees), brood development, amount of pollen and honey stores and presence and status of the queen. The concentration of residues (clothianidin and thiamethoxam) in samples of beebread and in adult bees was at the level of ng.g-1; in the ranges of 0.10-2.89 ng g-1 and 0.05-0.12 ng g-1; 0.10-0.37 ng g-1 and 0.01-0.05 ng g-1, respectively. Multivariate models were applied to evaluate the interaction among factors. No significant differences were found between the honeybee colonies of the different treatment groups, either exposed or not to the neonicotinoids. The seasonal development of the colonies was affected by the environmental conditions which, together with the initial strength of the bee colonies and the characteristics of the plots, had a significant effect on the different variables studied

Oncogenic Rag GTPase signaling enhances B cell activation and drives follicular lymphoma sensitive to pharmacological inhibition of mTOR.

The humoral immune response demands that B cells undergo a sudden anabolic shift and high cellular nutrient levels which are required to sustain the subsequent proliferative burst. Follicular lymphoma (FL) originates from B cells that have participated in the humoral response, and 15% of FL samples harbor point, activating mutations in RRAGC, an essential activator of mTORC1 downstream of the sensing of cellular nutrients. The impact of recurrent RRAGC mutations in B cell function and lymphoma is unexplored. RRAGC mutations, targeted to the endogenous locus in mice, confer a partial insensitivity to nutrient deprivation, but strongly exacerbate B cell responses and accelerate lymphomagenesis, while creating a selective vulnerability to pharmacological inhibition of mTORC1. This moderate increase in nutrient signaling synergizes with paracrine cues from the supportive T cell microenvironment that activates B cells via the PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 axis. Hence, Rragc mutations sustain induced germinal centers and murine and human FL in the presence of decreased T cell help. Our results support a model in which activating mutations in the nutrient signaling pathway foster lymphomagenesis by corrupting a nutrient-dependent control over paracrine signals from the T cell microenvironment

Revista de la Asociación Venezolana de Derecho Marítimo. Nr 12 – 1 De la Segunda Etapa

Editors: Gustavo Adolfo Omaña Parés; María Grazia Blanco; Iván Sabatino Pizzolante La segunda etapa de la revista de la Asociación Marítima Venezolana busca, a través de la participación de articulistas venezolanos y extranjeros, examinar los problemas marítimos tanto de una perspectiva local como universal, a través de ensayos, que se ubican en la sección de doctrina, como de comentarios que se encuentran en la sección de actualidad