Bio-Energy Generation from Synthetic Winery Wastewaters

In Spain, thewinery industry exerts a great influence on the national economy. Proportional to the scale of production, a significant volume of waste is generated, estimated at 2 million tons per year. In this work, a laboratory-scale reactor was used to study the feasibility of the energetic valorization of winery e uents into hydrogen by means of dark fermentation and its subsequent conversion into electrical energy using fuel cells. First, winery wastewater was characterized, identifying and determining the concentration of the main organic substrates contained within it. To achieve this, a syntheticwinery effluentwas prepared according to the composition of thewinerywastewater studied. This e uent was fermented anaerobically at 26 C and pH = 5.0 to produce hydrogen. The acidogenic fermentation generated a gas e uent composed of CO2 and H2, with the percentage of hydrogen being about 55% and the hydrogen yield being about 1.5 L of hydrogen at standard conditions per liter of wastewater fermented. A gas e uent with the same composition was fed into a fuel cell and the electrical current generated was monitored, obtaining a power generation of 1W h L1 of winery wastewater. These results indicate that it is feasible to transform winery wastewater into electricity by means of acidogenic fermentation and the subsequent oxidation of the bio-hydrogen generated in a fuel cell

Effect of the mixing ratio on the composting of OFMSW digestate: assessment of compost quality

This study presents the results obtained in compostability tests of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) digestate. The final aim was to obtain mature compost without phytotoxic effects. For the evaluation of the composting process, a novel parameter describing the performance of the composting process, the relative heat generation standardized with the initial volatile solid content (RHGVS(0)), was defined and evaluated at laboratory-scale. From these laboratory-scale test, the optimum operational conditions were obtained, a mixing ratio (v/v) of 1:1:0 (bulking agent:digestate:co-substrate) and with 15% of mature compost as inoculum. Subsequently, these optimum operational conditions were applied in the active phase of the composting pilot-scale reactor. The active composting stage took 7 days, subsequently a curing phase of 60 days was carried out at ambient conditions. After 30 days of curing, the mature compost showed a specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of 0.14 mg O-2/g VS center dot h, a germination index (GI) of 99.63% and a low volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration (41.3 AcH mg/kg(dm)), being indicative of the good compost stability and maturity of the compost. The very good quality of the final compost obtained indicated that the RHGVS(0) accurately describes the performance of the composting process

Agent Programming in Ciao Prolog

The agent programming landscape has been revealed as a natural framework for developing “intelligence” in AI. This can be seen from the extensive use of the agent concept in presenting (and developing) AI systems, the proliferation of agent theories, and the evolution of concepts such as agent societies (social intelligence) and coordination

Application for the estimation of the standard citrus colour index (CCI) using image processing in mobile devices

[EN] The collection of oranges normally begins before they have reached the typical orange colour. Moreover, citrus fruits are subjected to certain degreening treatments that depend on the standard citrus colour index (CCI) at harvest. In order to facilitate the measure of this index, a free application that uses image processing techniques has been developed for Android-based mobile devices using the built-in camera of the device. The image analysis process is performed on all the images from the live input of the camera to obtain the CCI of such fruit using the open source OpenCV library. For this purpose, the RGB (red, green and blue colour coordinates) average value of a pre-selected area of the input image is calculated and then converted to HunterLab colour space to finally calculate the CCI. Several tests were carried out in the field with the fruit on the trees and under laboratory conditions with different varieties of oranges (Navel, Bonanza, Cram and Navelina) at different stages of maturity, and using different Android devices. The results were obtained for each device and condition in relation to the colour measured by a camera and compared with the performance of a panel of workers who evaluated the colour using the traditional methods. Best R-2 values obtained were 0.854 for outdoors conditions and 0.881 when measurements were done indoors.This work was partially funded by INIA and FEDER funds through research project RTA2015-00078-00-00.Cubero-García, S.; Albert Gil, FE.; Prats-Montalbán, JM.; Fernandez-Pacheco, DG.; Blasco Ivars, J.; Aleixos Borrás, MN. (2018). Application for the estimation of the standard citrus colour index (CCI) using image processing in mobile devices. Biosystems Engineering. 167:63-74. doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2017.12.012S637416

Biorefinery Approach for H2 and Acids Production Based on Uncontrolled pH Fermentation of an Industrial Effluent

In this work, the feasibility of uncontrolled pH acidogenic fermentation of industrial organic effluent from corn-bioethanol production was studied and modelled by using a Monod-based mathematical model. In order to do that, several tests were carried out at different initial pH values, ranging from 4 to 6. The experimental data showed a pH reduction during the fermentation process due to the generation of short-chain acids. When starting at initial pH of 5.0 and 6.0, the substrates were fully fermented reaching final pH s over 4 units in both cases and a final undissociated fatty acid concentration of about 80 (mmol·L−1) in both cases. Regarding fermentation at an initial pH of 4, the pH decreased to 3.5 units, and the organic substrates were not fully fermented due to the stoppage of the fermentation. The stoppage was caused by the very acidic pH conditions. The biomass showed an uncoupled growth as the operating conditions became more acidic, and, finally, the biomass growth was zero. Regarding the generation of fermentation products, in general terms, the highest economical value of products was obtained when fermenting at an initial pH of 5. More specifically, acetic acid was the acid that presented the highest yield at an initial pH value of 4. Butyric yield showed the highest values at initial pH values of 5 and 6. The highest H2 yield (1.1 mol H2·mol−1 dextrose) was achieved at an initial pH value of 5. Finally, the experimental data were modelled using a Monod-based model. From this model, the value of the main kinetics and stoichiometric parameters were determined

Modelization of anaerobic processes during co-digestion of slowly biodegradable substrates

The influence of the soluble substrates over the anaerobic processes has been extensively investigated, but little is known about the effects of particulate substrate. The biodegradation of these substrates starts with the hydrolytic step, this process is slower than the other ones involved in the biodegradation of particulate substrates and usually becomes the rate-limiting step. This study investigate the effect of the initial total solids (TS) concentration on the anaerobic co-digestion of two slowly biodegradable organic substrates. The wastes mixtures were prepared at different dilutions in the range from 10% to 28% TS. From these experiments it was observed that as TS concentration increased, the methane production decreased. These results were modelled and it was observed that neither hydrolysis nor fermentation stages controlled the methane production rate. Being a substrate inhibition event experienced at the methanogenic stage the responsible of the lower methane production when operating at high TS concentrations.La influencia de los sustratos solubles sobre los procesos anaeróbicos se ha investigado extensamente, pero se sabe poco acerca de los efectos del sustrato particulado. La biodegradación de estos sustratos comienza con el paso hidrolítico, este proceso es más lento que los otros involucrados en la biodegradación de sustratos particulados y generalmente se convierte en el paso limitante de la velocidad. Este estudio investiga el efecto de la concentración inicial de sólidos totales (TS) sobre la codigestión anaeróbica de dos sustratos orgánicos lentamente biodegradables. Las mezclas de desechos se prepararon a diferentes diluciones en el rango de 10% a 28% de TS. A partir de estos experimentos, se observó que a medida que aumentaba la concentración de TS, la producción de metano disminuía. Estos resultados se modelaron y se observó que ni las etapas de hidrólisis ni de fermentación controlaban la tasa de producción de metano. Siendo un evento de inhibición del sustrato experimentado en la etapa metanogénica el responsable de la menor producción de metano cuando se opera a altas concentraciones de TS

Circulating Tumor Cells Enumeration from the Portal Vein for Risk Stratification in Early Pancreatic Cancer Patients

[Simple Summary] Effective biomarkers are needed to enable personalized medicine for pancreatic cancer patients. This study analyzes the prognostic value, in early pancreatic cancer, of circulating tumor cells and clusters from the central venous catheter and portal blood. Circulating tumor cells were isolated using an immunomagnetic selection and were detected by microscopy using immunocytochemistry staining. In conclusion, the circulating tumor cell number in portal blood identifies a death risk in patients with early pancreatic cancer.[Abstract] Background. Effective biomarkers are needed to enable personalized medicine for pancreatic cancer patients. This study analyzes the prognostic value, in early pancreatic cancer, of single circulating tumor cell (CTC) and CTC clusters from the central venous catheter (CVC) and portal blood (PV). Methods. In total, 7 mL of PV and CVC blood from 35 patients with early pancreatic cancer were analyzed. CTC were isolated using a positive immunomagnetic selection. The detection and identification of CTC were performed by immunocytochemistry (ICC) and were analyzed by Epi-fluorescence and confocal microscopy. Results. CTC and the clusters were detected both in PV and CVC. In both samples, the CTC number per cluster was higher in patients with grade three or poorly differentiated tumors (G3) than in patients with well (G1) or moderately (G2) differentiated. Patients with fewer than 185 CTC in PV exhibited a longer OS than patients with more than 185 CTC (24.5 vs. 10.0 months; p = 0.018). Similarly, patients with fewer than 15 clusters in PV showed a longer OS than patients with more than 15 clusters (19 vs. 10 months; p = 0.004). These significant correlations were not observed in CVC analyses. Conclusions. CTC presence in PV could be an important prognostic factor to predict poor prognosis in early pancreatic cancer. In addition, the number of clustered-CTC correlate to a tumor negative differentiation degree and, therefore, could be used as a diagnostic biomarker for pancreatic cancer.This research was funded by Carlos III Health Institute (Health Research Fund) grant number PI16/01465 and PI19/01821 (Co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund “A way to make Europe”)

OGC SWE-based Data Acquisition System Development for EGIM on EMSODEV EU Project

The EMSODEV[1] (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory DEVelopment) is an EU project whose general objective is to set up the full implementation and operation of the EMSO distributed Research Infrastructure (RI), through the development, testing and deployment of an EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM). This research infrastructure will provide accurate records on marine environmental changes from distributed local nodes around Europe. These observations are critical to respond accurately to the social and scientific challenges such as climate change, changes in marine ecosystems, and marine hazards. In this paper we present the design and development of the EGIM data acquisition system. EGIM is able to operate on any EMSO node, mooring line, sea bed station, cabled or non-cabled and surface buoy. In fact a central function of EGIM within the EMSO infrastructure is to have a number of ocean locations where the same set of core variables are measured homogeneously: using the same hardware, same sensor references, same qualification methods, same calibration methods, same data format and access, and same maintenance procedures.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Data acquisition system development for EGIM on EMSODEV EU Project

The EMSODEV1 (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water-- column Observatory DEVelopment) is a UE project whose general objective is to set up the full implementation and operation of the EMSO distributed Research Infrastructure (RI), through the development, testing and deployment of an EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM). The EGIM module will measure various ocean parameters in a long-term consistent, accurate and comparable manner. These measurements are critical to respond accurately to the social and scientific challenges such as climate change, changes in marine ecosystems, and marine hazards. Here we present the current status of the EGIM data acquisition system development.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Adherence to treatment and related factors among patients with chronic conditions in primary care: a cross-sectional study

Producción CientíficaBackground: Adherence to treatment, a public health issue, is of particular importance in chronic disease therapies. Primary care practices offer ideal venues for the effective care and management of these conditions. The aim of this study is to assess adherence to treatment and related-factors among patients with chronic conditions in primary care settings. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 299 adult patients with ≥1 chronic condition(s) and prescribed medication in primary healthcare centers of Spain. The Morisky-Green-Levine questionnaire was used to assess medication adherence via face-to-face interviews. Crude and adjusted multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze factors associated with adherence using the Multidimensional Model proposed by the World Health Organization — social and economic, healthcare team and system-related, condition-related, therapy-related, and patient-related factors. Results: The proportion of adherent patients to treatment was 55.5%. Older age (adjusted odds ratio 1.31 per 10-year increment, 95% CI 1.01–1.70), lower number of pharmacies used for medication refills (0.65, 95% CI 0.47– 0.90), having received complete treatment information (3.89, 95% CI 2.09–7.21), having adequate knowledge about medication regimen (4.17, 95% CI 2.23–7.80), and self-perception of a good quality of life (2.17, 95% CI 1.18–4.02) were independent factors associated with adherence. Conclusions: Adherence to treatment for chronic conditions remained low in primary care. Optimal achievement of appropriate levels of adherence through tailored multifaceted interventions will require attention to the multidimensional factors found in this study, particularly those related to patients’ education and their information needs