Optimisation of wastewater treatment at ecoparc 2

L'Ecoparc 2 és una empresa que es dedica al tractament de diferents residus sòlids urbans (fracció orgànica, envasos i resta). Es troba en funcionament des de l'any 2004 i es troba constantment en millora, innovant i optimitzant els seus processos. Disposa d'una planta de tractament d'aigües residuals MBR, que va ser dissenyada per concentracions més baixes de les que està tractant actualment. Encara que es va ampliar, el seu rendiment ha de ser revisat i optimitzat per assegurar una operació fiable. La digestió anaeròbia contribueix a més del 75 % del total de les aigües residuals produïdes i té una elevada concentració de DQO i amoni (40.000 mgL de DQO i 4.500 mg/L de N-NH4). S'estudia la possibilitat de separació de sòlids mitjançant centrifugació y separació per membranes per disminuir la viscositat del llot. Per altra banda, també s'estudia l'hidròlisis tèrmica i el stripping per millorar la biodegradabilitat de les aigües residuals de digestió anaeròbia i disminuir la carrega de nitrogen de la planta MBR. Finalment, amb l'objectiu de reduir el consum d'aigua potable i la quantitat total d'aigües residuals produïdes, s'avalua la reutilització d'aigües residuals en el procés.El Ecoparc 2 es una empresa dedicada al tratamiento de diferentes residuos sólidos urbanos (fracción orgánica, envases y resto). Está en funcionamiento desde el año 2004 y se encuentra constantemente en mejora, innovando y optimizando sus procesos. Dispone de una planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales MBR, que fue diseñada para concentraciones más bajas que las que está tratando actualmente. Aunque se amplió, su rendimiento debe ser revisado y optimizado para asegurar una operación fiable. La digestión anaerobia contribuye a más del 75 % del total de aguas residuales producidas y tiene una alta concentración de DQO y amonio (40.000 mgL de DQO y 4.500 mg/L de N-NH4). Se estudia la posibilidad de separación de sólidos mediante centrifugación y separación por membranas para disminuir la viscosidad del lodo. Por otro lado, también se estudia la hidrólisis térmica y el stripping para mejorar la biodegradabilidad de las aguas residuales de digestión anaerobia y disminuir la carga de N de la planta MBR. Por último, con el fin de reducir el consumo de agua potable y la cantidad total de aguas residuales producidas, se evalúa la reutilización de aguas residuales en el proceso.Ecoparc 2 is a company dedicated to the treatment of different types of municipal solid waste (kitchen waste, packaging waste and non recyclable mixed waste). It has been in operation since 2004 and is constantly improving, innovating and optimising its processes. The site has a MBR wastewater treatment plant, which was designed for lower concentrations than those that it is currently treating. Although it was expanded, its performance needs to be revised and optimized to assure a reliable operation. Anaerobic digestion contributes more than 75% to the total wastewater produced, and it has a high COD and N-NH3 concentration (40.000 mg/l COD and 4.500 mg/l N-NH3). The possibility of solids separation by centrifugation and membranes will be studied to reduce the sludge viscosity. On the other hand, also thermal hydrolysis and stripping will be studied to improve the degradability of the anaerobic digestion wastewater and to decrease the N load to the MBR plant. Finally, in order to reduce the drinking water network consumption and the total amount of wastewater produced, the internal recycling of wastewater will be evaluated

On the vulnerability of iris-based systems to a software attack based on a genetic algorithm

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-33275-3_14Proceedings of 17th Iberoamerican Congress, CIARP 2012, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThe vulnerabilities of a standard iris verification system to a novel indirect attack based on a binary genetic algorithm are studied. The experiments are carried out on the iris subcorpus of the publicly available BioSecure DB. The attack has shown a remarkable performance, thus proving the lack of robustness of the tested system to this type of threat. Furthermore, the consistency of the bits of the iris code is analysed, and a second working scenario discarding the fragile bits is then tested as a possible countermeasure against the proposed attack.This work has been partially supported by projects Contexts (S2009/TIC-1485) from CAM, Bio-Challenge (TEC2009-11186) from Spanish MICINN, TABULA RASA (FP7-ICT-257289) and BEAT (FP7-SEC-284989) from EU, and Cátedra UAM-Telefónica

β-carotene and Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal protein differentially modulate feeding behaviour, mortality and physiology of European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis)

Maize with enhanced β-carotene production was engineered to counteract pervasive vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. Second-generation biofortified crops are being developed with additional traits that confer pest resistance. These include crops that can produce Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) insecticidal proteins. Currently, it is unknown whether β-carotene can confer fitness benefits through to insect pests, specifically through altering Ostrinia nubilalis foraging behaviour or development in the presence of Bt insecticidal toxin. Therefore the effects of dietary β-carotene plus Bt insecticidal protein on feeding behaviour, mortality, and physiology in early and late instars of O. nubilalis larvae were investigated. The results of two-choice experiments showed that irrespective of β-carotene presence, at day five 68%-90% of neonates and 69%-77% of fifth-instar larvae avoided diets with Cry1A protein. Over 65% of neonate larvae preferred to feed on diets with β-carotene alone compared to 39% of fifth-instar larvae. Higher mortality (65%-97%) in neonates fed diets supplemented with β-carotene alone and in combination with Bt protein was found, whereas <36% mortality was observed when fed diets without supplemented β-carotene or Bt protein. Diets with both β-carotene and Bt protein extended 25 days the larval developmental duration from neonate to fifth instar (compared to Bt diets) but did not impair larval or pupal weight. Juvenile hormone and 20-hydroxyecdysone regulate insect development and their levels were at least 3-fold higher in larvae fed diets with β-carotene for 3 days. Overall, these results suggest that the effects of β-carotene and Bt protein on O. nubilalis is dependent on larval developmental stage. This study is one of the first that provides insight on how the interaction of novel traits may modulate crop susceptibility to insect pests. This understanding will in turn inform the development of crop protection strategies with greater efficacy.This work was partially supported through an Agrotecnio Fellowship and the AGL2017-84127-R project from the Spanish R&D Agency (Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología)

The Gender Gap in Political Interest Revisited

To what extent does conventional survey measurement capture the political interest of men and women equally well? We aim to answer this question by relying on unique data from a national online survey in Spain, where we used various questions unpacking the standard indicator of political interest. The findings show that men and women nominate different personal political interests. We also find that the gender gap in political interest vanishes once these specific interests are taken into account. This suggests that at least part of the documented gender gap in general political interest might be due to the fact that, when prompted to think about politics, women disregard their own specific political interests and instead focus on the dominant, male-oriented understanding of politics

Segundo ejercicio resuelto de las pruebas selectivas para el ingreso en el Cuerpo Técnico de Hacienda (turno libre)

Caso 1. Contabilidad de sociedades. Reparto de beneficios, emisión de un empréstito convertible clasificado como instrumento compuesto, aportaciones no dinerarias y activos financieros mantenidos para negociar. Caso 2. Contabilidad financiera. Capitalización de gastos financieros en la construcción de un buque, préstamo en moneda extranjera y coberturas de divisas. Caso 3. Contabilidad financiera. Supuesto de existencias, registro de compras y ventas, variación de existencias, determinación del valor de las existencias finales por FIFO y el margen bruto de cada producto y el total. Caso 4. Contabilidad financiera. Contabilizar una serie de operaciones, determinar el resultado contable antes de impuestos, establecer el cálculo del impuesto sobre sociedades, contabilizar el impuesto y realizar la conciliación entre el resultado contable y la base imponible. Caso 5. Matemáticas financieras. Comparación del coste de dos préstamos y elegir el de menor coste y cálculo del valor de la anualidad de un empréstito que incorpora lote constante y gastos de administración, además de establecer el valor de un título a día de hoy

Deviations from NLO QCD evolution in inclusive HERA data

We search for deviations from next-to-leading order QCD evolution in HERA structure function data. We compare to data predictions for structure functions in the small x region, obtained by evolving backwards to low Q^2 the results of a parton fit performed in the large Q^2 region, where fixed-order perturbative QCD is certainly reliable. We find evidence for deviations which are qualitatively consistent with the behaviour predicted by small x perturbative resummation, and possibly also by nonlinear evolution effects, but incompatible with next-to-next-to leading order corrections.Comment: Final version (to be published in PLB), new plots in fig. 5 and new column in tab. 4 added, fig. 10 added, discussion on distances on pag. 8 added, typos correcte

Combining MRI and clinical data to detect high relapse risk after the first episode of psychosis

Detecting patients at high relapse risk after the first episode of psychosis (HRR-FEP) could help the clinician adjust the preventive treatment. To develop a tool to detect patients at HRR using their baseline clinical and structural MRI, we followed 227 patients with FEP for 18–24 months and applied MRIPredict. We previously optimized the MRI-based machine-learning parameters (combining unmodulated and modulated gray and white matter and using voxel-based ensemble) in two independent datasets. Patients estimated to be at HRR-FEP showed a substantially increased risk of relapse (hazard ratio = 4.58, P &lt; 0.05). Accuracy was poorer when we only used clinical or MRI data. We thus show the potential of combining clinical and MRI data to detect which individuals are more likely to relapse, who may benefit from increased frequency of visits, and which are unlikely, who may be currently receiving unnecessary prophylactic treatments. We also provide an updated version of the MRIPredict software

Bridging the enduring gender gap in political interest in Europe: the relevance of promoting gender equality

Notwithstanding the improvement in gender equality in political power and resources in European democracies, this study shows that on average declared interest in politics is 16% lower for women than for men in Europe. This gap remains even after controlling for differences in men’s and women’s educational attainment, material, and cognitive resources. Drawing on the newly developed European Institute for Gender Equality’s (EIGE) Gender Equality Index (GEI) and on the European Social Survey (ESS)-fifth wave, we show that promoting gender equality contributes towards narrowing the magnitude of the differences in political interest between men and women. However, this effect appears to be conditioned by the age of citizens. More specifically, findings show that in Europe gender-friendly policies contribute to bridging the gender gap in political engagement only during adulthood, suggesting that childhood socialisation is more strongly affected by traditional family values than by policies promoting gender equality. In contrast, feminising social citizenship does make a difference by reducing the situational disadvantages traditionally faced by women within the family and in society for middle-aged people and above

Changes to the proteome and targeted metabolites of xylem sap in Brassica oleracea in response to salt stress

Root-to-shoot signalling via xylem sap is an important mechanism by which plants respond to stress. This signalling could be mediated by alteration in the concentrations of inorganic and/or organic molecules. The effect of salt stress on the contents of xylem sap in Brassica olarecea has been analysed by mass spectrometry in order to quantify these changes. Subcellular location of arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) by immunogold labelling and peroxidase isozymes was also analysed by isoelectrofocusing. The xylem sap metabolome analysis demonstrated the presence of many organic compounds such as sugars, organic acids and amino acids. Of these, amino acid concentrations, particularly that of glutamine, the major amino acid in the sap, were substantially reduced by salt stress. The xylem sap proteome analysis demonstrated the accumulation of enzymes involved in xylem differentiation and lignification, such as cystein proteinases, acid peroxidases, and a putative hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase under salt stress. The peroxidase isozyme pattern showed that salt stress induced a high accumulation of an acid isoform. These results suggest that xylem differentiation and lignification is induced by salt stress. The combination of different methods to analyse the xylem sap composition provides new insights into mechanisms in plant development and signalling under salt stress

ECMO for COVID-19 patients in Europe and Israel

Since March 15th, 2020, 177 centres from Europe and Israel have joined the study, routinely reporting on the ECMO support they provide to COVID-19 patients. The mean annual number of cases treated with ECMO in the participating centres before the pandemic (2019) was 55. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly each week reaching 1531 treated patients as of September 14th. The greatest number of cases has been reported from France (n = 385), UK (n = 193), Germany (n = 176), Spain (n = 166), and Italy (n = 136) .The mean age of treated patients was 52.6 years (range 16–80), 79% were male. The ECMO configuration used was VV in 91% of cases, VA in 5% and other in 4%. The mean PaO2 before ECMO implantation was 65 mmHg. The mean duration of ECMO support thus far has been 18 days and the mean ICU length of stay of these patients was 33 days. As of the 14th September, overall 841 patients have been weaned from ECMO support, 601 died during ECMO support, 71 died after withdrawal of ECMO, 79 are still receiving ECMO support and for 10 patients status n.a. . Our preliminary data suggest that patients placed on ECMO with severe refractory respiratory or cardiac failure secondary to COVID-19 have a reasonable (55%) chance of survival. Further extensive data analysis is expected to provide invaluable information on the demographics, severity of illness, indications and different ECMO management strategies in these patients