Applicability of wild mushrooms to monitor environmental contamination of europium in Leicester, England

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Although the current levels of europium (Eu) in topsoils monitored across Leicestershire (UK) did not represent an oral/dermal toxic risk for the population, wild mushrooms were collected in the same areas to gain a better picture of its environmental distribution and risks. METHOD: 106 mushrooms were collected from Leicester city and Bradgate Park, and species were identified by DNA barcoding. Eu was monitored by ICP-MS in cleaned/dried/homogenised mushrooms [LoD=0.00056 µg/g dry weight (dw)] and in 850 topsoils collected in these areas. RESULTS: Eu concentrations were higher in mushrooms collected in urban areas, although without significance (median and ranges, in µg/g dw): 0.0016 (0.0004-0.2891) vs. 0.0013 (0.00036-0.0529), which might be attributed to fertilisers. However, levels of Eu varied between mushrooms collected across the four cardinal subareas in which the city was divided (p-value=7E-9), which might indicate differences in urbanisation, as Eu is used in flat screen displays and optical fibres. Although a correlation between the content of Eu in mushrooms and their respective topsoil/subareas was not found, a similar distribution was found. Thus, significantly higher median concentrations of Eu were found in the NE (0.0047, 0.8110) and lower in the NW (0.00087, 0.5960), in mushrooms and topsoils (all in µg/g dw and µg/g, respectively). Moreover, Eu significantly varied between the three main mushroom species collected (ranges, in µg/g dw; p-value=7E-15): Agaricus bitorquis (edible; 0.00079-0.00706), Panaeolus foenisecii (poisonous; 0.00104-0.17146) and Mycena citrinomarginata (unclassified; 0.00123-0.07117). Moreover, Eu was only detected in 54.5% of the A. bitorquis samples, although detected in all the other main species collected. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of Eu found were similar/lower than those reported in other major monitoring studies performed in other European countries, suggesting that the environmental presence of Eu would represent a minimal risk for Leicestershires population, including those individuals that pick up wild mushrooms for consumption

Complete Procedure for the Economic, Financial and Cost-Competitiveness of Photovoltaic Systems with Self-Consumption

Nowadays, the integration of photovoltaic (PV) systems into the grid involves new and competitive ways to realize this. Thus, it is necessary to define procedures that not only include energy calculations but also incorporate economic and funding feasibility features. According to the literature review, there are numerous tools that are available to carry out a profitability analysis of a photovoltaic system. However, certain shortcomings have been identified, either in the definition of the economic and financial scenarios or in the results obtained, as they do not provide all the necessary information, do not use all the most common economic criteria, or in some cases the complexity and training requirements for their correct implementation may discourage their use. Therefore, in this paper a complete procedure that can be used as a preliminary decision tool prior to the design of an in-depth PV self-consumption system is proposed. Realistic input data makes it possible to not only obtain results for common economic and financial feasibility criteria (Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Discounted Pay-Back Time and Net Cash Balance), but it also allow for a cost-competitiveness evaluation based on the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE). The novel concept of the direct cost of PV self-consumed electricity is also introduced.This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Spanish Economy Ministry within the framework of the project “Nuevas arquitecturas para el desarrollo de sistemas a ultra-alta concentración fotovoltaica (New architectures for the development of systems at ultra-high concentration photovoltaic levels)” under the code (ENE2016-78251-R)

Prezioso come uno scarto: dal permeato di siero un imballaggio sostenibile ad attività antimicrobica

L\u2019interesse verso gli imballaggi alimentari attivi sta rapidamente crescendo. In quest\u2019ottica, il progetto NANOSAK ha consentito di sviluppare a partire da permeato da ultrafiltrazione di siero materiali attivi in grado di inibire lo sviluppo di Listeria monocytogenes

Uncertainty on radiation doses estimated by biological and retrospective physical methods

Biological and physical retrospective dosimetry are recognised as key techniques to provide individual estimates of dose following unplanned exposures to ionising radiation. Whilst there has been a relatively large amount of recent development in the biological and physical procedures, development of statistical analysis techniques has failed to keep pace. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of the art in uncertainty analysis techniques across the ‘EURADOS Working Group 10— Retrospective dosimetry’ members, to give concrete examples of implementation of the techniques recommended in the international standards, and to further promote the use of Monte Carlo techniques to support characterisation of uncertainties. It is concluded that sufficient techniques are available and in use by most laboratories for acute, whole body exposures to highly penetrating radiation, but further work will be required to ensure that statistical analysis is always wholly sufficient for the more complex exposure scenarios

Males and females with first episode psychosis present distinct profiles of social cognition and metacognition

Altres ajuts: Royal Society of New Zealand - Marsden (E2987-3648) ; Obra Social La Caixa (RecerCaixa call 2013) ; Obra Social Sant Joan de Déu BML (RTI2018-100927-J-I00) ; Ministerio Regional de Salud AndaluzDeficits in social cognition and metacognition impact the course of psychosis. Sex diferences in social cognition and metacognition could explain heterogeneity in psychosis. 174 (58 females) patients with frst-episode psychosis completed a clinical, neuropsychological, social cognitive, and metacognitive assessment. Subsequent latent profle analysis split by sex yielded two clusters common to both sexes (a Homogeneous group, 53% and 79.3%, and an Indecisive group, 18.3% and 8.6% of males and females, respectively), a specifc male profle characterized by presenting jumping to conclusions (28.7%) and a specifc female profle characterized by cognitive biases (12.1%). Males and females in the homogeneous profle seem to have a more benign course of illness. Males with jumping to conclusions had more clinical symptoms and more neuropsychological defcits. Females with cognitive biases were younger and had lower self-esteem. These results suggest that males and females may beneft from specifc targeted treatment and highlights the need to consider sex when planning interventions

From Cheese Whey Permeate To An Anti-Listeria Food Packaging Device: Bacterial Cellulose Nanocrystals/Sakacin-A Conjugates (Nanosak)

In the present project cheese whey permeate (CWP), the residual by-product obtained by extraction of whey proteins from cheese whey, was used as substrate for the growth of bacterial species that produce two appealing molecules: the anti-listerial bacteriocin sakacin-A and bacterial cellulose (BC). BC is then turned into nanocrystals (BCNCs) that are finally conjugated with sakacin-A to obtain an innovative antimicrobial device for food which could support Listeria monocytogenes growth. Sakacin-A was produced by Lactobacillus sakei DSMZ 6333 in liquid cultures. The highest bacteriocin production (around 300 AU/mL) was achieved after 9 h at 26\ub0C; a food-grade, salt-free enriched sakacin-A extract was obtained by using a gravity reverse phase chromatography. BC was produced by Komagataeibacter xylinus DSMZ 2325 by static fermentation of CWP in presence of 0.5 U/mL of \u3b2-galactosidase at 30\ub0C; after 7 days, BC yield was around 7 g/L. BCNCs were then obtained by acid hydrolysis mediated by sulfuric acid, with the goal of removing the amorphous regions of BC and introduce a net negative charge by esterification on the hydroxyl group on C6. BCNCs/sakacin-A conjugates were prepared by exploiting their opposite charge: enriched sakacin-A extract was mixed with BCNCs and, after incubation, conjugates collected by centrifugation have a specific activity of 100 AU/mg BCNCs. Among all peptides present in the enriched sample, sakacin-A appears to preferentially absorb onto BCNCs, thus allowing its further purification. Sakacin-A as well its BCNCs conjugates were then included in a hydroxypropil-cellulose coating spread onto paper sheets at a concentration of 5 and 25 AU/cm2. The addition of the coating did not bring any significant change in the oxygen barrier properties of the cellulosic substrate. In a similar way, the static contact angle of both uncoated and coated substrate was of approximately 130\ub0. However, the presence of BCNCs seemed to increase the swelling phenomenon of the coating. Sakacin A was also included in whey, caseine and cellulose derived matrices to prepare films and coatings with diverse results. The kinetics of Sakacin-A released from active films to aqueous food was analyzed by immersion of samples in water (as simulant) and measuring the anti-Listeria activity of the simulant after increasing times of exposure. In vitro and in vivo antimicrobial trials were carried out on real food products demonstrated their anti-listerial effectiveness, proving that the developed devices can contribute to increase shelf life, quality and safety of perishable foods

In Vitro Studies Evaluating Leaching of Mercury from Mine Waste Calcine Using Simulated Human Body Fluids

In vitro bioaccessibility (IVBA) studies were carried out on samples of mercury (Hg) mine-waste calcine (roasted Hg ore) by leaching with simulated human body fluids. The objective was to estimate potential human exposure to Hg due to inhalation of airborne calcine particulates and hand-to-mouth ingestion of Hg-bearing calcines. Mine waste calcines collected from Hg mines at Almadén, Spain, and Terlingua, Texas, contain Hg sulfide, elemental Hg, and soluble Hg compounds, which constitute primary ore or compounds formed during Hg retorting. Elevated leachate Hg concentrations were found during calcine leaching using a simulated gastric fluid (as much as 6200 μg of Hg leached/g sample). Elevated Hg concentrations were also found in calcine leachates using a simulated lung fluid (as much as 9200 μg of Hg leached/g), serum-based fluid (as much as 1600 μg of Hg leached/g), and water of pH 5 (as much as 880 μg of Hg leached/g). The leaching capacity of Hg is controlled by calcine mineralogy; thus, calcines containing soluble Hg compounds contain higher leachate Hg concentrations. Results indicate that ingestion or inhalation of Hg mine-waste calcine may lead to increased Hg concentrations in the human body, especially through the ingestion pathway