Factibilidad técnica y económica de la producción de hidrógeno a partir de lodos del tratamiento de agua y otros desechos

El proyecto Ecovía se desprende de una de las líneas de investigación del macroproyecto de la UNAM: “La Ciudad Universitaria y la Energía”, cuyo objetivo central es transformar a la Ciudad Universitaria (CU) en un modelo de uso eficiente de energía. El Ecovía es un automóvil híbrido, el primero en el ámbito nacional que funciona con baterías y celda de combustible de hidrógeno (H2). La celda de combustible consume 10.6587 gH2/min, que se traducen en diez millones de pesos al año. Para la producción del hidrógeno existe una tecnología innovadora llamada fermentación oscura de desechos orgánicos; por ello se propone una planta semi-industrial aplicando esta tecnología. Los lodos de desecho de la planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales de CU se estiman en 45 ton/día, que sumadas a los residuos orgánicos de una granja porcina y restaurantes de CU, alcanzan 46.18 ton/día, lo cual generará 14.2678 kgH2 sin purificar, o bien 9.98746 kgH2 a 99.999% de pureza, tal como lo exige la celda de combustible del Ecovía. La propuesta de la planta de hidrógeno, factible en términos técnicos, financieros y económicos, se estimó que requeriría cerca de 4.5 millones de pesos como inversión inicial, los cuales se recuperarían en el primer año de funcionamiento de la planta. Asimismo, se disminuirían los costos derivados de la recolección y el transporte de los residuos($1 540 080 pesos/año). La contribución ambiental del proyecto es la reducción de emisiones en 131.901 ton métricas de CO2 equivalentes al día y la minimización de desechos sin tratamiento al medio ambiente

NUTRIHEALTH

Seminario Desarrollo de Emprendedores. 2014. Carrera Medicina. Docente Dra. Rivas Miranda, Alicia..NUTRIHEALTH es un proyecto que tiene como fin brindar asesori?a nutricional a personas que tienen un mal estado nutricional (tanto obesidad como desnutricio?n), personas con comorbilidades, quienes deben de llevar una adecuada alimentacio?n, o a personas que simplemente quieren mantener una nutricio?n ideal de acuerdo a sus caracteri?sticas demogra?ficas por medio de consulta y/o seguimiento personal y consulta y/o seguimiento mediante la implementacio?n de un sitio web

Percepción de estudiantes de bachillerato sobre contenidos relacionados con el consumo de alcohol y marihuana en las redes sociales

Las redes sociales son espacios virtuales, en los que millones de adolescentes alrededor del mundo se comunican libremente acerca de temas relevantes para su desarrollo y entretenimiento. La literatura internacional indica que, la exposición a contenidos relacionados con el consumo de alcohol y marihuana, contribuye al desarrollo de una menor percepción de riesgo al consumo, y una mayor tolerancia social hacia el uso de estas drogas. La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo ex- plorar la percepción del consumo de alcohol y marihuana, que aparece en las redes sociales, en una muestra de 35 estudiantes de bachillerato. Se realizó un estudio cualitativo exploratorio a través de cuatro grupos focales, integrados por alumnos de bachillerato de la ciudad de Xalapa, Veracruz, de ambos sexos, de entre 15 y 19 años de edad, provenientes de distintos contextos socioeconómicos. El contenido de las entrevistas grupales fue transcrito y analizado, utilizando la metodología de la teoría fundamentada. Los resultados indican que, las redes sociales eran la principal fuente de información de los estudiantes, sobre la disponibilidad y los efectos del alcohol y la marihuana, sobrepasando a la televisión, los padres y los profesores. Los estudiantes percibieron el contenido sobre el consumo de drogas en las redes sociales, como una extensión de la presión de sus pares para iniciarse en el consumo de alcohol y marihuana. Abstract Social networks are virtual spaces in which millions of teenagers around the world communicate freely about themes relevant to their development and entertainment. International literature indicates that constant exposure to social networks’ content related to alcohol and marijuana consumption contributes to the development of a more tolerant perception of drugs and their use. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of high school students regarding the alcohol and marijuana consumption posts on social networks in a sample of 35 high school students. Four focus groups were conducted with a sample of high school students from the city of Xalapa, Veracruz. Participants were both males and females whose ages ranged between 15 and 19 years and had different scio-economic backgrounds. The focus groups verbatim was transcribed and analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results they indicated that the content posted on social networks was participants’ main source of information about the effects and availability of alcohol and marijuana, surpassing television, teachers and parents. The online content was perceived as an extension of the peer pressure teenagers experienced to start using drugs

Anaerobic methane oxidation driven by microbial reduction of natural organic matter in a tropical wetland

"Wetlands constitute the main natural source of methane on Earth due to their high content of natural organic matter (NOM), but key drivers, such as electron acceptors, supporting methanotrophic activities in these habitats are poorly understood. We performed anoxic incubations using freshly collected sediment, along with water samples harvested from a tropical wetland, amended with C-13-methane (0.67 atm) to test the capacity of its microbial community to perform anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) linked to the reduction of the humic fraction of its NOM. Collected evidence demonstrates that electron-accepting functional groups (e.g., quinones) present in NOM fueled AOM by serving as a terminal electron acceptor. Indeed, while sulfate reduction was the predominant process, accounting for up to 42.5% of the AOM activities, the microbial reduction of NOM concomitantly occurred. Furthermore, enrichment of wetland sediment with external NOM provided a complementary electron-accepting capacity, of which reduction accounted for similar to 100 nmol (CH4)-C-13 oxidized center dot cm(3)center dot day(1). Spectroscopic evidence showed that quinone moieties were heterogeneously distributed in the wetland sediment, and their reduction occurred during the course of AOM. Moreover, an enrichment derived from wetland sediments performing AOM linked to NOM reduction stoichiometrically oxidized methane coupled to the reduction of the humic analogue anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate. Microbial populations potentially involved in AOM coupled to microbial reduction of NOM were dominated by divergent biota from putative AOM-associated archaea. We estimate that this microbial process potentially contributes to the suppression of up to 114 teragrams (Tg) of CH(4 center dot)year(-1) in coastal wetlands and more than 1,300 Tg center dot year(-1), considering the global wetland area.

Prevalence and factors associated with anxiety and depression symptoms in adults from Chihuahua City, Mexico during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures

Introduction: Levels of anxiety and depression have increased internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms and identify their associated factors including lockdown measures in the general population over 18 years from Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Cross-sectional study, with online survey and snowball sampling. The GAD-7 (anxiety), PHQ-9 (depression) and Likert (social distancing measures) scales were used. Frequencies, measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated; a bivariate analysis was performed with odds ratio as a measure of association between those with the presence and absence of anxiety and depression symptoms; for the total population and stratifying by sex, calculating the degree of association between the categorical variables using Fisher's exact test and Chi2, considering a p<.05. Results: From 377 participants, 46% had symptoms of anxiety and 43% depressive symptoms. Being a woman, single, young, student, not exercising, smoking, alcohol consumption, practicing social distancing measures, the history of a previous mental disorder or mental health care, were associated with the presence of symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Discussion and conclusion: High prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms were found, justifying a follow-up of the mental health of the population. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tecnociencia.v16i1.88

A Molecular Characterization of the Allelic Expression of the BRCA1 Founder Δ9–12 Pathogenic Variant and Its Potential Clinical Relevance in Hereditary Cancer:International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome is a genetic condition that increases the risk of breast cancer by 80% and that of ovarian cancer by 40%. The most common pathogenic variants (PVs) causing HBOC occur in the BRCA1 gene, with more than 3850 reported mutations in the gene sequence. The prevalence of specific PVs in BRCA1 has increased across populations due to the effect of founder mutations. Therefore, when a founder mutation is identified, it becomes key to improving cancer risk characterization and effective screening protocols. The only founder mutation described in the Mexican population is the deletion of exons 9 to 12 of BRCA1 (BRCA1Δ9–12), and its description focuses on the gene sequence, but no transcription profiles have been generated for individuals who carry this gene. In this study, we describe the transcription profiles of cancer patients and healthy individuals who were heterozygous for PV BRCA1Δ9–12 by analyzing the differential expression of both alleles compared with the homozygous BRCA1 control group using RT–qPCR, and we describe the isoforms produced by the BRCA1 wild-type and BRCA1Δ9–12 alleles using nanopore long-sequencing. Using the Kruskal–Wallis test, our results showed a similar transcript expression of the wild-type allele between the healthy heterozygous group and the homozygous BRCA1 control group. An association between the recurrence and increased expression of both alleles in HBOC patients was also observed. An analysis of the sequences indicated four wild-type isoforms with diagnostic potential for discerning individuals who carry the PV BRCA1Δ9–12 and identifying which of them has developed cancer

Psychometric characteristics of the Spanish version of instruments to measure neck pain disability

[EN] Background. The NDI, COM and NPQ are evaluation instruments for disability due to NP. There was no Spanish version of NDI or COM for which psychometric characteristics were known. The objectives of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the Spanish version of the Neck Disability Index Questionnaire (NDI), and the Core Outcome Measure (COM), to validate its use in Spanish speaking patients with non-specific neck pain (NP), and to compare their psychometric characteristics with those of the Spanish version of the Northwick Pain Questionnaire (NPQ). Methods. Translation/re-translation of the English versions of the NDI and the COM was done blindly and independently by a multidisciplinary team. The study was done in 9 primary care Centers and 12 specialty services from 9 regions in Spain, with 221 acute, subacute and chronic patients who visited their physician for NP: 54 in the pilot phase and 167 in the validation phase. Neck pain (VAS), referred pain (VAS), disability (NDI, COM and NPQ), catastrophizing (CSQ) and quality of life (SF-12) were measured on their first visit and 14 days later. Patients' self-assessment was used as the external criterion for pain and disability. In the pilot phase, patients' understanding of each item in the NDI and COM was assessed, and on day 1 test-retest reliability was estimated by giving a second NDI and COM in which the name of the questionnaires and the order of the items had been changed. Results. Comprehensibility of NDI and COM were good. Minutes needed to fill out the questionnaires [median, (P25, P75)]: NDI. 4 (2.2, 10.0), COM: 2.1 (1.0, 4.9). Reliability: [ICC, (95%CI)]: NDI: 0.88 (0.80, 0.93). COM: 0.85 (0.75,0.91). Sensitivity to change: Effect size for patients having worsened, not changed and improved between days 1 and 15, according to the external criterion for disability: NDI: -0.24, 0.15, 0.66; NPQ: -0.14, 0.06, 0.67; COM: 0.05, 0.19, 0.92. Validity: Results of NDI, NPQ and COM were consistent with the external criterion for disability, whereas only those from NDI were consistent with the one for pain. Correlations with VAS, CSQ and SF-12 were similar for NDI and NPQ (absolute values between 0.36 and 0.50 on day 1, between 0.38 and 0.70 on day 15), and slightly lower for COM (between 0.36 and 0.48 on day 1, and between 0.33 and 0.61 on day 15). Correlation between NDI and NPQ: r = 0.84 on day 1, r = 0.91 on day 15. Correlation between COM and NPQ: r = 0.63 on day 1, r = 0.71 on day 15. Conclusion. Although most psychometric characteristics of NDI, NPQ and COM are similar, those from the latter one are worse and its use may lead to patients' evolution seeming more positive than it actually is. NDI seems to be the best instrument for measuring NP-related disability, since its results are the most consistent with patient's assessment of their own clinical status and evolution. It takes two more minutes to answer the NDI than to answer the COM, but it can be reliably filled out by the patient without assistanceS