Producción de bioetanol a partir de vaina de algarrobo. Oportunidades para la diversificación en la producción de biocombustibles.

El etanol es un aditivo usado en la formulación de gasolinas, a nivel industrial se obtiene fundamentalmente por fermentación de los azúcares contenidos en diversos productos de origen vegetal. El proceso convencional utiliza como materias primas cebada, maíz, trigo, cuyos precios repercuten en los productos derivados de estas materias para uso alimentario. Este proyecto propone la obtención de bioetanol a partir de una materia prima que no compite con el sector agroalimentario como es la vaina de algarroba. La vaina de algarroba contiene los azúcares fermentables en una forma fácilmente extraíble. Entre las ventajas: utilización de una materia prima de segunda generación que no compite con las materias primas de uso alimentario y reducción de costes respecto del proceso convencional

Sustainability leaders' perceptions on the drivers for and the barriers to the integration of sustainability in Latin American Higher Education Institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have been steadily progressing towards the integration of sustainable practices in their structures and operations. Several studies have reported the variety of drivers of change and the barriers to change that universities have found in the integration process. The present investigation is aimed at further characterizing and ranking the drivers for, and barriers of, sustainability integration in HEIs within their structures and operating functions. Open-ended expert opinion interviews of key sustainability leaders appointed at 45 HEIs from 10 Latin-American countries were conducted in order to learn lessons from their diverse experiences of the process. Additionally, a thematic workshop on HEI sustainability was organized to facilitate further discussions between 23 sustainability scholars and/or national coordinators of university networks from 11 Latin American countries. As a result, 15 barriers were identified as hindering the institutionalization of sustainability in HEIs. This study also examined the relationship between these reported barriers with 13 main drivers that were identified to be facilitating the integration of sustainable practices within the organizational and academic structures at the universities. The strong correspondence between the several observed drivers for, and barriers to, change highlights the importance of strategic planning that offers integrated actions. The findings of this paper can serve as a reference to assist HEIs in identifying drivers of, and barriers to, sustainability, so that the former can be fostered and the latter addressed effectively. This can help identify and plan targeted actions to make the transition towards sustainability in HEIs more natural and effective

Evaluation of Ionic Liquids as In Situ Extraction Agents during the Alcoholic Fermentation of Carob Pod Extracts

Anhydrous ethanol is a promising alternative to gasoline in fuel engines. However, since ethanol forms an azeotrope with water, high-energy-consumption separation techniques such as azeotropic distillation, extractive distillation, and molecular sieves are needed to produce anhydrous ethanol. This work discusses the potential development of an integrated process for bioethanol production using ionic liquids and Ceratonia siliqua as a carbohydrate source for further fermentation of the aqueous extracts. A four-stage counter-current system was designed to improve the sugar extraction yield to values close to 99%. The alcoholic fermentation of the extracts showed ethanol concentrations of 95 g/L using the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisae. The production of anhydrous ethanol through extractive distillation with ethylene glycol was simulated using CHEMCAD software, with an energy consumption of 13.23 MJ/Kg of anhydrous ethanol. Finally, several ionic liquids were analyzed and are proposed as potential solvents for the recovery of bioethanol for the design of an integrated extraction-fermentation-separation process, according to their ability to extract ethanol from aqueous solutions and their biocompatibility with the microorganism used in this study.This research was funded by the Fundación Séneca, grant number 20957/PI/18 and The Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) grant number RTI2018-099011-B-I00

Deep eutectic solvents for the extraction of fatty acids from microalgae biomass: Recovery of omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid

Microalgae are a vast group of autotrophic microorganisms whose metabolic diversity makes them a natural source of valuable organic compounds such as lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and bioactive molecules. Several microalgae species contain notable amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which is an important alpha-linolenic acid derivative for human health. Conventional methods are considered effective at recovering total lipids from microalgae, however, they imply the use of large volumes of organic solvents such as methanol and chloroform, which are toxic and pose environmental risks. Thus, it is necessary to find new methods involving sustainable and green extracting phases. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are renewable compounds often formed, but not exclusively, by quaternary ammonium salts and non-hydrated metal halides. Due to their availability, low cost, biodegradability, and environmental friendliness, DES are a promising alternative to organic solvents in extraction processes. This work assesses the efficiency of several DES phases for the extraction of fatty acids from the microalgae Nannochloropsis gaditana with a special interest in the recovery of EPA. The tested phases include mixtures containing choline chloride, lactic acid, ethylene glycol, and sodium acetate. Their performances were compared to those provided by conventional methods based on the use of organic solvents. Specifically, an in-situ transesterification process based on methanol with 10 %v/v of HCl was optimized in terms of temperature, time, and catalyst amount to be used as a reference. The results show that several of the tested eutectics such as choline chloride-ethylene glycol were capable of matching and even outperforming the best results obtained for EPA, with 104 % of extracted EPA methyl ester as the percentage of the mass obtained with HCl-methanol. The extraction capacity of DES was also improved by microalgae biomass pretreatment using ultrasonic and NaCl-based methods in a further stage. In the case of EPA extraction, and under optimal conditions, DES were capable of recovering over 18 % more quantity than the obtained with HCl-methanol. These results demonstrate that DES are effective at both recovering total fatty acids from pretreated biomass and at selectively recovering EPA using both unpretreated and pretreated biomass.The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (MICINN) ref. RTI2018-099011-B-I00 and the Seneca Foundation Science and Technology Agency of the Region of Murcia ref. 20957/PI/18. Dr. Sergio Sánchez Segado wishes to acknowledge The Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of Spain its support through the “Beatriz Galindo” Fellowship BEAGAL18/00079

Aplicación de la tecnología de pilas de combustible microbianas en depuración de aguas de origen urbano e industrial con producción simultánea de energía eléctrica

En el presente trabajo se ha estudiado la influencia de las pilas de combustible microbianas (MFCs), sobre la depuración de agua de distinta procedencia, con producción simultánea de energía. Se estudiaron valores para aguas procedentes de industrias como matadero, aceites industriales, de elaboración de zumo de limón y urbanas, con el objeto de comprobar si esta tecnología es una herramienta capaz de introducirse en los tratamientos convencionales de aguas residuales.Asociación de Jóvenes Investigadores de Cartagena, (AJICT). Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Industrial UPCT, (ETSII). Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronónica, (ETSIA), Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Telecomunicación (ETSIT). Escuela de Ingeniería de Caminos, Canales, y Puertos y de Ingeniería de Minas, (EICM). Fundación Séneca, Agencia Regional de Ciencia y Tecnología. Parque Tecnológico de Fuente Álamo. Grupo Aquilin

Identification of Importin 8 (IPO8) as the most accurate reference gene for the clinicopathological analysis of lung specimens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The accurate normalization of differentially expressed genes in lung cancer is essential for the identification of novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers by real time RT-PCR and microarrays. Although classical "housekeeping" genes, such as GAPDH, HPRT1, and beta-actin have been widely used in the past, their accuracy as reference genes for lung tissues has not been proven.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have conducted a thorough analysis of a panel of 16 candidate reference genes for lung specimens and lung cell lines. Gene expression was measured by quantitative real time RT-PCR and expression stability was analyzed with the softwares <it>GeNorm </it>and <it>NormFinder</it>, mean of |ΔCt| (= |Ct Normal-Ct tumor|) ± SEM, and correlation coefficients among genes. Systematic comparison between candidates led us to the identification of a subset of suitable reference genes for clinical samples: IPO8, ACTB, POLR2A, 18S, and PPIA. Further analysis showed that IPO8 had a very low mean of |ΔCt| (0.70 ± 0.09), with no statistically significant differences between normal and malignant samples and with excellent expression stability.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data show that IPO8 is the most accurate reference gene for clinical lung specimens. In addition, we demonstrate that the commonly used genes GAPDH and HPRT1 are inappropriate to normalize data derived from lung biopsies, although they are suitable as reference genes for lung cell lines. We thus propose IPO8 as a novel reference gene for lung cancer samples.</p

Membranas poliméricas de inclusión basadas en líquidos iónicos

Número de publicación: 2502069 Número de solicitud: 201330453La presente invención se refiere a una membrana polimérica de inclusión que comprende un polímero base, un agente de extracción y una agente plastificante donde el agente de extracción y el agente plastificante es un líquido iónico, la invención también se refiere al uso de dichas membranas en pilas de combustible microbianas, al uso de las mismas para la separación selectiva de mezclas de ácidos orgánicos, alcoholes y ésteres y al uso de las mismas como matrices de inmovilización de productos químicos, bioquímicos y/o biológicos.Universidad Politécnica de CartagenaUniversidad de Murci

Development of a novel splice array platform and its application in the identification of alternative splice variants in lung cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microarrays strategies, which allow for the characterization of thousands of alternative splice forms in a single test, can be applied to identify differential alternative splicing events. In this study, a novel splice array approach was developed, including the design of a high-density oligonucleotide array, a labeling procedure, and an algorithm to identify splice events.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The array consisted of exon probes and thermodynamically balanced junction probes. Suboptimal probes were tagged and considered in the final analysis. An unbiased labeling protocol was developed using random primers. The algorithm used to distinguish changes in expression from changes in splicing was calibrated using internal non-spliced control sequences. The performance of this splice array was validated with artificial constructs for <it>CDC6</it>, <it>VEGF</it>, and <it>PCBP4 </it>isoforms. The platform was then applied to the analysis of differential splice forms in lung cancer samples compared to matched normal lung tissue. Overexpression of splice isoforms was identified for genes encoding <it>CEACAM1</it>, <it>FHL-1</it>, <it>MLPH</it>, and <it>SUSD2. </it>None of these splicing isoforms had been previously associated with lung cancer.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This methodology enables the detection of alternative splicing events in complex biological samples, providing a powerful tool to identify novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for cancer and other pathologies.</p

Identification of importin (IPO-8) as the most accurate reference gene for the clinicopathological analysis of lung specimens

Abstract Background: The accurate normalization of differentially expressed genes in lung cancer is essential for the identification of novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers by real time RT-PCR and microarrays. Although classical "housekeeping" genes, such as GAPDH, HPRT1, and beta-actin have been widely used in the past, their accuracy as reference genes for lung tissues has not been proven. Results: We have conducted a thorough analysis of a panel of 16 candidate reference genes for lung specimens and lung cell lines. Gene expression was measured by quantitative real time RTPCR and expression stability was analyzed with the softwares GeNorm and NormFinder, mean of |ΔCt| (= |Ct Normal-Ct tumor|) ± SEM, and correlation coefficients among genes. Systematic comparison between candidates led us to the identification of a subset of suitable reference genes for clinical samples: IPO8, ACTB, POLR2A, 18S, and PPIA. Further analysis showed that IPO8 had a very low mean of |ΔCt| (0.70 ± 0.09), with no statistically significant differences between normal and malignant samples and with excellent expression stability. Conclusion: Our data show that IPO8 is the most accurate reference gene for clinical lung specimens. In addition, we demonstrate that the commonly used genes GAPDH and HPRT1 are inappropriate to normalize data derived from lung biopsies, although they are suitable as reference genes for lung cell lines. We thus propose IPO8 as a novel reference gene for lung cancer samples