Hydrodechlorination of dichloromethane with mono- and bimetallic Pd-Pt on sulfated and tungstated zirconia catalysts

Monometallic (Pt or Pd) and bimetallic (Pt-Pd) catalysts supported on zirconia promoted with sulfate (SZ) or tungsten oxide (WZ) were prepared and tested in the gas-phase hydrodechlorination of dichloromethane. The catalysts showed a high selectivity to non-chlorinated products (between 80% and 90% at 250 °C) being methane the main reaction product. As a general trend, the WZ catalysts yielded significantly higher dichloromethane conversion than the SZ ones, yielding all the catalysts initial conversions higher than 80% at a reaction temperature of 250 °C. However, the former showed a very poor stability regardless of the metallic active phase. On the other hand, the presence of palladium in the sulfated zirconia catalyst avoids deactivation as proved in long-term experiments (80-h time on stream). XPS and elemental analyses of the used catalysts suggest that adsorption of organochlorinated species is a cause of deactivation by blocking the active sites. In the monometallic SZ Pt catalyst, deactivation occurs also by poisoning of the Pt sites by the H 2S resulting from sulfate reduction under the hydrogen-rich gas atmosphere. The metal particle size appears to be a critical point with regard to stability of the catalysts. The one with the highest dispersion showed the highest stability with no signs of deactivation after more than 80 h on streamThe authors are grateful to the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)” for financial support (projects CTM2008-04751 and CTM2011-28352). J. Bedia acknowledges the Spanish MICINN for financing his research through the “Juan de la Cierva” post-doctoral program. M. Martín Martínez also wishes to thank the MICINN and the European Social Found for her research gran

Socio spatial characterization of Large Housing Estates in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Fifty years after the construction of Large Housing Estates in the periphery of the Barcelona urban continuum, public administrations face the need to redesign polices and tools aimed at improving living conditions in each of these specific areas. The need to improve the current living conditions of the housing stock according to habitability exigencies, maintenance and repair of building pathology, the improvement of energy efficiency and the research of a better social integration of their population, are some of the issues that call for being addressed when aiming to improve Large Housing Estates. The current research provides a socio spatial characterization of 20 study cases according to the evaluation of both socio demographic, socio economic and spatial indicators and their evolution along 5 time periods since their construction. Even if all study cases originally had many common characteristics, their very different evolution in time calls for a specific analysis of the current state of each area. Moreover, the characterization of the different evolution of the studied indicators on each specific case is a very useful tool to identify and describe past and ongoing complex social and urban processes. The applied methodology provides a detection of risk parameters, allowing to identify the most vulnerable cases in comparison with the analysed cases as well as the city average indicators. The transversal capacity of considering simultaneously social aspects as well as urban, architectonic and technological aspects, provides an integral view on the current state of Large Housing Estates in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. A result consisting of relevant information in order to design effective integral tools that refer to the particular social and physical contemporary conditions and ongoing processes on each site.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Effect of the Pt–Pd molar ratio in bimetallic catalysts supported on sulfated zirconia on the gas-phase hydrodechlorination of chloromethanes

Bimetallic Pt:Pd catalysts with different molar ratios and 0.5 wt.% overall metal load supported on sulfated zirconia catalysts were synthesized and tested in the gas-phase hydrodechlorination (HDC) of chloromethanes and their mixtures. The catalysts were characterized by adsorption–desorption of N2 at −196 °C, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction, and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The effect of the Pt:Pd molar ratio on the activity, stability, and selectivity was analyzed. The high acidity of the sulfated zirconia results in metal particles of small size (mainly <5 nm), as confirmed by STEM. The bimetallic catalysts showed higher stability than the monometallic ones, as demonstrated in long-term experiments (80 h on stream), confirming the positive effect of combining the two metallic phases. Turnover frequency (TOF) values in the range 0.0007–0.0168 s−1 and apparent activation energies between ≈41 and 44 kJ·mol−1 were obtained. TOF values for dichloromethane HDC increased with increasing mean metal particle size within the range of this work (≈1.2–2.3 nm). The catalysts with Pt:Pd molar ratios of 1:3 and 1:1 showed significantly better performance than the 3:1 one for overall dechlorination due to their higher atomic metal content and TOF at the same total metal weight load (0.5%)The authors are grateful to the Spanish ‘‘Ministerio de Economíay Competitividad (MINECO)” for financial support (ProjectsCTM2011-28352 and CTM2014-53008-

Utilitat de la metodologia de simulació per adquirir competències en habilitats de comunicació

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524Metodología: Se describen los talleres y seminarios de simulación empleados desde el año académico 2010-11 en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Barcelona, que se ofrecen a los alumnos a partir de 2 año de grado, con el fin de ofrecer a los alumnos de forma transversal la adquisición y refuerzo continuo de competencias en habilidades de comunicación. Siguiendo las definiciones del Libro Blanco de las Facultades de Medicina y de la Guía de la Facultad de Medicina de la UB, se ofrece formación en los siguientes aspectos de la competencia de comunicación: • Escuchar con atención, obtener y sintetizar información pertinente acerca de los problemas que aquejan al enfermo, y comprender el contenido de esta información. • Comunicación de malas noticias • Obtener un consentimiento Informado • Comunicación entre profesionales Se describen el nivel de aprendizaje, el personal docente requerido, la duración de los seminarios o talleres, los objetivos docentes, el material necesario en cada actividad y el año de la formación de grado en que se aplica. Se describe la utilización de la estrategia de feed-back para la autoevaluación de la actividad práctica, empleando grabaciones de los talleres y simulaciones de los grupos de alumnos. Se describe así mismo, las encuestas empleadas para la evaluación por el docente y los compañeros de clase de las actividades de simulación y la metodología empleada de evaluación de los seminarios y su calificación dentro de la nota final de cada asignatura. Finalmente se describen las asignaturas optativas existentes en la Facultad de Medicina de la UB para reforzar las habilidades de comunicación y los planes futuros de desarrollo de actividades formativas complementarias y de refuerzo y las propuestas evaluativas de la competencia

Association of single and joint metals with albuminuria and estimated glomerular filtration longitudinal change in middle-aged adults from Spain: The Aragon workers health study

The nephrotoxicity of low-chronic metal exposures is unclear, especially considering several metals simultaneously. We assessed the individual and joint association of metals with longitudinal change in renal endpoints in Aragon Workers Health Study participants with available measures of essential (cobalt [Co], copper [Cu], molybdenum [Mo] and zinc [Zn]) and non-essential (As, barium [Ba], Cd, chromium [Cr], antimony [Sb], titanium [Ti], uranium [U], vanadium [V] and tungsten [W]) urine metals and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) (N = 707) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (N = 1493) change. Median levels were 0.24, 7.0, 18.6, 295, 3.1, 1.9, 0.28, 1.16, 9.7, 0.66, 0.22 μg/g for Co, Cu, Mo, Zn, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Sb, Ti, V and W, respectively, and 52.5 and 27.2 ng/g for Sb and U, respectively. In single metal analysis, higher As, Cr and W concentrations were associated with increasing ACR annual change. Higher Zn, As and Cr concentrations were associated with decreasing eGFR annual change. The shape of the longitudinal dose-responses, however, was compatible with a nephrotoxic role for all metals, both in ACR and eGFR models. In joint metal analysis, both higher mixtures of Cu–Zn–As–Ba–Ti–U–V–W and Co–Cd–Cr–Sb–V–W showed associations with increasing ACR and decreasing eGFR annual change. As and Cr were main drivers of the ACR change joint metal association. For the eGFR change joint metal association, while Zn and Cr were main drivers, other metals also contributed substantially. We identified potential interactions for As, Zn and W by other metals with ACR change, but not with eGFR change. Our findings support that Zn, As, Cr and W and suggestively other metals, are nephrotoxic at relatively low exposure levels. Metal exposure reduction and mitigation interventions may improve prevention and decrease the burden of renal disease in the population

Improving bread-making processing phases of fibre-rich formulas using chia (Salvia hispanica) seed flour

[EN] The capacity of chia seed flour to improve the behaviour of wholemeal formulas of wheat bread during the bread-making process was tested. Seven formulas were produced: one employing only wheat flour (control), two formulas substituting 13% and 23% (d.b.) of wheat flour with bran (wholemeal), and these last two bran formulas were combined in turn with chia, in which substituting 5% and 10% (d.b.) of their wheat flour fraction. The fermentation phase improved. Chia led to an increase in the gas retention of dough with 13% of bran, and height was reached with no differences compared to the refined wheat dough. Water retention did not show differences between formulas after the baking phase. The 13% bran/5% chia formula generated breads with 12% fibre content (w.b), but no differences were found in specific volume and similar hardness to the refined wheat ones. Finally, this bran/chia combination, which showed no differences during the bread-making process with the refined wheat formula, was tested for sensory attributes. No significant effect was detected on the sensory attributes compared to the same wholemeal formula without chia flour. Chia modified the properties of wholemeal doughs, which improved the bread making process and produced bread with no deterioration in sensory attributes.Verdú Amat, S.; Barat Baviera, JM.; Grau Meló, R. (2017). Improving bread-making processing phases of fibre-rich formulas using chia (Salvia hispanica) seed flour. LWT - Food Science and Technology. 84:419-425. doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2017.06.007S4194258

Threshold Values for the Information to the General Public about the Poaceae and Urticaceae Pollen Types in the Towns of Cartagena, Lorca and Murcia (REAREMUR) 2010-2016

The incidence of pollinosis in developed countries has been on the rise for the past few decades. It is an illness that leads to a large number of missed work and school days. Therefore, in addition to the direct costs associated therewith, it also causes significant indirect costs. Avoidance to exposure is the most effective preventive measure. With aerobiological data for homogeneous geographical areas, sick people can both take preventive measures and optimize the period of usage of drugs and thus improve the quality of their life. Aerobiological networks have to decide how to provide this information. In the case of information intended for the general public, it is more useful to give it as concentration ranges adjusted to categories of low, medium and high/very high threshold values than as specific numerical values, which might not achieve the desired goal.In this paper we have analyzed the data generated by the Aerobiological Network of the Region of Murcia, Spain, from aerobiological databases in the 2010-2016 period. Based on the analysis of the 90, 95, 97 and 99 percentiles of the time series, we have proposed threshold values —in four levels (low, medium, high and very high), for the Poaceae and Urticaceae pollen types in the towns of Cartagena, Lorca and Murcia— that enhance the information supplied by said Aerobiological Network and are aimed at allowing allergic people to take avoidance and pharmacological treatment measures.</p

Valores limite para informação à população dos tipos polínicos Poaceae e Urticaceae nas cidades deCartagena, Lorca e Múrcia (REAREMUR) 2010-2016

The incidence of pollinosis in developed countries has been on the rise for the past few decades. It is an illness that leads to a large number of missed work and school days. Therefore, in addition to the direct costs associated therewith, it also causes significant indirect costs. Avoidance to exposure is the most effective preventive measure. With aerobiological data for homogeneous geographical areas, sick people can both take preventive measures and optimize the period of usage of drugs and thus improve the quality of their life. Aerobiological networks have to decide how to provide this information. In the case of information intended for the general public, it is more useful to give it as concentration ranges adjusted to categories of low, medium and high/very high threshold values than as specific numerical values, which might not achieve the desired goal.In this paper we have analyzed the data generated by the Aerobiological Network of the Region of Murcia, Spain, from aerobiological databases in the 2010-2016 period. Based on the analysis of the 90, 95, 97 and 99 percentiles of the time series, we have proposed threshold values —in four levels (low, medium, high and very high), for the Poaceae and Urticaceae pollen types in the towns of Cartagena, Lorca and Murcia— that enhance the information supplied by said Aerobiological Network and are aimed at allowing allergic people to take avoidance and pharmacological treatment measures.La prevalencia de la polinosis está aumentando en los países desarrollados en las últimas décadas, siendo una enfermedad que ocasiona un gran número de días de pérdida de actividad laboral o de asistencia a la escuela, por lo que, además de los costes directos ligados a la enfermedad, ocasiona importantes costes indirectos. La evitación de la exposición es la medida preventiva más eficaz. El disponer de datos aerobiológicos para áreas geográficas homogéneas permite a los enfermos, tanto poner en marcha medidas preventivas, como optimizar el periodo de uso de medicamentos y mejorar la calidad de vida. Las redes aerobiológicas deben decidir el modo en que suministra la información. En el caso de información destinada a la población general, es más útil difundirla como intervalos de concentraciones ajustados a categorías de valores umbrales bajos, medios, altos o muy altos, que a un dato numérico concreto que puede no alcanzar el objetivo perseguido.En este trabajo hemos analizado esta información para los datos generados en la Red Aerobiológica de la Región de Murcia y a partir de las bases de datos aerobiológicas del periodo 2010-2016 hemos propuesto, basado en el análisis de los percentiles 90, 95, 97 y 99 de la serie temporal, unos valores umbrales, en cuatro escalones, bajo, medio, alto y muy alto para los tipos polínicos Poaceae y Urticaceae en la ciudades de Cartagena, Murcia y Lorca, que mejoran la información suministrada por la Red Aerobiológica de la Región de Murcia encaminada a que los pacientes alérgicos emprendan las medidas de evitación y el tratamiento farmacológico.A prevalência da polinose tem vindo a aumentar nos países desenvolvidos nas últimas décadas, sendo uma doença que ocasiona um grande número de dias de absentismo laboral ou escolar, pelo que, além dos custos diretos associados à doença, determina consideráveis custos indiretos. Evitar a exposição é a medida preventiva mais eficaz. Dispor de dados aerobiológicos para áreas geográficas homogéneas permite aos doentes quer adotar medidas preventivas, quer otimizar o período do uso de medicamentos, melhorando a sua qualidade de vida. As redes aerobiológicas devem decidir a forma como disponibilizam a informação. No caso de informação destinada à população em geral é mais útil difundi-la como intervalos de concentrações ajustados a categorias de valores limite baixos, médios, altos ou muito altos, considerando que um dado numérico concreto pode não atingir o objetivo pretendido.Neste trabalho foi analisada esta informação para os dados gerados na Rede Aerobiológica da Região de Múrcia, já a partir das bases de dados aerobiológicas no período 2010-2016. Baseados na análise dos percentis 90, 95, 97 e 99 da série temporal, foram propostos valores limites, em quatro escalões (baixo, médio, alto e muito alto), para os tipos polínicos Poaceae e Urticaceae, nas cidades de Cartagena, Múcia e Lorca, visando melhorar a informação disponibilizada pela Rede Aerobiológica da Região de Múrcia, destinada a que os pacientes alérgicos empreendam medidas de redução da exposição e o tratamento farmacológico

Conservative route to genome compaction in a miniature annelid

The causes and consequences of genome reduction in animals are unclear because our understanding of this process mostly relies on lineages with often exceptionally high rates of evolution. Here, we decode the compact 73.8-megabase genome of Dimorphilus gyrociliatus, a meiobenthic segmented worm. The D. gyrociliatus genome retains traits classically associated with larger and slower-evolving genomes, such as an ordered, intact Hox cluster, a generally conserved developmental toolkit and traces of ancestral bilaterian linkage. Unlike some other animals with small genomes, the analysis of the D. gyrociliatus epigenome revealed canonical features of genome regulation, excluding the presence of operons and trans-splicing. Instead, the gene-dense D. gyrociliatus genome presents a divergent Myc pathway, a key physiological regulator of growth, proliferation and genome stability in animals. Altogether, our results uncover a conservative route to genome compaction in annelids, reminiscent of that observed in the vertebrate Takifugu rubripes