Fresh Perspectives 4 – Ethical consumerism: development of a global trend and its impact on development

Key messages: Consumers increasingly wish to shop ethically, but require clearer navigation of the ethical categories; Third-party accreditation systems are proving an effective mechanism to formulate and communicate ethical attributes to consumers; Ethical issues are entering the mainstream, offering increased opportunities for developing countries; Domestic and regional markets in developing countries for value-added and quality products are growing

Wetland restoration and nitrate reduction: the example of the periurban wetland of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, North Spain)

Changes in land use and agricultural intensification caused wetlands on the quaternary aquifer of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country) to disappear some years ago and nitrate concentration in groundwaters increased very quickly. The Basque Government recently declared the East Sector of this aquifer a Vulnerable Zone according to the 91/676/CEE European Directive. Recently, the wetlands have been restored through the closure of the main drainage ditches, the consequent elevation of the water table and the abondonment of agricultural practices near the wetlands. This is the case of the Zurbano wetland. Restoration has allowed the recovery of its biogeochemical function, which has reduced nitrate concentrations in waters. Nitrate concentrations which exceed 50 mg l–1 in groundwaters entering into the wetland are less than 10 mg l–1 at the outlet. Conditions in the wetland are conducive to the loss of nitrates: organic matter rich wetted soils, clay presence allowing a local semiconfined flow and very low hydraulic gradient. Water quality monitoring at several points around the wetland showed the processes involved in nitrate loss, although some aspects still remain unresolved. However, during storm events, the wetland effectively reduces the nitrate concentration entering the Alegria River, the most important river on the quaternary aquifer

Computational analysis of projectile impact resistance on aluminium (a356) curvilinear surface reinforced with carbon nanotubes (cnts) for applications in systems of protection

Computational tests for ballistic impact energy absorption were developed on A356/CNTs composite material with the goal of estimating the improvement of the material’s mechanical properties by the contribution of the CNTs [1]. For the implementation of computational tests on the material exposed to projectile impact, A356/CNTs was configured by means of generalized Hooke’s model for anisotropic materials [1] and Johnson-Cook’s model was used to determine material failure and propagation of energy [2]. A curvilinear surface (semi-spheres on a plaque) with an area of 23x23 cm and thickness of 12 mm was elaborated to represent the composite material. The impact on surface was done with a 9 mm projectile and the surface was developed with 4.5 mm radium semi-spheres. It was used a 0.3% of nanotube insertions on the composite total volume. The results indicated the plaque stopped the impact without drilling. Incidence of damage to wearer, as well as possibility of composite material improvement and the diffusion/dispersion analysis on the curvilinear surface was also done

Deep RNA-Seq profile reveals biodiversity, plant-microbe interactions and a large family of NBS-LRR resistance genes in walnut (Juglans regia) tissues.

Deep RNA-Seq profiling, a revolutionary method used for quantifying transcriptional levels, often includes non-specific transcripts from other co-existing organisms in spite of stringent protocols. Using the recently published walnut genome sequence as a filter, we present a broad analysis of the RNA-Seq derived transcriptome profiles obtained from twenty different tissues to extract the biodiversity and possible plant-microbe interactions in the walnut ecosystem in California. Since the residual nature of the transcripts being analyzed does not provide sufficient information to identify the exact strain, inferences made are constrained to the genus level. The presence of the pathogenic oomycete Phytophthora was detected in the root through the presence of a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Cryptococcus, the causal agent of cryptococcosis, was found in the catkins and vegetative buds, corroborating previous work indicating that the plant surface supported the sexual cycle of this human pathogen. The RNA-Seq profile revealed several species of the endophytic nitrogen fixing Actinobacteria. Another bacterial species implicated in aerobic biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether (Methylibium petroleiphilum) is also found in the root. RNA encoding proteins from the pea aphid were found in the leaves and vegetative buds, while a serine protease from mosquito with significant homology to a female reproductive tract protease from Drosophila mojavensis in the vegetative bud suggests egg-laying activities. The comprehensive analysis of RNA-seq data present also unraveled detailed, tissue-specific information of ~400 transcripts encoded by the largest family of resistance (R) genes (NBS-LRR), which possibly rationalizes the resistance of the specific walnut plant to the pathogens detected. Thus, we elucidate the biodiversity and possible plant-microbe interactions in several walnut (Juglans regia) tissues in California using deep RNA-Seq profiling