Eficiencia en el proceso de tratamiento de la fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales (FORM). Estudio del caso Ecoparc 2 de Montcada i Reixach, Barcelona

La fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales (FORM) comprende residuos procedentes de hogares particulares y residuos similares de otros establecimientos que los municipios recogen junto con la basura doméstica. Estos residuos constituyen entre el 30 y 50% de la masa total de los residuos sólidos municipalesPostprint (published version

Recovery of nutrients from organic fraction of municipal sólid waste (OFMSW) in the Ecoparc 2 of Montcada i Reixac, Barcelona: alternatives to the current process

Recovery of nutrients from the OFMSW is a relevant topic as evidenced by the European initiative \”End of Waste\”. Following this guideline, the Ecoparc 2 of Montcada i Reixac, belonging to the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, submits the OFMSW to anaerobic digestion and then the digestate is separated mechanically, fisrt by pressing and then by centrifugation. The solid of press (Sp) and the solid of centrifugue (Sc) are com- posted together (CSp+Sc) and used as organic fertilizer. There are alternatives to the current treatment of the OFMSW as: (1) direct use of Sc as fertilizer, (2) composting of Sc (CSc) and (3) composting of Sp (CSp). This paper focuses on analyzing the recovery of nutrientsPostprint (published version

Living at the Wrong Time: Effects of Unmatching Official Time in Portugal and Western Spain

Human circadian rhythmicity is subjected to the internal circadian clock, the sun and social clocks (official time, social/work schedules). The discrepancy among these clocks, as occurs when official time does not match its geographical time zone, may produce circadian disruption. Western Spain (GMT+1/+2) and Portugal (GMT0/+1) share similar longitudes (sun time) but have different official times. This provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of official time on circadian rhythmicity and sleep in elderly and retired populations (with no remunerated duties presumed, although other social commitments may be present) at both locations. Although both populations slept enough for their age (7-8 h), circadian robustness (e.g., interdaily stability, relative amplitude) was greater in Portugal, especially during weekdays, while greater desynchronization (both body temperature vs. motor activity and body temperature vs. light exposure) tended to occur in the Spaniards. Once corrected by GMT0, meals took place later in Spain than in Portugal, especially as the day progresses, and a possible interplay between bed/meal timings and internal desynchronization was found. Our results point to the possible deleterious effect on circadian system robustness when official time is misaligned with its geographical time zone.This research was funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through a CIBERFES grant (CB16/10/00239, CB16/10/00468); Fundación General del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas through grant ModulEn (POCTEP 0348_CIE_6_E, Programa de cooperación INTERREG V-A España-Portugal) and Diabfrail LatAm (European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme No. 825546) awarded to MAR (all co-financed by FEDER). Grant RTI2018-093528-B-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”, by the “European Union” or by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”. A research fellowship was granted to MAB-C (20401/SF/17, Fundación Séneca, Región de Murcia (Spain)).S

Medical imaging clinical trials unit: a professional need

Purpose To design and describe a management and control tool and the human resources needed to efficiently manage the imaging process within clinical trials for a better quality of care for the patient. Methods A unit was created to efficiently organise the participation of our Medical Imaging Department in clinical trials. This entity was defined and monitored using a customized, flexible and modular software package that provides the necessary information to execute and monitor requests (appointments, protocols, reports, complaints, billing). Various indicators of activity and professional satisfaction were parameterised. Results From 2016 to 2020, 367 trials were participated and monitored, 50% of all the hospital clinical trials. The budget of the Medical Imaging Department grew by 47% in this period. The coordination with other departments and principal investigators improved, as shown by surveys (62% fluid and 38% very fluid), with a high perception of collaboration (86%). Conclusions The implementation of a Medical Imaging Clinical Trials Unit involve identifying the tasks, personnel, organisational needs, workflow, monitoring and invoicing. The creation of this Unit has improved the control and traceability of clinical trials within the Department.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Studing audition in fossil hominins: a new approach to the evolution of language?

The evolution of human language is one of the oldest questions inpaleoanthropology. Nevertheless, many previous attempts to approachthis question have not yielded informative results since they are oftenbased on anatomical features whose role in speech production in modernhumans is unclear or whose functional implications in fossil specimensare difficult to assess. We take a new approach to this question bystudying the evolution of audition. Human hearing differs from that ofchimpanzees and other primate taxa in maintaining a widened bandwidthof heightened sensitivity between 1-8 kHz, a region that contains relevantacoustic information in spoken language. Comparative analysis ofprimate audiograms suggests that this represents a unique derived featurein modern humans. Knowledge of the auditory capacities in our fossilhuman ancestors could greatly enhance the understanding of when thishuman pattern emerged during the course of our evolutionary history.Here we present a comprehensive approach to this question, onlyrarely addressed in human evolutionary studies. We have analyzed theauditory capacities in five fossil human specimens from the MiddlePleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) in the Sierra deAtapuerca of Spain. The results demonstrate that the Atapuerca (SH)hominins resemble modern humans in showing a widened bandwidth ofheightened sensitivity between 1-5 kHz, a frequency range whichoverlaps the range of frequencies emitted during spoken language. At thesame time, both modern humans and the Atapuerca (SH) hominins differfrom chimpanzees in showing a heightened sensitivity to the highconsonant area (approximately 3-5 kHz) of the so-called "speechbanana", a frequency range associated with consonant production inhuman spoken language.The presence of a modern human auditory pattern in the Atapuercahominins suggests that these Middle Pleistocene humans alreadypossessed the anatomical features of the outer and middle ear that supportthe perception of human spoken language. Given the intuitive, butdifficult to quantify, link between sound perception and vocal productionin animals, the study of auditory capacities may have implications for theemergence of language in our fossil human ancestors. Although the studyof audition is an indirect approach to the question of speech capacity infossil specimens, the results of the present study are consistent with otherrecent suggestions for the presence of some form of spoken language inthe genus Homo prior to the appearance of our own species, Homosapiens

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging assessment of muscle composition in myotonic dystrophy mice

Abstract Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a severe autosomal dominant neuromuscular disease in which the musculoskeletal system contributes substantially to overall mortality and morbidity. DM1 stems from a noncoding CTG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the DMPK gene. The human skeletal actin long repeat (HSALR) mouse model reproduces several aspects of the disease, but the muscle-wasting phenotype of this model has never been characterized in vivo. Herein, we used quantitative MRI to measure the fat and muscle volumes in the leg compartment (LC) of mice. These acquired data were processed to extract relevant parameters such as fat fraction and fat infiltration (fat LC/LC) in HSALR and control (FBV) muscles. These results showed increased fat volume (fat LC) and fat infiltration within the muscle tissue of the leg compartment (muscle LC), in agreement with necropsies, in which fatty clumps were observed, and consistent with previous findings in DM1 patients. Model mice did not reproduce the characteristic impaired fat fraction, widespread fat replacement through the muscles, or reduced muscle volume reported in patients. Taken together, the observed abnormal replacement of skeletal muscle by fat in the HSALR mice indicates that these mice partially reproduced the muscle phenotype observed in humans

Eficiencia en el proceso de tratamiento de la fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales (FORM): estudio del caso Ecoparc 2 de Montcada i Reixach, Barcelona

Peer Reviewe

Eficiencia en el proceso de tratamiento de la fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales (FORM). Estudio del caso Ecoparc 2 de Montcada i Reixach, Barcelona

La fracción orgánica de los residuos municipales (FORM) comprende residuos procedentes de hogares particulares y residuos similares de otros establecimientos que los municipios recogen junto con la basura doméstica. Estos residuos constituyen entre el 30 y 50% de la masa total de los residuos sólidos municipale

Recovery of nutrients from organic fraction of municipal sólid waste (OFMSW) in the Ecoparc 2 of Montcada i Reixac, Barcelona: alternatives to the current process

Recovery of nutrients from the OFMSW is a relevant topic as evidenced by the European initiative \”End of Waste\”. Following this guideline, the Ecoparc 2 of Montcada i Reixac, belonging to the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, submits the OFMSW to anaerobic digestion and then the digestate is separated mechanically, fisrt by pressing and then by centrifugation. The solid of press (Sp) and the solid of centrifugue (Sc) are com- posted together (CSp+Sc) and used as organic fertilizer. There are alternatives to the current treatment of the OFMSW as: (1) direct use of Sc as fertilizer, (2) composting of Sc (CSc) and (3) composting of Sp (CSp). This paper focuses on analyzing the recovery of nutrient