Green in times of COVID-19: urban green space relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Buenos Aires City

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the way we perceive our world. This study explores its effect on Urban Green Space (UGS) perception in Buenos Aires City (CABA), Argentina. We provide a detailed overview of the distribution of UGS in CABA, along with socio-economic analysis and visitors' profile and perception before and during the restrictive measures adopted by the national authorities to contain the COVID-19 outbreak (July to December of 2020). We conducted a series of surveys based on open and closed questions. Before the pandemic, surveys were carried out in situ in eight parks of six districts, randomly chosen. During the confinement, online surveys were conducted. According to our results, the mean UGS density in CABA is 6.09 m2 /person, but marked differences between districts exist, ranging from 0.02 m2 /person to 17.68 m2 /person. This uneven distribution causes differences in the quality of life of CABA inhabitants, perhaps more pronounced during reduced-mobility situations like COVID-19 confinement. Socio economic analysis were done linking multidimensional poverty, COVID-19 positive cases and urban mobility in CABA. Regarding UGS visitors, before the confinement, the majority of respondents were employees or students; during the confinement, employees and retirees predominated. When asked to choose important attributes to describe their perception about the UGS from a given list, respondents selected “calm,” “green,” and “sounds of nature,” without differences before and during the confinement. However, when asked about the UGS role, the main answer was “a place to be with nature” before the confinement and “an important place in the city” during it. Understanding how society perceives the UGS, especially during crises, is essential to rethink the urban landscape and prepare our cities, towards biophilic cities and for a more sustainable future.Fil: Marconi, Patricia Laura. Universidad Maimónides; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Perelman, Patricia Eleonora. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Salgado, Vanina Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentin

Influencia de reguladores de crecimiento sobre el establecimiento de cultivos in vitro de Salvia hispánica L. (“chia”) y sobre su contenido de ácidos grasos

Salvia hispánica L. (Labiateae), comúnmente conocida como chía, es una especie herbácea anual cuyo cultivo está ampliamente extendido por América del Sur. Recientemente está siendo utilizada como cultivo industrial y para elaboración de alimentos funcionales por su contenido en proteínas, antioxidantes, fibras y lípidos esenciales. El aceite de sus semillas contiene la mayor proporción (68%) de omega-3 de cualquier fuente vegetal conocida. El objetivo de este trabajo fue establecer cultivos in vitro de chía y analizar la influencia de diferentes reguladores de crecimiento sobre la inducción de callos, sobre el crecimiento de los mismos y sobre su contenido de ácidos grasos. Se iniciaron cultivos de callos in vitro a partir de explantos de tallos sin nudos y de hojas de plántulas axénicas de 20 días de edad utilizando 3 tratamientos de reguladores de crecimiento diferentes. El medio Murashige & Skoog modificado (MSRT) con el agregado de ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxiacético (2,4-D) a una concentración de 2.25 µM y un fotoperíodo de 16 horas fueron las condiciones óptimas para la inducción de callos. Para el mantenimiento de los callos el tratamiento más adecuado resultó bencilaminopurina (BAP) a una concentración de 1 mM. La cinética de crecimiento se caracterizó por un período de latencia hasta el día 20 de cultivo, seguido de un período de crecimiento exponencial entre los días 20 y 54. El tratamiento con 2,4-D (2.25 µM) mostró la más alta velocidad específica de crecimiento (0.22 ± 0.01 /día), el tiempo de duplicación más bajo (31.51 ± 1.00 días) y la mayor biomasa máxima (1.46 ± 0.01 g PF). El contenido de ácidos grasos en los callos de chía fue 0.83 % en promedio de todos los tratamientos después de 6 meses en cultivo y no mostró variaciones significativas (0.2% - 0.3%) entre los tratamientos aplicados (p < 0.05).Salvia hispanica L. (Labiateae), whose vulgar name is chia, is an annual herb cultured in South America. Recently, their content of proteins, antioxidants, fibers and essential lipids has promoted its exploitation as an industrial culture and to produce functional food. The seed oils contain the highest proportion (68 %) of omega-3 in the plant kingdom. The aim of this work was to establish in vitro cultures of chia and to analyze the influence of different plant growth regulators on the establishment of calli, their growth, and their fatty acids content. In vitro cultures were initiated from 20 days-old plantlets with different plant growth regulators relationship. The media Murashige & Skoog (MSRT) modified added by 2,4-dichlore phenoxyaceticacid (2,4-D) at 2.25 µM, and a photoperiod of 16 h were the optimal conditions for starting the cultures. For their maintenance the optimal conditions were with the addition of the plant growth regulator benzylaminopurine (BAP) at 1.00 µM. The kinetic of growth presented a lag period of 20 days followed by an exponential period of 34 days. The treatment with 2,4-D (2.25 µM) produced the highest specific growth rate (0.22 ± 0.01 d-1), the lowest duplication time (31.51 ± 1.00 d) and the highest maximal biomass (1.46 ± 0.01 g). The mean fatty acid content was 0.83 % for all the conditions after 6 months in culture without significant differences (0.2 % - 0.3 %) among the different treatments (p < 0.05).Fil: Bari, Martín León. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Marconi, Patricia Laura. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: López, María Cristina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Maria Alejandra. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Optimization of a Bioremediation Strategy for an Urban Stream of Matanza- Riachuelo Basin

In the present work, a remediation bioprocess based on the use of a local isolate of the microalgae Chlorella vulgaris immobilized in alginate beads is proposed. This process was shown to be effective for the reduction of several chemical and microbial contaminants present in Cildáñez stream, a water course that is part of the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin (Buenos Aires, Argentina). The bioprocess, involving the culture of the microalga in autotrophic conditions in a stirred-tank bioreactor supplied with a marine propeller for 6 days, allowed a significant reduction of Escherichia coli and total coliform numbers (over 95%), as well as of ammoniacal nitrogen (96%), nitrates (86%), nitrites (98%), and total phosphorus (53%) contents. Pb content was also significantly diminished after the bioprocess (95%). Standardized cytotoxicity tests using Allium cepa seeds and Cildáñez water pre- and post-remediation were also performed. Germination rate and mitotic index of onion seeds imbibed in Cildáñez water subjected to the bioprocess was similar to that observed in seeds imbibed in distilled water and significantly superior to that registered when untreated Cildáñez water was used for imbibition. Our results demonstrate the potential of this simple and cost-effective technology to remove urban-water contaminants, offering as an additional advantage the possibility of an easy biomass recovery, which may become a source of alternative energy.Fil: Groppa, María Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Trentini, Andrea Giannina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Zawoznik, Myriam Sara. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica; ArgentinaFil: Bigi, Roxana Ines. Agencia de Protección Ambiental; Argentina. Centro de Información y Formación Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Nadra, Carlos. Autoridad de Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo.; ArgentinaFil: Marconi, Patricia Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaInternational Conference on Bioremediation and BiodegradationEstambulTurquíaWorld Academy of Science, Engineering and Technolog

Influence of the KDEL signal, DMSO and mannitol on the production of the recombinant antibody 14D9 by long-term Nicotiana tabacum cell suspension culture

We have established two transgenic cell suspension culture lines of Nicotiana tabacum that express the catalytic antibody 14D9 as a secretory product (sec-Ab) or as a KDEL-tagged product in the endoplasmic reticulum (Ab-KDEL), respectively. After 3 years of culture, the performance improved to a production level of 0.15 ± 0.03 μg ml−1 on the seventh day of culture for the sec-Ab line and 0.48 ± 0.05 μg ml−1 on the third day for Ab-KDEL line. Analysis of the effect of osmotic stress using mannitol (90 g l−1) as an osmolite revealed that there was a 12-fold increase in antibody yield (1.96 ± 0.20 μg ml−1) on the seventh day of culture in line sec-Ab and a fivefold increase (2.31 ± 0.18 μg ml−1) on the seventh day for line Ab-KDEL. The concentration of the antibody in the culture medium was not significant. Dimethyl sulfoxide used as a permeabilizing agent was not effective in increasing 14D9 yield, but it did cause distinctive cell damage at all concentrations tested.Facultad de Ciencias Exacta

Development and testing of a 3D-printable polylactic acid device to optimize a water bioremediation process

In the present work, a remediation bioprocess based on the use of a native isolate of Chlorella vulgaris immobilized in an alginate matrix inside a polylactic acid (PLA) device is proposed. This microalga immobilized in alginate beads was previously shown to be useful for the reduction of several chemical and microbial contaminants present in the highly polluted water from the Matanza–Riachuelo watershed. However, these beads had a relatively short shelf life in the natural environment. To overcome this limitation, a 3D-printed PLA device was designed. PLA is a biocompatible and biodegradable material suitable for biotechnological applications. We used Erlenmeyers and stirred-tank bioreactors fed batch with Murashige Skoog (MS) culture medium or water from the Cildáñez stream (one of the water bodies of the aforementioned watershed) to estimate the growth kinetics parameters and the bioremediation capacity of immobilized-microalgal cells as an unconfined system (UcS) or a confined system (CfS) inside PLA devices on Cildáñez water. Although alga’s growth parameters were maximum in the UcS fed with MS medium as substrate, successful bioremediation of the target water was possible using the CfS: all inorganic nitrogen forms and total phosphorus were reduced at least by 90% after 5 days of bioprocess in an agitated bioreactor, whereas aerobic mesophilic bacteria decreased by about 85%. The number of coliforms also decreased. Standardized cytotoxicity tests using Allium cepa seeds carried out to prove the effectiveness of the bioremediation process, confirmed the high degree of decontamination achieved by the use of immobilized microalga confined in a 3D-printable PLA-device.Fil: Marconi, Patricia Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Trentini, Andrea Giannina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Zawoznik, Myriam Sara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Nadra Chaud, Carlos Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero; Argentina. Autoridad de Cuenca Matanza Riachuelo.; ArgentinaFil: Mercadé, Juan José. Agencia de Protección Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez Novoa, Juan Gabriel. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Orozco, Daniel. Universidad Maimónides. Área de Investigaciones Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas. Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y de Diagnóstico; ArgentinaFil: Groppa, María Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas "Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Físico-Química Biológicas; Argentin

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Search for supersymmetry in events with one lepton and multiple jets in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of the top quark mass using charged particles in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Measurement of t(t)over-bar normalised multi-differential cross sections in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV, and simultaneous determination of the strong coupling strength, top quark pole mass, and parton distribution functions

Peer reviewe