Characterization of Heavy Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils Remediated by Thermal Methods

There are numerous opportunities in the lifecycle of oil extraction, transport, and use where it can potentially contaminate the environment, in particular water and soil. Various technologies have been developed to remediate soil contamination; the techniques can be categorized as either energetic, where energy is required for treatment, or non-energetic, requiring no additional energy input. Previous studies have determined that energetic methods tend to be more effective at reducing total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). In particular, thermal desorption was found to remove hydrocarbons in the target molecular size range of hydrocarbon species up to C₄₀, while leaving beneficial carbon content, such as soil organics, intact. The goal of this study was the characterization of soil treated with energetic remediation methods. Specifically, soils treated by indirect thermal desorption (inert environment) or directly heated thermal desorption (heated by products of combustion, including oxygen) were characterized to determine their efficacy and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Temperature programmed reaction experiments (including oxidation and desorption) were used to measure the relative amounts of total, mobile, and fixed carbon content remaining on the treated soil. For the indirect thermal desorption, total carbon content was found to reduce proportionately with decreases in initial oil concentration and only marginally with increases in either treatment temperature or residence time. The minimum time and temperature values (15 minutes and 370°C, respectively) were found to adequately reduce total carbon and, by extension, TPH. Further increases in residence time or treatment temperature would increase treatment costs for insubstantial gains. Increased temperature and decreased oil concentration both decreased total carbon for the direct heated thermal desorption treatment. In contrast to the indirect treatment, total carbon reduction in the direct treatment appeared to be a stronger function of temperature, with total carbon content for the maximum temperature being a quarter of that at the minimum. Initial oil concentration appeared to be normalized to some extent by the direct treatment, with respective carbon content levels approaching each other. It was again determined that the minimum energy input treatments characterized herein would sufficiently reduce TPH. For a 15 minute residence time and 420°C treatment temperature, the indirect treatment was found to have produced a larger carbon content reduction than the direct treatment. The Boudouard reaction is a proposed explanation for this result on the basis of entrance and exit gas flow compositions, as well as the increased fixed carbon found on the direct treated soil

Uso de herramientas digitales para mejorar la habilidad de escritura en Inglés en una institución educativa de Huamachuco, 2022

La investigación, se basa en la teoría del conectivismo, el objetivo fue determinar que las herramientas digitales mejoran la habilidad de escritura del idioma inglés en estudiantes de cuarto grado de educación secundaria de una Institución Educativa de Huamachuco durante el año 2022. Tiene un enfoque cuantitativo, tipo aplicada y diseño pre experimental. La muestra fueron 37 estudiantes y se utilizó un cuestionario validado por juicio de expertos con una confiabilidad de 0.83; para procesar la información se usó el software estadístico SPSS V25. Se determinó que las herramientas digitales mejoran la habilidad de escritura en estudiantes de educación secundaria, siendo Sig. Asintótica < .001. La habilidad de escritura en el pretest era baja en un 68%, después de aplicar las herramientas digitales, en el postest, es alta en un 76%. En la actualidad las actividades de escritura en los estudiantes están alejadas de las herramientas digitales, por lo que la enseñanza en el nivel secundario debe ayudarse de los aportes técnicos que estos recursos proveen, así mismo favorece a los docentes ya que les permite aprender a usar correctamente las herramientas digitales y tomarlo como un estilo pedagógico

Effects of Previous Land-Use on Plant Species Composition and Diversity in Mediterranean Forests

At some point in their history, most forests in the Mediterranean Basin have been subjected to intensive management or converted to agriculture land. Knowing how forest plant communities recovered after the abandonment of forest-management or agricultural practices (including livestock grazing) provides a basis for investigating how previous land management have affected plant species diversity and composition in forest ecosystems. Our study investigated the consequences of historical “land management” practices on present-day Mediterranean forests by comparing species assemblages and the diversity of (i) all plant species and (ii) each ecological group defined by species’ habitat preferences and successional status (i.e., early-, mid-, and late-successional species). We compared forest stands that differed both in land-use history and in successional stage. In addition, we evaluated the value of those stands for biodiversity conservation. The study revealed significant compositional differentiation among stands that was due to among-stand variations in the diversity (namely, species richness and evenness) of early-, intermediate-, and late-successional species. Historical land management has led to an increase in compositional divergences among forest stands and the loss of late-successional forest species

Plant β-diversity i in human-altered forest ecosystems: the importance of the structural, spatial, and topographical characteristics of stands in patterning plant species assemblages

An understanding of spatial patterns of plant species diversity and the factors that drive those patterns is critical for the development of appropriate biodiversity management in forest ecosystems. We studied the spatial organization of plants species in human- modified and managed oak forests (primarily, Quercus faginea) in the Central Pre- Pyrenees, Spain. To test whether plant community assemblages varied non-randomly across the spatial scales, we used multiplicative diversity partitioning based on a nested hierarchical design of three increasingly coarser spatial scales (transect, stand, region). To quantify the importance of the structural, spatial, and topographical characteristics of stands in patterning plant species assemblages and identify the determinants of plant diversity patterns, we used canonical ordination. We observed a high contribution of ˟-diversity to total -diversity and found ˟-diversity to be higher and ˞-diversity to be lower than expected by random distributions of individuals at different spatial scales. Results, however, partly depended on the weighting of rare and abundant species. Variables expressing the historical management intensities of the stand such as mean stand age, the abundance of the dominant tree species (Q. faginea), age structure of the stand, and stand size were the main factors that explained the compositional variation in plant communities. The results indicate that (1) the structural, spatial, and topographical characteristics of the forest stands have the greatest effect on diversity patterns, (2) forests in landscapes that have different land use histories are environmentally heterogeneous and, therefore, can experience high levels of compositional differentiation, even at local scales (e.g., within the same stand). Maintaining habitat heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales should be considered in the development of management plans for enhancing plant diversity and related functions in human-altered forest

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership In Burnout Of Nurses And Doctors In A Public Hospital Of Mexico

This study analyzes the relationship between supervisors’ leadership styles and subordinates’ experience of burnout. We tested relationships between transformational, transactional and non leadership styles and facets of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment), using the Bass and Avolio and Maslach Models, while controlling for subordinates’ demographics and hierarchical level. We applied the MLQ and MBI questionnaires to a sample of 102 employees in a Mexican Public Hospital to Doctors and Nurses. Our Structural Equations Models determined that inverse significant correlations were found between the different leadership subscales and burnout, excepting with those of the Laissez Faire, being positive. The theoretical and empirical findings of previous studies of the Model of Bass and Avolio, as well as of the Model of Maslach were reaffirmed; the subscale of depersonalization was eliminated. The reliability coefficients Alpha of Cronbach were higher than, 70 in all the variables.

Immunohistochemical C-FOS expression and autoradiography to study galnin/neuropeptide y Y1 receptor-receptor interactions in the amygdala

We have shown Galanin(GAL)/Neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor(Y1) interactions in the nucleus tractus solitarius and the arcuate nucleus. Since both peptides play an important role in mood disorders, the aim of this work was to study GAL/Y1 interactions in the amygdala(AMY), key nucleus for fear, mood, and motivation. We have combined the analysis of the expression of c-Fos immunoreactivity(c-Fos IR) with an autoradiographic study in the AMY. Groups of anaesthetized rats (n=4) received intracerebroventricular injections(icv) of GAL(3nmol) and the Y1 agonist Leu31-Pro34NPY(3nmol) alone or in combination, and were sacrificed 90 minutes after the injections. Immunohistochemical detection of c-Fos protein(1:5000) in AMY sections and stereological analysis were performed in: Basal(BA), lateral(LA), Central [lateral capsular subdivision(CeC), lateral intermediate subdivision(CeI), medial subdivision(CeM)] and the medial paracapsular intercalated(ITC) subnuclei of the AMY. For Autoradiography, rats (n=6) were sacrificed 15 minutes after icv injections of GAL(3nmol) and AMY sections were incubated with Y1 agonist [125I]-Leu31-Pro34-PPY (25 pM). Autoradiograms were analyzed using the NIH image analysis system. Student’s unpaired t- test and ANOVA followed by Newman-Keuls were used, respectively. We observed within the AMY that GAL increased c-Fos IR in ITC and CeC; the Y1 agonist induced both, an increase of c-Fos IR in BA and CeC and a decrease of c-Fos IR in LA and ITC. The coadministration of both peptides induced a specific effect in the ITC, significantly decreasing the c-Fos expression (P<0,05) induced by GAL or the Y1 agonist alone. Moreover, we observed that GAL significantly increased (p<0,05) the Y1 receptor agonist binding [I125]Leu31Pro34-PYY in the AMY. These results demonstrate an interaction between GAL and Y1 at the cellular and receptor level in the AMY and suggest that endogenous GAL and NPY system might interact to regulate emotional behaviours.Spanish CVI6476, TV3-Marató 090130/31/32 and Universidad de Málaga (Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

From Total Roman Domination in Lexicographic Product Graphs to Strongly Total Roman Domination in Graphs

[EN] Let G be a graph with no isolated vertex and let N (v) be the open neighbourhood of v is an element of V (G). Let f : V (G) -> {0, 1, 2} be a function and V-i = {v is an element of V (G) : f (v) = i} for every i is an element of{0, 1, 2}. We say that f is a strongly total Roman dominating function on G if the subgraph induced by V-1 boolean OR V-2 has no isolated vertex and N (v) boolean AND V-2 not equal empty set for every v is an element of V (G) \ V2. The strongly total Roman domination number of G, denoted by gamma(s)(tR) (G), is defined as the minimum weight omega(f) = Sigma(x is an element of V(G)) f (x) among all strongly total Roman dominating functions f on G. This paper is devoted to the study of the strongly total Roman domination number of a graph and it is a contribution to the Special Issue "Theoretical Computer Science and Discrete Mathematics" of Symmetry. In particular, we show that the theory of strongly total Roman domination is an appropriate framework for investigating the total Roman domination number of lexicographic product graphs. We also obtain tight bounds on this parameter and provide closed formulas for some product graphs. Finally and as a consequence of the study, we prove that the problem of computing gamma(s)(tR) (G) is NP-hard.Almerich-Chulia, A.; Cabrera Martinez, A.; Hernandez Mira, FA.; Martín Concepcion, PE. (2021). From Total Roman Domination in Lexicographic Product Graphs to Strongly Total Roman Domination in Graphs. Symmetry (Basel). 13(7):1-10. https://doi.org/10.3390/sym13071282S11013

Research and Development of Environmental Awareness about Water in Primary Education Students through Their Drawings

Drinking water is a scarce resource and the problems associated with its poor management and conservation are generating significant imbalances in the well-being of society, human health, and the environment. This research paper aims to determine the level of environmental awareness of primary school students in Spain (n = 95) of the management, use, and sustainable care of water, before and after applying a training program that allows working on the contents of water, from the different dimensions and shortcomings of environmental awareness identified in the paper. The study was undertaken from a mixed Research and Development approach (R&D), with an exploratory sequential design [QUAL(quan) → QUAL(quan)], in which, initially, a qualitative content analysis of the students’ drawings was carried out, to subsequently apply a number of complementary quantitative analyses. The qualitative phase involved the elaboration of a mixed category (deductive-inductive) system that allowed for the organization and interpretation of the information obtained. The results of this work reveal low levels of knowledge about the integral water cycle. Primary school students also show a low degree of responsibility towards water issues. The conclusions of this study point to the need to address content related to water care and conservation in the educational curriculum from a multidimensional and interdisciplinary approach, in order to understand the origin and impact of water problems.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

COVID-19 outbreaks in a transmission control scenario: challenges posed by social and leisure activities, and for workers in vulnerable conditions, Spain, early summer 2020

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 community-wide transmission declined in Spain by early May 2020, being replaced by outbreaks and sporadic cases. From mid-June to 2 August, excluding single household outbreaks, 673 outbreaks were notified nationally, 551 active (>6,200 cases) at the time. More than half of these outbreaks and cases coincided with: (i) social (family/friends' gatherings or leisure venues) and (ii) occupational (mainly involving workers in vulnerable conditions) settings. Control measures were accordingly applied.S