Effects of pore-scale velocity and pore-scale physical processes on contaminant biodegradation during transport in groundwater: modeling and experiments

Contamination of surface and ground water has emerged as one of the most important environmental issues in developed and developing countries. Bioremediation of groundwater takes advantage of bacteria present in the environment to transform toxic compounds to non-toxic metabolites. This biotechnology holds the potential for fast, inexpensive, and effective water decontamination. However, it is still poorly understood and usually not fully controlled due to the lack of information describing the natural phenomena involved. Therefore, a better understanding of the phenomena involved during bioremediation of groundwater could help in the design and implementation of more efficient technologies. The main objective of the present research is to assess how pore-scale physical factors, such as pore-scale velocity, affect the degradation potential of contaminants during transport in groundwater. The target chemicals studied were chlorinated ethenes because they are commonly found in contaminated groundwater sites. To achieve the research objective, the following were employed: a mathematical model that links pore scale processes to the macro-scale representation of contaminant transport; development of numerical tools to solve the mathematical model; and experimental elucidation of the influence of pore-scale flow velocity on the biodegradation of contaminants using column experiments. Results from the mathematical model and experiments were used to elucidate the inter-relationship between physical and biological phenomena at the micro scale. The influence of flow velocity through the porous media (a physical factor) on the biological structure (microbial community in the porous media) was assessed. The results of this investigation contribute to the bioremediation of contaminated groundwater understanding with new insights on the importance of physical transport factors on the biodegradation potential. For example, flow velocity is shown to have an important effect on the degradation potential of chlorinated ethenes. Additionally, the mathematical model and numerical tools have potential application to many other reactive transport problems, including: adsorption onto activated carbon, reaction in packed beds of catalyst, chemical transport in streambeds, and separation in chromatographic columns

Decoding protein networks during porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infection through proteomics

Le virus du syndrome reproducteur et respiratoire porcin (VSRRP) est un pathogène de grande importance dans l'industrie porcine car il peut entraîner des pertes économiques. L'une des lignées cellulaires couramment utilisée pour la recherche et la production de vaccins est MARC-145 (cellules rénales de singe vert africain). Les interactions moléculaires entre les cellules hôtes et le virus sont essentielles pour comprendre le mécanisme par lequel le virus utilise la machinerie cellulaire pour se répliquer et infecter les cellules voisines. Notre objectif était d'analyser les changements protéomiques produits lors de l'infection par le VSRRP chez les cellules MARC-145, y compris la composition des virions et des exosomes produits par les cellules infectées. Les surnageants des cellules infectées et non infectées ont été purifiés pour obtenir les virions et exosomes des cellules hôtes. Par la suite, les protéines extraites ont été analysées par spectrométrie de masse à haute résolution quadripolaire-hybride-Orbitrap, et classées selon la fonction moléculaire et la localisation subcellulaire. Le besoin d'obtenir des données protéomiques fiables a conduit au prochain objectif : optimiser l'infection des cellules MARC-145 par le VSRRP. Pour évaluer l'efficacité de l'infection, nous avons synchronisé l'infection en utilisant un virus marqué avec une protéine fluorescente verte améliorée (eGFP) et en ajoutant des polycations à différentes concentrations pour stimuler la liaison des particules virales à la cellule. Pour vérifier le pourcentage de cellules infectées, nous avons utilisé la microscopie à fluorescence et la cytométrie en flux. Nos résultats suggèrent que les protéines cellulaires affectées au cours de l'infection par le VSRRP pourraient jouer un rôle important dans la réponse immunitaire de l'hôte et / ou le cycle de vie viral. L’efficacité de l'utilisation de polycations pour augmenter l'infection par le VSRRP a été démontrée.Porcine reproductive and respiratory virus (PRRSV) is a pathogen of high importance in the porcine industry because it can lead to significant economic losses. One of the cell lines routinely used for research and vaccine production is MARC-145 (African green monkey kidney cells). Molecular interactions between the host cells and the virus are essential to understand how the virus uses the cell machinery to replicate and infect neighbouring cells. Our goal was to analyze the proteomic changes involved during the PRRSV infection in MARC-145 cells, including the composition of the infected cells' virions and exosomes. The infected and non-infected cells' supernatants were purified to obtain the host cells' virions and exosomes. Extracted proteins were further analyzed by High-Resolution-Quadrupole-Hybrid-Orbitrap mass spectrometry and classified according to molecular function and subcellular localization. The need for obtaining reliable proteomics data led to the next goal of optimizing the infection of MARC-145 cells with PRRSV. To assess the efficiency of the infection, we synchronized the infection, used a virus tagged with an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and added polycations at different concentrations to stimulate the binding of the viral particles to the cell. To verify the percentage of infected cells, we used fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Our findings suggest the cellular proteins affected during the PRRSV infection could play important roles in host immune response and/or the viral life cycle. The efficiency of the use of polycations was demonstrated to be effective in increasing PRRSV infection

Inmunosensors més eficaços gràcies a l'oxigen

El desenvolupament de nous biosensors amb elevada sensibilitat i baix cost de producció ha estat impulsat gràcies a la nanotecnologia. Aquest treball analitza la fabricació d'immunosensors electroquímics basats en un compòsit de nanotubs de carboni (CNT) i matriu polimèrica (poliestirè), sotmès a un plasma d'oxigen per millorar el rendiment dels sensors.El desarrollo de nuevos biosensores de gran sensibilidad y bajo coste se está potenciando gracias a la nanotecnología. Este trabajo explora la fabricación de inmunosensores electroquímicos a partir de un compuesto de nanotubos de carbono y matriz polimérica (poliestireno), sometido a un plasma de oxígeno para mejorar el rendimiento de los sensores

Estudio de la relación entre el clima organizacional y el enganchamiento en un instituto de educación privada de acapulco

En el presente estudio se analiza la relación entre el clima organizacional y el enganchamiento de los empleados en un instituto de educación privada de Acapulco. El objetivo fue determinar el impacto que el clima tiene sobre el enganchamiento y desarrollar un plan de acción que contribuya a elevar el nivel de enganchamiento a través de acciones en el clima organizacional. El método consistió en un estudio cuantitativo, correlacional y transversal donde se aplicó un cuestionario integrado por dos escalas: una para medir el clima organizacional y otra para medir el enganchamiento. La población participante se integró por 142 empleados del instituto (92% del personal). Las correlaciones halladas entre ambas variables, y entre cada dimensión del clima organizacional y el enganchamiento, indicaron que el clima organizacional sí tiene impacto en el enganchamiento. Cinco de las siete dimensiones que se evaluaron del clima organizacional presentaron correlaciones positivas y significativas con al menos uno de los tipos de enganchamiento. El tipo de enganchamiento que mayor impacto tuvo fue el afectivo, seguido del cognitivo y el físico. Con los datos obtenidos se realizó un plan de acción orientado a mejorar dos de los aspectos del clima organizacional, que según este estudio, presentaron mayor impacto al enganchamiento y, además, obtuvieron la puntuación más baja entre los siete aspectos medidos del clima organizacional

“Adopción de las tecnologías, beneficiado húmedo, cocinas mejoradas y lagunetas de captación de agua en la Subcuenca del río Jucuapa, Matagalpa, durante el primer semestre 2009”

“Adopción de las tecnologías, beneficiado húmedo, cocinas mejoradas y lagunetas de captación de agua en la Subcuenca del río Jucuapa, Matagalpa, durante el primer semestre 2009”. Palabras clave: adopción, beneficiado húmedo, cocinas mejoradas, lagunetas de captación de agua, factores, beneficios, productores. Se realizó un estudio en la Subcuenca del Río Jucuapa Matagalpa, con los objetivos, determinar el grado de adopción de las tecnologías, beneficiado húmedo, cocinas mejoradas y lagunetas de captación de agua, identificar algunos de los factores que influyen en la adopción de estas tecnologías y valorar los beneficios que han obtenidos los productores mediante la adopción de dichas tecnologías. La metodología empleada fue: revisión de información secundaria, visitas a algunas instituciones miembros del comité ejecutivo de cuencas, entrevistas a productores beneficiarios de las tecnologías bajo estudio, empleo de técnica fotográfica. Se encontró que en la Subcuenca del Río Jucuapa, el grado de adopción general es del 82.01%. La tecnología beneficio húmedo obtuvo el mayor índice de adopción con 92.31%, seguido de las lagunetas de captación de agua con 85.71%, siendo las cocinas mejoradas la tecnología menos adoptada con 68 %. Los mayores niveles de adopción se encontraron en las comunidades El Mango, Jucuapa Centro, Ocotal y Las Mercedes. Los índices más bajos de adopción se presentaron en las comunidades de Las Delicias y Jucuapa Abajo. Los factores que están condicionando la adopción de tecnologías son económicos como el tamaño de la finca, disponibilidad de mano de obra y los incentivos. También los beneficios que los productores obtuvieron durante el uso de las tecnología

Psychomotor Impairment Detection via Finger Interactions with a Computer Keyboard During Natural Typing

Modern digital devices and appliances are capable of monitoring the timing of button presses, or finger interactions in general, with a sub-millisecond accuracy. However, the massive amount of high resolution temporal information that these devices could collect is currently being discarded. Multiple studies have shown that the act of pressing a button triggers well defined brain areas which are known to be affected by motor-compromised conditions. In this study, we demonstrate that the daily interaction with a computer keyboard can be employed as means to observe and potentially quantify psychomotor impairment. We induced a psychomotor impairment via a sleep inertia paradigm in 14 healthy subjects, which is detected by our classifier with an Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) of 0.93/0.91. The detection relies on novel features derived from key-hold times acquired on standard computer keyboards during an uncontrolled typing task. These features correlate with the progression to psychomotor impairment (p < 0.001) regardless of the content and language of the text typed, and perform consistently with different keyboards. The ability to acquire longitudinal measurements of subtle motor changes from a digital device without altering its functionality may allow for early screening and follow-up of motor-compromised neurodegenerative conditions, psychological disorders or intoxication at a negligible cost in the general population.Comunidad de Madri

Effects of pore-scale velocity and pore-scale physical processes on contaminant biodegradation during transport in groundwater: modeling and experiments

Contamination of surface and ground water has emerged as one of the most important environmental issues in developed and developing countries. Bioremediation of groundwater takes advantage of bacteria present in the environment to transform toxic compounds to non-toxic metabolites. This biotechnology holds the potential for fast, inexpensive, and effective water decontamination. However, it is still poorly understood and usually not fully controlled due to the lack of information describing the natural phenomena involved. Therefore, a better understanding of the phenomena involved during bioremediation of groundwater could help in the design and implementation of more efficient technologies. The main objective of the present research is to assess how pore-scale physical factors, such as pore-scale velocity, affect the degradation potential of contaminants during transport in groundwater. The target chemicals studied were chlorinated ethenes because they are commonly found in contaminated groundwater sites. To achieve the research objective, the following were employed: a mathematical model that links pore scale processes to the macro-scale representation of contaminant transport; development of numerical tools to solve the mathematical model; and experimental elucidation of the influence of pore-scale flow velocity on the biodegradation of contaminants using column experiments. Results from the mathematical model and experiments were used to elucidate the inter-relationship between physical and biological phenomena at the micro scale. The influence of flow velocity through the porous media (a physical factor) on the biological structure (microbial community in the porous media) was assessed. The results of this investigation contribute to the bioremediation of contaminated groundwater understanding with new insights on the importance of physical transport factors on the biodegradation potential. For example, flow velocity is shown to have an important effect on the degradation potential of chlorinated ethenes. Additionally, the mathematical model and numerical tools have potential application to many other reactive transport problems, including: adsorption onto activated carbon, reaction in packed beds of catalyst, chemical transport in streambeds, and separation in chromatographic columns

Aplicación WEB con énfasis multimedia para alumnos de Enfermería de segundo año en Procedimientos Básicos de Enfermería de la FAREM Matagalpa, año 2013

En el estudio realizado se evaluó el proceso de Enseñanza-Aprendizaje de la asignatura de Procedimientos Básicos de Enfermería, de la Carrera de Enfermería de la UNAN FAREM-Matagalpa, en el cual se describió la manera en que se imparte dicha asignatura y se identificaron dificultades y se valoraron algunas alternativas que ayuden a reforzar el proceso de Enseñanza-Aprendizaje, año 2013. Del resultado de la investigación se encontró que el docente de la asignatura procedimientos básicos de enfermería imparte la clase de manera tradicional dando primero la teoría y luego esta se lleva a la práctica utilizando los laboratorios que se encuentran situados en el recinto Rubén Darío; el alumno al equivocarse en realizar la técnica o procedimiento debe iniciar de nuevo, al indagar más sobre el proceso se encontraron dificultades que se le presentan a los alumnos al momento de comprender la teoría y luego llevar está a la práctica lo cual le dificulta en su desarrollo de destrezas. Al valorar las dificultades encontradas en dicho proceso, se tomaron dos alternativas, una de ellas es la propuesta de adquisición, de nuevos equipos (Computadoras), dominio, personal requerido. La segunda solo seria lo del personal requerido, debido a que la UNAN FAREM MATAGALAPA cuenta con los todos los medios tanto hardware y software para su buen funcionamiento. La alternativa mas óptima es la segunda, ya que la universidad cuenta con los recursos necesario para la implementación de la aplicación. Esta alternativa tiene un menor costo que la primera. (Ver Anexo N° 6

Overviews of vaccine technology for neglected diseases in developing Latin America country - Peru

Immunization has been the greatest strategy to prevent sickness and death associated with infectious diseases [1]. So, vaccine technology has evolved to produce more immunogenic vaccines and to avoid the exposure to disease-causing organisms during manufacturing and treatment [2]. Conversely, 2.5 million people are still dying globally each year from vaccine-preventable diseases since the underuse of vaccines and lack vaccines against non-well studied pathogens [2]. Only Cuba, Brazil and Argentina are listed as producers of vaccines against infectious diseases such as yellow fever, leishmaniasis and rotavirus [3]. The roles of mentioned developing countries are crucial because the produced vaccines are economically affordable which increase an increment of vaccine coverage [3]. However, neglected communities are still susceptible to pathogens that are non-well documented since they do not represent a high risk for public health. In Peru, several deaths are associated with the infection of bacteria borne diseases and along to the last decades and preventative treatment is not yet available. It has been developed some research aimed to develop a vaccine against Carrion’s disease in The National Institute of Health from Peru. The employed procedure to produce the vaccine against Carrion’s disease has not described the parameters used for the purification and characterization to obtain a highly pure molecule for animal trial, consequently, the unexpected results could be obtained because the vaccine candidate did not achieve the basic standard for the evaluation [4]. In conclusion, there are few the developing Latin American countries involved in the vaccine technology field, and it is required to integrate effort among global institutions to face diseases that affect neglected communities in developing countries. Please click Download on the upper right corner to see the full abstract