Comparative analysis of two genomic regions among four strains of Buchnera aphidicola, primary endosymbiont of aphids.

Preliminary analysis of two selected genomic regions of Buchnera aphidicola BCc, the primary endosymbiont of the cedar aphid Cinara cedri, has revealed a number of interesting features when compared with the corresponding homologous regions of the three B. aphidicola genomes previously sequenced, that are associated with different aphid species. Both regions exhibit a significant reduction in length and gene number in B. aphidicola BCc, as it could be expected since it possess the smallest bacterial genome. However, the observed genome reduction is not even in both regions, as it appears to be dependent on the nature of their gene content. The region fpr-trxA, that contains mainly metabolic genes, has lost almost half of its genes (45.6%) and has reduced 52.9% its length. The reductive process in the region rrl-aroK, that contains mainly ribosomal protein genes, is less dramatic, since it has lost 9.3% of genes and has reduced 15.5% of its length. Length reduction is mainly due to the loss of protein-coding genes, not to the shortening of ORFs or intergenic regions. In both regions, G+C content is about 4% lower in BCc than in the other B. aphidicola strains. However, when only conserved genes and intergenic regions of the four B. aphidicola strains are compared, the G+C reduction is higher in the fpr-trxA region

Degradation of organic compounds in paper and testile industrial wastewaters by advanced axidation processes

Les activitats de recerca destinades a la solució dels problemes de contaminació de les aigües estan patint un fort increment en els darrers anys. Entre les indústries més contaminants, cal esmentar la tèxtil i la paperera, i més concretament, els efluents provinents d´etapes deblanqueig. Quan els tractaments biològics convencionals d'aquests efluents contaminants no són efectius, la utilització de tecnologies emergents, tals com els processos d´oxidació avançada (AOP´s), basats en la formació in situ de radicals hidroxil, es mostra adient. Amb l´objectiu de provar la viabilitat de tractar efluents contaminants amb el radical hidroxil, vàrem triar l´ozonització i la fotocatàlisi per abordar efluents de blanqueig de pastes papereres generats en el laboratori. Aquesta prova mostrà que la fotocatàlisi pot reduir eficientment el contingut de carrega orgànica tot seguint una equació cinètica de Langmuir-Hinshelwood. A més, la combinació simultània de fotocatàlisi i ozonització produí un efecte sinèrgic que millorava el rendiment respecte al cas d´aplicar ambdós AOP´s de manera seqüencial.Tot i assumint que el radical hidroxil era l´oxidant adequat, planificàrem un extens estudi, fent servir aigües residuals industrials i distints AOP´s. La disminució del TOC i el cost en el tractament varen ésser els paràmetres contrastats en els distints estudis, amb l´objectiu de descobrir els principals avantatges i inconvenients de cada procés. El procés d´ozonització requeria disminuir el seu cost. La presència d´ions ferro en el procés ozó/UVA va aconseguir la reducció d´un 90% de TOC conjuntament amb una disminució del 15% en el cost. L´ús seqüencial de tractaments genera millors resultats (addició de ferro amb o sense llum, seguit per una etapa d´ozonització). Conclusions similars es varen obtenir en treballar amb una matriu sintètica de 2,4-diclorfenol (compost trobat usualment en els efluents de blanqueix de pasta de paper).Referent a la fotocatàlisi, s´ha posat de manifest la necessitat d´utilitzar una font de llum potent i/o la millora de l´eficiència de la llum incident en el catalitzador de TiO2. En aquest sentit vàrem provar dues vies: (a) la utilització d´un nou muntatge experimental amb una font de llum de 125 W. Determinacions d´AOX, toxicitat aguda, fenols i de GC-MS ens van portar a concloure que els compostos orgànics de clor eren eliminats eficientment en l´aigua residual. (b) la utilització de guies d'ones recobertes de TiO2. Solució que permet augmentar l´eficiència amb la que el catalitzador aprofita la llum incident per tal de millorar el disseny de reactors fotocatalitics.L´últim procés provat, el reactiu Fenton, en presència de llum solar o artificial, es va aplicar a la degradació d´efluents de blanqueig tèxtils o paperers. La degradació del contingut de càrrega orgànica d'aquests effluents s´assolia preferentment a pH = 3. El primer estudi es realitzà sobre un efluent de blanqueig de pastes de paper. La funció aproximada del sistema, estimada a partir del disseny experimental, mostrà que concentracions inicials inadequades de reactiu Fenton afectaven negativament al procés, a causa de reaccions competitives entre aquest i altres espècies oxidatives. Així mateix, la temperatura augmentà clarament les velocitats de la reacció, inclús sense presència de radiació. La millora en la disminució del TOC és particularment significativa quan les proporcions de reactiu Fenton són inadequades (en passar de 25 ºC a 40 ºC es pot aconseguir una reducció en el cost de l´ordre del 80%). Per altre banda, la llum solar aconsegueix reduir fins un 70 % el cost total d'un tractament de dues hores de durada. L'anàlisi de GC-MS constata l´eliminació dels compostos clorfenòlics. Un segon estudi sobre un efluent tèxtil corroborà la gran importància de la temperatura i de la presència de llum solar. En resum, tots els AOP´s provats mostren, sota condicions experimentals adequades, la capacitat de degradació del contingut orgànic present en efluents de blanqueig procedents d´indústries papereres i tèxtils.There is an ever increasing amount of research activities especially devoted to the solution of water pollution problems.The pulp and textile industries are considered to be some of the largest polluters of all industries. The biggest problem with those industries consists in the polluted effluents discharged during the bleaching process because conventional biological treatments are not effective in treating these toxic pollutants. In these cases, the emerging technologies called Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) represent an attempt to mineralize the contaminants by the in situ formation of hydroxyl radicals.In order to determine the effectiveness of treating effluents with the hydroxyl radical we chose the photocatalytic and ozonation processes to treat bleaching pulp effluents generated in the laboratory. Our results demonstrated that the photocatalytic process could efficiently reduce the organic content in accordance with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic equation. Moreover, simultaneously combining photocatalysis and ozonation provided a synergistic effect that was superior in performance to that of applying the photocatalysis and ozonation processes sequentially.Our tests with laboratory bleaching pulp effluents assumed that the hydroxyl radical was the proper oxidant to be use. An extensive study was undertaken using industrial wastewaters and different AOPs. TOC decay and treatment costs were the operative variables compared in the study in order to discover the benefits and shortcomings of each process.It is imperative that the ozonation process decreases the treatment costs. The addition of iron ions to bleaching mill wastewater undergoing ozone/UVA treatment resulted in high rates of TOC removal (90%) and in a significant cost reduction (15%). Additionally, sequential processing (stirred iron, with or without light irradiation, followed by an ozonation stage) led to even better results. Similar results were obtained on the synthetic sample of 2,4-dichlorophenol (a compound typically found in paper pulp bleaching effluents) investigated. We noticed that the photocatalytic process requires either a powerful light source or an improvement of the light utilization efficiency of the TiO2 catalyst, or maybe both, to be most effective. We tested two strategies: (a) A new experimental setup that used a high power light (125 W) to accelerate the reaction rate. AOX, acute toxicity, phenol and a GC-MS analysis led us to conclude that the chlorine organic compounds were efficiently eliminated from the treated wastewater. (b) The second approach consisted in using titanium dioxide (TiO2)-coated waveguides. This approach increases the light utilization efficiency of the TiO2 catalyst with the aim of improve the reactor's design.The last process that was tested involved the addition of Fenton reagent to the bleaching pulp and textile effluents in conjunction with either artificial or solar light The degradation of the organic contents was successfully performed at pH = 3.The first study was performed on bleaching pulp effluent. The approximate function of the system, as assessed by the experimental design, showed that initial non-optimum concentrations of the Fenton reagent were detrimental to the process because of competitive reactions of the Fenton reagent with oxidative species. On the other hand, temperature markedly increased the reaction rates, even without light irradiation. The improvement in TOC removal was particularly significant when the reagent ratios were not optimal. A decrease in cost around 80% is possible by just increasing the temperature from 25ºC to 40ºC. Moreover, solar light reduced the total cost of a two hour treatment by up to 70 % and efficiently removed the chlorophenolic compounds as shown by GC-MS analysis.The second study performed on textile wastewater corroborates the importance of the temperature parameter and the utility of solar energy. In summary, all AOPs tested displayed the capability to degrade the organic components of bleaching Kraft mill and textile mill effluents under suitable experimental conditions.Postprint (published version

Degradation of organic compounds in paper and testile industrial wastewaters by advanced axidation processes

Les activitats de recerca destinades a la solució dels problemes de contaminació de les aigües estan patint un fort increment en els darrers anys. Entre les indústries més contaminants, cal esmentar la tèxtil i la paperera, i més concretament, els efluents provinents d´etapes deblanqueig. Quan els tractaments biològics convencionals d'aquests efluents contaminants no són efectius, la utilització de tecnologies emergents, tals com els processos d´oxidació avançada (AOP´s), basats en la formació in situ de radicals hidroxil, es mostra adient. Amb l´objectiu de provar la viabilitat de tractar efluents contaminants amb el radical hidroxil, vàrem triar l´ozonització i la fotocatàlisi per abordar efluents de blanqueig de pastes papereres generats en el laboratori. Aquesta prova mostrà que la fotocatàlisi pot reduir eficientment el contingut de carrega orgànica tot seguint una equació cinètica de Langmuir-Hinshelwood. A més, la combinació simultània de fotocatàlisi i ozonització produí un efecte sinèrgic que millorava el rendiment respecte al cas d´aplicar ambdós AOP´s de manera seqüencial.Tot i assumint que el radical hidroxil era l´oxidant adequat, planificàrem un extens estudi, fent servir aigües residuals industrials i distints AOP´s. La disminució del TOC i el cost en el tractament varen ésser els paràmetres contrastats en els distints estudis, amb l´objectiu de descobrir els principals avantatges i inconvenients de cada procés. El procés d´ozonització requeria disminuir el seu cost. La presència d´ions ferro en el procés ozó/UVA va aconseguir la reducció d´un 90% de TOC conjuntament amb una disminució del 15% en el cost. L´ús seqüencial de tractaments genera millors resultats (addició de ferro amb o sense llum, seguit per una etapa d´ozonització). Conclusions similars es varen obtenir en treballar amb una matriu sintètica de 2,4-diclorfenol (compost trobat usualment en els efluents de blanqueix de pasta de paper).Referent a la fotocatàlisi, s´ha posat de manifest la necessitat d´utilitzar una font de llum potent i/o la millora de l´eficiència de la llum incident en el catalitzador de TiO2. En aquest sentit vàrem provar dues vies: (a) la utilització d´un nou muntatge experimental amb una font de llum de 125 W. Determinacions d´AOX, toxicitat aguda, fenols i de GC-MS ens van portar a concloure que els compostos orgànics de clor eren eliminats eficientment en l´aigua residual. (b) la utilització de guies d'ones recobertes de TiO2. Solució que permet augmentar l´eficiència amb la que el catalitzador aprofita la llum incident per tal de millorar el disseny de reactors fotocatalitics.L´últim procés provat, el reactiu Fenton, en presència de llum solar o artificial, es va aplicar a la degradació d´efluents de blanqueig tèxtils o paperers. La degradació del contingut de càrrega orgànica d'aquests effluents s´assolia preferentment a pH = 3. El primer estudi es realitzà sobre un efluent de blanqueig de pastes de paper. La funció aproximada del sistema, estimada a partir del disseny experimental, mostrà que concentracions inicials inadequades de reactiu Fenton afectaven negativament al procés, a causa de reaccions competitives entre aquest i altres espècies oxidatives. Així mateix, la temperatura augmentà clarament les velocitats de la reacció, inclús sense presència de radiació. La millora en la disminució del TOC és particularment significativa quan les proporcions de reactiu Fenton són inadequades (en passar de 25 ºC a 40 ºC es pot aconseguir una reducció en el cost de l´ordre del 80%). Per altre banda, la llum solar aconsegueix reduir fins un 70 % el cost total d'un tractament de dues hores de durada. L'anàlisi de GC-MS constata l´eliminació dels compostos clorfenòlics. Un segon estudi sobre un efluent tèxtil corroborà la gran importància de la temperatura i de la presència de llum solar. En resum, tots els AOP´s provats mostren, sota condicions experimentals adequades, la capacitat de degradació del contingut orgànic present en efluents de blanqueig procedents d´indústries papereres i tèxtils.There is an ever increasing amount of research activities especially devoted to the solution of water pollution problems.The pulp and textile industries are considered to be some of the largest polluters of all industries. The biggest problem with those industries consists in the polluted effluents discharged during the bleaching process because conventional biological treatments are not effective in treating these toxic pollutants. In these cases, the emerging technologies called Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) represent an attempt to mineralize the contaminants by the in situ formation of hydroxyl radicals.In order to determine the effectiveness of treating effluents with the hydroxyl radical we chose the photocatalytic and ozonation processes to treat bleaching pulp effluents generated in the laboratory. Our results demonstrated that the photocatalytic process could efficiently reduce the organic content in accordance with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic equation. Moreover, simultaneously combining photocatalysis and ozonation provided a synergistic effect that was superior in performance to that of applying the photocatalysis and ozonation processes sequentially.Our tests with laboratory bleaching pulp effluents assumed that the hydroxyl radical was the proper oxidant to be use. An extensive study was undertaken using industrial wastewaters and different AOPs. TOC decay and treatment costs were the operative variables compared in the study in order to discover the benefits and shortcomings of each process.It is imperative that the ozonation process decreases the treatment costs. The addition of iron ions to bleaching mill wastewater undergoing ozone/UVA treatment resulted in high rates of TOC removal (90%) and in a significant cost reduction (15%). Additionally, sequential processing (stirred iron, with or without light irradiation, followed by an ozonation stage) led to even better results. Similar results were obtained on the synthetic sample of 2,4-dichlorophenol (a compound typically found in paper pulp bleaching effluents) investigated. We noticed that the photocatalytic process requires either a powerful light source or an improvement of the light utilization efficiency of the TiO2 catalyst, or maybe both, to be most effective. We tested two strategies: (a) A new experimental setup that used a high power light (125 W) to accelerate the reaction rate. AOX, acute toxicity, phenol and a GC-MS analysis led us to conclude that the chlorine organic compounds were efficiently eliminated from the treated wastewater. (b) The second approach consisted in using titanium dioxide (TiO2)-coated waveguides. This approach increases the light utilization efficiency of the TiO2 catalyst with the aim of improve the reactor's design.The last process that was tested involved the addition of Fenton reagent to the bleaching pulp and textile effluents in conjunction with either artificial or solar light The degradation of the organic contents was successfully performed at pH = 3.The first study was performed on bleaching pulp effluent. The approximate function of the system, as assessed by the experimental design, showed that initial non-optimum concentrations of the Fenton reagent were detrimental to the process because of competitive reactions of the Fenton reagent with oxidative species. On the other hand, temperature markedly increased the reaction rates, even without light irradiation. The improvement in TOC removal was particularly significant when the reagent ratios were not optimal. A decrease in cost around 80% is possible by just increasing the temperature from 25ºC to 40ºC. Moreover, solar light reduced the total cost of a two hour treatment by up to 70 % and efficiently removed the chlorophenolic compounds as shown by GC-MS analysis.The second study performed on textile wastewater corroborates the importance of the temperature parameter and the utility of solar energy. In summary, all AOPs tested displayed the capability to degrade the organic components of bleaching Kraft mill and textile mill effluents under suitable experimental conditions

On the reduction of 4-oxo-4h-benzopyran-3-carbaldehydes : global and local electrophilicity patterns

The theoretical global and local electrophilicity patterns of substituted and chelated 4-oxo-4H-benzopyran-3-carbaldehydes (formylchromones) have been evaluated using the electrophilicity index proposed by Parr et al [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 1922]. The complexation of formylchromones with aluminum predicts a strong electrophilic character of these compounds against nucleophiles. Local response at the active sites may also be assessed in terms of a global contribution described by the global electrophilicity, and a local contribution described by the variations in electrophilic Fukui function at those sites. The highest local electrophilicity is found at the formyl group of the chelated formylchromones, in spite of that, the highest positive charge is located on the pyrone carbonyl group. This result is consistent with the experimental observed reactivity displayed by 4-oxo-4H-benzopyran-3-carbaldehydes in the presence of 2-propanol and alumina

Professionals educats per un desenvolupament humà i sostenible

Donat un problema d’enginyeria, la sostenibilitat no n’és una finalitat, és una restricció que cal que satisfaci la solució d’aquest problema. Altrament, la solució sempre seria no fer res, tornar a les cavernes. És per això que la sostenibilitat no és ni pot ser mai una assignatura sinó una competència transversal que han d’adquirir totes les persones que es formen en les diferents disciplines de per a la solució de problemes.Peer Reviewe

Generalized Henneberg Stable Minimal Surfaces

We generalize the classical Henneberg minimal surface by giving an infinite family of complete, finitely branched, non-orientable, stable minimal surfaces in R3. These surfaces can be grouped into subfamilies depending on a positive integer (called the complexity), which essentially measures the number of branch points. The classical Henneberg surface H1 is characterized as the unique example in the subfamily of the simplest complexity m = 1, while for m ≥ 2 multiparameter families are given. The isometry group of the most symmetric example Hm with a given complexity m ∈ N is either isomorphic to the dihedral isometry group D2m+2 (if m is odd) or to Dm+1 × Z2 (if m is even). Furthermore, for m even Hm is the unique solution to the Bj¨orling problem for a hypocycloid of m + 1 cusps (if m is even), while for m odd the conjugate minimal surface H ∗ m to Hm is the unique solution to the Bj¨orling problem for a hypocycloid of 2m + 2 cusps.Universidad de Granada/CBUA CEX2020-001105-M/AEI/10.13039/501100011033Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (MICINN) Spanish GovernmentEuropean Commission PID2020-117868GB-I00 Junta de Andalucia P18-FR-4049 A-FQM-139-UGR1

The cargo protein MAP17 (PDZK1IP1) regulates the cancer stem cell pool activating the Notch pathway by abducting NUMB

Purpose: Cancer stem cells (CSC) are self-renewing tumor cells, with the ability to generate diverse differentiated tumor cell subpopulations. They differ from normal stem cells in the deregulation of the mechanisms that normally control stem cell physiology. CSCs are the origin of metastasis and highly resistant to therapy. Therefore, the understanding of the CSC origin and deregulated pathways is important for tumor control. Experimental Design: We have included experiments in vitro, in cell lines and tumors of different origins. We have used patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and public transcriptomic databases of human tumors. Results: MAP17 (PDZKIP1), a small cargo protein overexpressed in tumors, interacts with NUMB through the PDZ-binding domain activating the Notch pathway, leading to an increase in stem cell factors and cancer-initiating–like cells. Identical behavior was mimicked by inhibiting NUMB. Conversely, MAP17 downregulation in a tumor cell line constitutively expressing this gene led to Notch pathway inactivation and a marked reduction of stemness. In PDX models, MAP17 levels directly correlated with tumorsphere formation capability. Finally, in human colon, breast, or lung there is a strong correlation of MAP17 expression with a signature of Notch and stem cell genes. Conclusions: MAP17 overexpression activates Notch pathway by sequestering NUMB. High levels of MAP17 correlated with tumorsphere formation and Notch and Stem gene transcription. Its direct modification causes direct alteration of tumorsphere number and Notch and Stem pathway transcription. This defines a new mechanism of Notch pathway activation and Stem cell pool increase that may be active in a large percentage of tumors.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PI15/00045, CTS-1848Junta de Andalucía PI-00-96-2014, PI-0306-201

Periodontal disease affecting tooth furcations. A review of the treatments available

The molars are the teeth that suffer the greatest periodontal destruction in untreated patients. When periodontal disease affects the furcation of a tooth, the chance that it will be lost increases considerably. An increase in the exposed root surface, anatomical peculiarities and irregularities of the furcation surface all favor the growth of bacteria. These problems make it harder for the patient to maintain hygiene, and impede adequate treatment. The treatment of furcations affected by periodontal disease is one of the most difficult problems for the general dentist and periodontist. The motivation of both the attending professional and of the patient are therefore of great importance. No ideal procedure for treating such lesions exists. The present paper reviews those options that are currently available. Long-term research will be needed, along with the development of new techniques, to solve the problem of furcations affected by periodontal disease, possibly including substitution of the affected tooth by an implant

Uso de imágenes térmicas aéreas en remolacha azucarera (Beta vulgaris) para propuesta de riego de precisión

Para un manejo adecuado del riego es necesario tener información disponible de una manera rápida y sencilla. Gracias a los avances tecnológicos, esto es posible. En este trabajo se han utilizado imágenes captadas mediante una cámara térmica montada sobre un vehículo aéreo para evaluar el estado hídrico de un cultivo de remolacha azucarera en una parcela con una gran variabilidad espacial en las propiedades del suelo. Los resultados se han comparado con mediciones puntuales de la humedad del suelo. No se ha percibido una relación directa entre el estado hídrico del suelo y del cultivo. Por otro lado, sí se advierte una tendencia decreciente en la producción en relación al estrés hídrico detectado en el cultivo gracias a las imágenes térmicas. Se observan claramente las diferencias entre los distintos tipos de suelo, de modo que queda patente la conveniencia de llevar a cabo estrategias de riego diferenciales en función de la distribución de los mismos, especialmente en parcelas muy heterogéneas

MAP17 predicts sensitivity to platinum-based therapy, EGFR inhibitors and the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib in lung adenocarcinoma

Background The high incidence and mortality of lung tumours is a major health problem. Therefore, the identification both of biomarkers predicting efficacy for therapies in use and of novel efficacious therapeutic agents is crucial to increase patient survival. MAP17 (PDZK1IP1) is a small membrane-bound protein whose upregulation is reported as a common feature in tumours from diverse histological origins. Furthermore, MAP17 is correlated with tumour progression. Go to: Methods We assessed the expression of MAP17 in preclinical models, including cell lines and patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), assessing its correlation with sensitivity to different standard-of-care drugs in lung adenocarcinoma, as well as novel drugs. At the clinical level, we subsequently correlated MAP17 expression in human tumours with patient response to these therapies. Go to: Results We show that MAP17 expression is induced during lung tumourigenesis, particularly in lung adenocarcinomas, and provide in vitro and in vivo evidence that MAP17 levels predict sensitivity to therapies currently under clinical use in adenocarcinoma tumours, including cisplatin, carboplatin and EGFR inhibitors. In addition, we show that MAP17 expression predicts proteasome inhibitor efficacy in this context and that bortezomib, an FDA-approved drug, may be a novel therapeutic approach for MAP17-overexpressing lung adenocarcinomas. Go to: Conclusions Our results indicate a potential prognostic role for MAP17 in lung tumours, with particular relevance in lung adenocarcinomas, and highlight the predictive pot0065ntial of this membrane-associated protein for platinum-based therapy and EGFR inhibitor efficacy. Furthermore, we propose bortezomib treatment as a novel and efficacious therapy for lung adenocarcinomas exhibiting high MAP17 expression