Microbial Fuel Cell Transformation of Recalcitrant Organic Compounds in Support of Biosensor Research

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have the potential to be used as low-cost, real-time biosensors for drinking water sources. MFCs have been shown to produce current through oxidation of readily degradable organic substrates and the current can be correlated to the substrate concentration. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the transformation of recalcitrant organic compounds, such as aldicarb, in MFCs and to determine if the current generation and current metrics are related to the transformation, through the measured concentrations, of these recalcitrant organic compounds. Partial transformation of aldicarb was observed over two days in the presence of aerobic bacteria when aldicarb was initially at 1 mg L-1 (average concentration difference 13.8%). The aldicarb concentration changed very little when in the presence of anaerobic bacteria, or when added to deionized water or feed media (average concentration difference anaerobic bacteria 0.7%, feed solution 1.8%, deionized water 2.0%). Aldicarb transformation was greater in MFCs than in the aerobic bacteria solution but only partial transformation was observed (average concentration difference MFC1 15.9%, MFC3 28.8%). These data confirm that biotransformation of aldicarb does not occur readily. Aldicarb does not serve as a substrate for the bacteria that generate current in MFCs. This finding was supported by the fact that #1) there were no strong linear regression correlations between the change in aldicarb concentration and the current metrics generated from the MFC, #2) cyclic voltammetry profiles show very little oxidation potential for aldicarb, #3) the majority of current generation from the aldicarb feed cycles was most likely due to the acetonitrile solvent, and #4) MFCs did not show a tendency to acclimate to aldicarb

Present-day deformation of the Pyrenees revealed by GPS surveying and earthquake focal mechanisms until 2011

The Pyrenean mountain range is a slowly deforming belt with continuous and moderate seismic activity. To quantify its deformation field, we present the velocity field estimated from a GPS survey of the Pyrenees spanning 18 yr. The PotSis and ResPyr networks, including a total of 85 GPS sites, were installed and first measured in 1992 and 1995 1997, respectively, and remeasured in 2008 and 2010. We obtain a deformation field with velocities less than 1 mm yr−1 across the range. The estimated velocities for individual stations do not differ significantly from zero with 95 per cent confidence. Even so, we estimate a maximum extensional horizontal strain rate of 2.0 ± 1.7 nanostrain per year in a N S direction in the western part of the range. We do not interpret the vertical displacements due to their large uncertainties. In order to compare the horizontal strain rates with the seismic activity, we analyse a set of 194 focal mechanisms using three methods: (i) the 'r' factor relating their P and T axes, (ii) the stress tensors obtained by fault slip inversion and (iii) the strain-rate tensors. Stress and strain-rate tensors are estimated for: (i) the whole data set, (ii) the eastern and western parts of the range separately, and (iii) eight zones, which are defined based on the seismicity and the tectonic patterns of the Pyrenees. Each of these analyses reveals a lateral variation of the deformation style from compression and extension in the east to extension and strike-slip in the west of the range. Although the horizontal components of the strain-rate tensors estimated from the seismic data are slightly smaller in magnitude than those computed from the GPS velocity field, they are consistent within the 2σ uncertainties. Furthermore, the orientations of their principal axes agree with the mapped active faults

Certificação de produtos orgânicos: obstáculos à implantação de um sistema participativo de garantia na Andaluzia, Espanha.

O trabalho analisa o processo de organização de produtores orgânicos da Andaluzia que estiveram envolvidos em uma tentativa de implantação de um sistema participativo de garantia. Esta iniciativa foi liderada pela administração dessa comunidade autônoma espanhola entre 2006 e 2008. O estudo baseia-se em entrevistas realizadas com atores sociais que estiveram implicados nesse processo, identificando os obstáculos políticos e organizativos que impediram que essa proposta pudesse avançar

Aspects socioéconomiques de l'origine dans les filières agroalimentaires : territoires, coordination et institutions

National audienceL'économie des produits de qualité et d'origine apparaît aujourd'hui comme un champ de recherche légitime et particulièrement fécond. Les initiatives de l'Union européenne en matière de protections géographiques (Appellations d'origine protégée et Indications géographiques protégées), et leur impact sur le développement agricole et la protection des consommateurs posent en effet d'importantes questions de recherche en matière d'économie et de gestion des entreprises, des filières et de territoires, dans un contexte général de globalisation des économies. C'est pourquoi ce colloque concernait aussi bien les aspects territoriaux que sectoriels. Les communications ont été présentées dans quatre ateliers : Attentes des consommateurs et comportements envers les produits ; Economie spatiale et produits ; Economie de la filière : marchés et coordination, stratégies et gestion ; Accords locaux et globaux sur la qualité et l'origine. La conclusion essentielle des travaux met en évidence l'importance croissante de la coordination et de l'apprentissage dans la gestion des systèmes : coordination pour produire de la confiance, contrats de fonctionnement ou émergence des conventions qui servent de cadre aux actions. Ces thèmes doivent être vus à la fois sous un angle statique (description et évaluation du fonctionnement des systèmes d'acteurs, des territoires, des normes et du marché) et sous un angle dynamique (apprentissage collectif, distribution du savoir dans les systèmes d'acteurs, émergence de partenariats efficaces et équitables, émergences de conventions, apparition de nouveaux modes de consommation et de relations entre consommateurs et producteurs)

Aspects socioéconomiques de l'origine dans les filières agroalimentaires : territoires, coordination et institutions

National audienceL'économie des produits de qualité et d'origine apparaît aujourd'hui comme un champ de recherche légitime et particulièrement fécond. Les initiatives de l'Union européenne en matière de protections géographiques (Appellations d'origine protégée et Indications géographiques protégées), et leur impact sur le développement agricole et la protection des consommateurs posent en effet d'importantes questions de recherche en matière d'économie et de gestion des entreprises, des filières et de territoires, dans un contexte général de globalisation des économies. C'est pourquoi ce colloque concernait aussi bien les aspects territoriaux que sectoriels. Les communications ont été présentées dans quatre ateliers : Attentes des consommateurs et comportements envers les produits ; Economie spatiale et produits ; Economie de la filière : marchés et coordination, stratégies et gestion ; Accords locaux et globaux sur la qualité et l'origine. La conclusion essentielle des travaux met en évidence l'importance croissante de la coordination et de l'apprentissage dans la gestion des systèmes : coordination pour produire de la confiance, contrats de fonctionnement ou émergence des conventions qui servent de cadre aux actions. Ces thèmes doivent être vus à la fois sous un angle statique (description et évaluation du fonctionnement des systèmes d'acteurs, des territoires, des normes et du marché) et sous un angle dynamique (apprentissage collectif, distribution du savoir dans les systèmes d'acteurs, émergence de partenariats efficaces et équitables, émergences de conventions, apparition de nouveaux modes de consommation et de relations entre consommateurs et producteurs)

Une methode unifiee de correction des images RSO acquises en terrain accidente

International Symposium on Physical Measurements and Signatures in Remote Sensing ; 7; 1997; Courchevel, FranceInternational audienc

High-resolution imaging of the Pyrenees and Massif Central from the data of the PYROPE and IBERARRAY portable array deployments

The lithospheric structures beneath the Pyrenees, which holds the key to settle long-standing controversies regarding the opening of the Bay of Biscay and the formation of the Pyrenees, are still poorly known. The temporary PYROPE and IBERARRAY experiments have recently filled a strong deficit of seismological stations in this part of western Europe, offering a new and unique opportunity to image crustal and mantle structures with unprecedented resolution. Here we report the results of the first tomographic study of the Pyrenees relying on this rich data set. The important aspects of our tomographic study are the precision of both absolute and relative traveltime measurements obtained by a nonlinear simulated annealing waveform fit and the detailed crustal model that has been constructed to compute accurate crustal corrections. Beneath the Massif Central, the most prominent feature is a widespread slow anomaly that reflects a strong thermal anomaly resulting from the thinning of the lithosphere and upwelling of the asthenosphere. Our tomographic images clearly exclude scenarios involving subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath the Pyrenees. In contrast, they reveal the segmentation of lithospheric structures, mainly by two major lithospheric faults, the Toulouse fault in the central Pyrenees and the Pamplona fault in the western Pyrenees. These inherited Hercynian faults were reactivated during the Cretaceous rifting of the Aquitaine and Iberian margins and during the Cenozoic Alpine convergence. Therefore, the Pyrenees can be seen as resulting from the tectonic inversion of a segmented continental rift that was buried by subduction beneath the European plate.The PYROPE experiment was supported by the French Research Agency ÔANR blancÕ program (project PYROPE, ANR-09-BLAN-0229). We also acknowledge SISMOB, the French seismic mobile pool (a component of the RESIF consortium), for providing us with the seismological instrumentation for the temporary deployments. We thank also thank the IGN and IGC for making their broadband data available to us, Julie Perrot for sending us data from a short period array in Vendee and Jean Michel Douchain for preparing ©2014 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved. the data of the ReNass stations in the Massif Central. This is a contribution of the Team Consolider-Ingenio 2010 TOPO-IBERIA (CSD2006-00041).Peer reviewe