Mantos inducidos por microbialitas en sedimentos siliciclásticos plio-cuaternarios? del NO de Iberia

Microbial mats are organo-sedimentary deposits formed by bacteria that trap or synthesize certain chemical elements. This type of activity gives rise to the formation of lamellar and/or columnar bioconstructions (stromatolites) and/or concentric structures (oncolites and thrombolites). The study of microbial mats used to be restricted mainly to marine and coastal environments related to the formation of ancient carbonate sediments (Palaeozoic/Proterozoic), and/or extreme conditions in hypersaline environments. However, in recent years, the presence of these forms has been identified in continental siliciclastic rocks and sediments with a temporal distribution that reaches into modern times. In this study, several levels of ferruginous crusts associated with microbial activity are found, interspersed in a Cenozoic deposit located in the province of Zamora. This deposit consists of concentric, laminated iron structures filled with silt, interspersed throughout a clayey-silt layer of variegated colors which shows signs of bioturbation and desiccation due to fluid escape. These findings allow the inference of the sedimentary and climatic conditions responsible for the growth and preservation of microbial mats in the siliciclastic sediments of the north-western edge of the Duero BasinLos mantos microbiales constituyen depósitos organosedimentarios formados por bacterias que atrapan o sintetizan determinados elementos químicos. Este tipo de actividad da lugar a la formación de estructuras laminares y/o columnares (estromatolitos) y/o concéntricas (oncolitos y trombolitos). Su estudio, por tanto, quedaba reducido principalmente a ambientes marinos y litorales relacionados con la formación de sedimentos carbonatados de edad muy antigua (Paleozoico/ Proterozoico), y/o condiciones extremas en ambientes hipersalinos. Sin embargo, en los últimos años, se ha identificado la presencia de estas formas en rocas y sedimentos de afinidad continental y carácter siliciclástico, que se extienden temporalmente hasta la actualidad. En este estudio, se presenta el hallazgo de varios niveles de costras ferruginosas asociadas a la actividad microbiana, intercalados en un depósito cenozoico de la provincia de Zamora. Se trata de una serie de niveles caracterizados por la presencia de capas ferruginosas laminadas y concéntricas, constituidas por limos que aparecen en el techo y muro de un nivel arcilloso-limoso de colores abigarrados y signos de bioturbación y desecación por escape de fluidos. Este singular hallazgo permite establecer las condiciones sedimentarias y climáticas responsables del crecimiento y conservación de mantos microbianos en sedimentos siliciclásticos del borde noroccidental de la cuenca del Duer

Entrepreneurship and Social Work: a comparison between Social Work students and graduates

Social Work is a profession dedicated to help people who have a problematic situation to be solved. Social Workers have abilities and resources to resolve problems and they use the abilities of the person who needs that help to empower them. The ambit of those professionals is very varied: public administration, private companies or NGOs. In this context, we analyze the role played by entrepreneurs. In this work we have collected information that allows us to draw conclusions about social entrepreneurship and the vision that social workers have about that movement. To do so, we have sent a questionnaire, previously validated by experts in the field, aimed at Social Work students and graduates. The treatment of this informaticon has enabled us to find out their opinion about entrepreneurship, the differences in the way of thinking between both groups concerning the creation or not of companies and if they believe that they might be entrepreneurs in the future. We have detected little entrepreneurial spirit among social workers, partly due to the lack of this entrepreneurial culture not only in society but also in the curriculum of Social Work degrees

Mantos inducidos por microbialitas en sedimentos siliciclásticos plio-cuaternarios? Del NO de Iberia

[EN] Microbial mats are organo-sedimentary deposits formed by bacteria that trap or synthesize certain chemical elements. This type of activity gives rise to the formation of lamellar and/or columnar bioconstructions (stromatolites) and/or concentric structures (oncolites and thrombolites). The study of microbial mats used to be restricted mainly to marine and coastal environments related to the formation of ancient carbonate sediments (Palaeozoic/Proterozoic), and/or extreme conditions in hypersaline environments. However, in recent years, the presence of these forms has been identified in continental siliciclastic rocks and sediments with a temporal distribution that reaches into modern times. In this study, several levels of ferruginous crusts associated with microbial activity are found, interspersed in a Cenozoic deposit located in the province of Zamora. This deposit consists of concentric, laminated iron structures filled with silt, interspersed throughout a clayey-silt layer of variegated colors which shows signs of bioturbation and desiccation due to fluid escape. These findings allow the inference of the sedimentary and climatic conditions responsible for the growth and preservation of microbial mats in the siliciclastic sediments of the north-western edge of the Duero Basin.[ES] Los mantos microbiales constituyen depósitos organosedimentarios formados por bacterias que atrapan o sintetizan determinados elementos químicos. Este tipo de actividad da lugar a la formación de estructuras laminares y/o columnares (estromatolitos) y/o concéntricas (oncolitos y trombolitos). Su estudio, por tanto, quedaba reducido principalmente a ambientes marinos y litorales relacionados con la formación de sedimentos carbonatados de edad muy antigua (Paleozoico/ Proterozoico), y/o condiciones extremas en ambientes hipersalinos. Sin embargo, en los últimos años, se ha identificado la presencia de estas formas en rocas y sedimentos de afinidad continental y carácter siliciclástico, que se extienden temporalmente hasta la actualidad. En este estudio, se presenta el hallazgo de varios niveles de costras ferruginosas asociadas a la actividad microbiana, intercalados en un depósito cenozoico de la provincia de Zamora. Se trata de una serie de niveles caracterizados por la presencia de capas ferruginosas laminadas y concéntricas, constituidas por limos que aparecen en el techo y muro de un nivel arcilloso-limoso de colores abigarrados y signos de bioturbación y desecación por escape de fluidos. Este singular hallazgo permite establecer las condiciones sedimentarias y climáticas responsables del crecimiento y conservación de mantos microbianos en sedimentos siliciclásticos del borde noroccidental de la cuenca del DueroSIThis work was partially funded by the Projects 0284_Esmimet_3_E (Interreg V-A Programa de Cooperación España-Portugal, 2014-2020) and LE167G18 (Junta de Castilla y León, Spain)

EM Modelling of Monostatic RCS for Different Complex Targets in the Near-Field Range: Experimental Evaluation for Traffic Applications

An evaluation of monostatic radar cross section (RCS) response in the near-field range was performed for several targets with different and complex topologies. The main objective was to provide and validate an efficient tool based on electromagnetic (EM) simulations to characterize a traffic scenario. Thus, a novel method based on the combination of geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) and physical optics (PO) was used to estimate RCS, and the results were compared with the method of moments (MoM) methodology. The simulations were xperimentally validated using a commercial vehicular frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar at 24 GHz. With this simple measurement system, RCS measurements can be made using an easier and cheaper process to obtain RCS response in the near-field range, which is the most usual situation for traffic applications. A reasonable agreement between the measurements and the EM simulations was observed, validating the proposed methodology in order to efficiently characterize the RCS of targets typically found in real traffic scenarios.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, European Union and Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La Manch

Organic fraction of municipal solid waste for the production of L-lactic acid with high optical purity

The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is an abundant biowaste with great potential in the bioeconomy model. Previous reports have demonstrated that OFMSW hydrolysates are good substrates for lactic acid (LA) production. However, LA can exist in two enantiomeric forms (L- and D-) and most commercial LA applications require a high enantiomeric purity, typically of the L-isomer. Due to natural occurring bacteria in the waste, a mixture of D- and L-LA can form in the substrate, reducing the final enantiomeric purity of the product and limiting its commercial application. In the research reported in this article, hydrolysates from OFMSW were evaluated for the production L-LA with high enantiomeric purity. Firstly, a pre-treatment with monopolar electrodialysis membranes was implemented to remove the unfavourable D-LA in the hydrolysate. This step allowed the reduction in LA concentration and subsequent fermentations of the hydrolysate resulted in enantiomeric purities over 98%. At the pilot scale, a fermentation of the pre-treated hydrolysate, by B. coagulans A166, resulted in a final LA concentration of 61.1 g L−1 and a yield of 0.94 g g−1. The downstream of the process resulted on a LA recovery of 51.5% and a L-LA optical purity of 98.7%

Assessing the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes for the production of lactic acid

With an estimated yearly production of about 140 Mt in the EU, conventionally, the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (OFMSW) has been disposed in landfills with negative environmental effects. Nonetheless, the chemical composition of this residue make it a substrate with great bioconversion potential. In this study, OFMSW from Spanish municipal treatment plants, were evaluated for the production of LA. Samples were identified according to the sorting mechanisms employed for their collection in: (A) separately collected, (B) non-separately collected and (C) separately collected+paper/cardboard. Enzymatic hydrolysis was used to produce hydrolysates A, B and C accordingly. Hydrolysate A showed the highest total sugars and glucose content with values of 70 and 55 g·L−1, respectively. Following the characterisation, a screening showed that growth of B. coagulans was possible in all three hydrolysates. Furthermore, lab scale fermentations showed that LA final concentrations could reach around 60 g·L−1, with yields from total sugars of above 0.60 g·g−1. A technical scale fermentation of the hydrolysate A resulted in a final LA concentration of 60.7 g·L−1, a yield of 0.71 g·g−1 with a productivity of 2.68 g·L−1·h−1. Overall, it was estimated that 0.23 g of LA could be produced from one g of dry OFMSW

Métodos de escalamiento aplicados a la priorización de necesidades de formación en organizaciones

Los criterios para priorizar las necesidades que justifican las acciones formativas a implantar no se suelen explicitar a priori en los programas de formación continua en contextos organizacionales. En este trabajo se proponen los métodos de escalamiento como procedimiento factible y útil para identificar criterios explícitos de priorización de necesidades, y se concreta cuál de ellos es más apropiado en este contexto de intervención. 404 empleados de una organización pública cumplimentaron un cuestionario ad hoc para priorizar necesidades formativas en diferentes áreas durante el período 2004 al 2006; concretamente, se ordenaron 117, 75 y 286 estímulos, respectivamente. Se calcularon y compararon las ordenaciones obtenidas con cuatro métodos de escalamiento: el método de Dunn-Rankin y tres métodos derivados de la Ley del Juicio Categórico de Thurstone, concretamente ordenación por rangos, intervalos sucesivos e intervalos aparentemente iguales. Con los resultados, se constata la factibilidad y utilidad de estos métodos de escalamiento para la solución de los problemas planteados; a partir de los métodos más precisos, se propone el uso del método de ordenación por rangos por su parsimonia (respecto a sencillez en su procedimiento); y se anticipan futuras líneas de actuación

Osteostatin potentiates the bioactivity of mesoporous glass scaffolds containing Zn2+ ions in human mesenchymal stem cell cultures

There is an urgent need of biosynthetic bone grafts with enhanced osteogenic capacity. In this study, we describe the design of hierarchical meso-macroporous 3D-scaffolds based on mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), enriched with the peptide osteostatin and Zn2+ ions, and their osteogenic effect on human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) as a preclinical strategy in bone regeneration. The MBG compositions investigated were 80%SiO2– 15%CaO–5%P2O5 (in mol-%) Blank (BL), and two analogous glasses containing 4% ZnO (4ZN) and 5% ZnO (5ZN). By using additive fabrication techniques, scaffolds exhibiting hierarchical porosity: mesopores (around 4 nm), macropores (1-600 m) and big channels ( 1000 m), were prepared. These MBG scaffolds with or without osteostatin were evaluated in cell cultures of hMSCs. Zinc promoted hMSCs colonization (both the surface and inside) of MBG scaffolds. Moreover, Zn2+ ions and osteostatin together, but not independently, in the scaffolds were found to induce the osteoblast differentiation genes runt related transcription factor-2 (RUNX2) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in hMSCs after 7 d of culture in the absence of an osteogenic differentiation-promoting medium. These results add credence to the combined use of zinc and osteostatin as an effective strategy for bone regeneration applications

Impact of amyloid-PET in daily clinical management of patients with cognitive impairment fulfilling appropriate use criteria

To evaluate the use of amyloid-positron emission tomography (PET) in routine clinical practice, in a selected population with cognitive impairment that meets appropriate use criteria (AUC). A multicenter, observational, prospective case-series study of 211patients from 2 level-3 hospitals who fulfilled clinical AUC for amyloid-PET scan in a naturalistic setting. Certainty degree was evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale: 0 (very low probability); 1 (low probability); 2 (intermediate probability); 3 (high probability); and 4 (practically sure), before and after amyloid PET. The treatment plan was considered as cognition-specific or noncognition-specific. Amyloid-PET was positive in 118 patients (55.9%) and negative in 93 patients (44.1%). Diagnostic prescan confidence according amyloid-PET results showed that in both, negative and positive-PET subgroup, the most frequent category was intermediate probability (45.7% and 55.1%, respectively). After the amyloid-PET, the diagnostic confidence showed a very different distribution, that was, in the negative-PET group the most frequent categories are very unlikely (70.7%) and unlikely (29.3%), while in the positive- PET group were very probable (57.6%) and practically sure (39%). Only in 14/211 patients (6.6%) the result of the amyloid-PET did not influence the diagnostic confidence, while in 194 patients (93.4%), the diagnostic confidence improved significantly after amyloid- PET results. The therapeutic intention was modified in 93 patients (44.1%). Specific treatment for Alzheimer disease was started, before amyloid-PET, in 80 patients (37.9%). This naturalistic study provides evidence that the implementation of amyloid-PET is associated with a significant improvement in diagnostic confidence and has a high impact on the therapeutic management of patients with mild cognitive impairment fulfilled clinical AUC

In Vitro Evaluation of the Biological Effects of ACTIVA Kids BioACTIVE Restorative, Ionolux, and Riva Light Cure on Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells

This study aimed to analyze the biological effects of three new bioactive materials on cell survival, migration, morphology, and attachment in vitro. ACTIVA Kids BioACTIVE Restorative (Pulpdent, Watertown, MA, USA) (Activa), Ionolux (Voco, Cuxhaven, Germany), and Riva Light Cure UV (SDI, Bayswater, Australia) (Riva) were handled and conditioned with a serum-free culture medium. Stem cells from human dental pulp (hDPSCs) were exposed to material extracts, and metabolic activity, cell migration, and cell morphology were evaluated. Cell adhesion to the different materials was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical composition of the materials was evaluated by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). One-way analysis of variance followed by a Tukey test was performed (p < 0.05). Ionolux promoted a drastic reduction in metabolic activity and wound closure compared to the control (p < 0.05), whereas Activa induced adequate metabolic activity and cell migration. Moreover, SEM and immunofluorescence analysis showed abundant cells exposed to Activa. The materials showed different surface morphologies, and EDX spectra exhibited different peaks of C, O, Si, S, Ca, and F ions in glass ionomer cements. The results showed that Activa induced cell migration, cell attachment, and cell viability to a greater extent than Riva and Ionolux.The Spanish Net of Cell Therapy (TerCel), RETICS subprograms of the I+D+I 2013-2016 Spanish National Plan, and project “RD16/0011/0001” funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III to JMM and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund supported this workS