947 research outputs found
Microalgae for municipal wastewater nutrient remediation: mechanisms, reactors and outlook for tertiary treatment
This review explores the use of microalgae for nutrient removal in municipal wastewater treatment, considering recent improvements in the understanding of removal mechanisms and developments of both suspended and non-suspended systems. Nutrient removal is associated to both direct and indirect uptake, with the former associated to the biomass concentration and growth environment (reactor). Importantly, direct uptake is influenced by the Nitrogen:Phosphorus content in both the cells and the surrounding wastewater, with opposite trends observed for N and P. Comparison of suspended and non-suspended systems revealed that whilst all were capable of achieving high levels of nutrient removal, only non-suspended immobilized systems could do so with reduced hydraulic retention times of less than 1 day. As microalgae are photosynthetic organisms, the metabolic processes associated with nutrient assimilation are driven by light. Optimization of light delivery remains a key area of development with examples of improved mixing in suspended systems and the use of pulsating lights to enhance light utilization and reduce costs. Recent data provide increased confidence in the use of microalgae for nutrient removal in municipal wastewater treatment, enabling effluent discharges below 1â
mgâ
Lâ1 to be met whilst generating added value in terms of bioproducts for energy production or nutrient recovery. Ultimately, the review suggests that future research should focus on non-suspended systems and the determination of the added value potential. In so doing, it is predicted that microalgae systems will be significant in the delivery of the circular economy
Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C.
Increased levels of the second messenger lipid diacylglycerol (DAG) induce downstream signaling events including the translocation of C1-domain-containing proteins toward the plasma membrane. Here, we introduce three light-sensitive DAGs, termed PhoDAGs, which feature a photoswitchable acyl chain. The PhoDAGs are inactive in the dark and promote the translocation of proteins that feature C1 domains toward the plasma membrane upon a flash of UV-A light. This effect is quickly reversed after the termination of photostimulation or by irradiation with blue light, permitting the generation of oscillation patterns. Both protein kinase C and Munc13 can thus be put under optical control. PhoDAGs control vesicle release in excitable cells, such as mouse pancreatic islets and hippocampal neurons, and modulate synaptic transmission in Caenorhabditis elegans. As such, the PhoDAGs afford an unprecedented degree of spatiotemporal control and are broadly applicable tools to study DAG signaling
The K2K SciBar Detector
A new near detector, SciBar, for the K2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation
expe riment was installed to improve the measurement of neutrino energy
spectrum and to study neutrino interactions in the energy region around 1 GeV.
SciBar is a 'fully active' tracking detector with fine segmentation consisting
of plastic scintillator bars. The detector was constructed in summer 2003 and
is taking data since October 2003. The basic design and initial performance is
presented.Comment: 7 pages, 4figures, Contributed to Proceedings of the 10th Vienna
Conference on Instrumentation, Vienna, February 16-21, 200
Potential health impacts of heavy metals on HIV-infected population in USA.
Noninfectious comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases have become increasingly prevalent and occur earlier in life in persons with HIV infection. Despite the emerging body of literature linking environmental exposures to chronic disease outcomes in the general population, the impacts of environmental exposures have received little attention in HIV-infected population. The aim of this study is to investigate whether individuals living with HIV have elevated prevalence of heavy metals compared to non-HIV infected individuals in United States. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 to compare exposures to heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and total mercury in HIV infected and non-HIV infected subjects. In this cross-sectional study, we found that HIV-infected individuals had higher concentrations of all heavy metals than the non-HIV infected group. In a multivariate linear regression model, HIV status was significantly associated with increased blood cadmium (p=0.03) after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, poverty income ratio, and smoking. However, HIV status was not statistically associated with lead or mercury levels after adjusting for the same covariates. Our findings suggest that HIV-infected patients might be significantly more exposed to cadmium compared to non-HIV infected individuals which could contribute to higher prevalence of chronic diseases among HIV-infected subjects. Further research is warranted to identify sources of exposure and to understand more about specific health outcomes
SMEs' Confidentiality Concerns for Security Information Sharing
Small and medium-sized enterprises are considered an essential part of the EU
economy, however, highly vulnerable to cyberattacks. SMEs have specific
characteristics which separate them from large companies and influence their
adoption of good cybersecurity practices. To mitigate the SMEs' cybersecurity
adoption issues and raise their awareness of cyber threats, we have designed a
self-paced security assessment and capability improvement method, CYSEC. CYSEC
is a security awareness and training method that utilises self-reporting
questionnaires to collect companies' information about cybersecurity awareness,
practices, and vulnerabilities to generate automated recommendations for
counselling. However, confidentiality concerns about cybersecurity information
have an impact on companies' willingness to share their information. Security
information sharing decreases the risk of incidents and increases users'
self-efficacy in security awareness programs. This paper presents the results
of semi-structured interviews with seven chief information security officers of
SMEs to evaluate the impact of online consent communication on motivation for
information sharing. The results were analysed in respect of the Self
Determination Theory. The findings demonstrate that online consent with
multiple options for indicating a suitable level of agreement improved
motivation for information sharing. This allows many SMEs to participate in
security information sharing activities and supports security experts to have a
better overview of common vulnerabilities. The final publication is available
at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57404-8_22Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 14th International Symposium on Human Aspects of
Information Security & Assurance (HAISA 2020
Potential conservation of circadian clock proteins in the phylum Nematoda as revealed by bioinformatic searches
Although several circadian rhythms have been described in C. elegans, its molecular clock remains elusive. In this work we employed a novel bioinformatic approach, applying probabilistic methodologies, to search for circadian clock proteins of several of the best studied circadian model organisms of different taxa (Mus musculus, Drosophila melanogaster, Neurospora crassa, Arabidopsis thaliana and Synechoccocus elongatus) in the proteomes of C. elegans and other members of the phylum Nematoda. With this approach we found that the Nematoda contain proteins most related to the core and accessory proteins of the insect and mammalian clocks, which provide new insights into the nematode clock and the evolution of the circadian system.Fil: Romanowski, AndrĂ©s. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones BioquĂmicas de Buenos Aires. FundaciĂłn Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones BioquĂmicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y TecnologĂa. Laboratorio de CronobiologĂa; ArgentinaFil: Garavaglia, MatĂas Javier. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y TecnologĂa. Laboratorio de Ing.genĂ©tica y Biolog.molecular y Celular. Area Virus de Insectos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Goya, MarĂa Eugenia. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y TecnologĂa. Laboratorio de CronobiologĂa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ghiringhelli, Pablo Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y TecnologĂa. Laboratorio de Ing.genĂ©tica y Biolog.molecular y Celular. Area Virus de Insectos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Golombek, Diego Andres. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y TecnologĂa. Laboratorio de CronobiologĂa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentin
Automating the Communication of Cybersecurity Knowledge: Multi-Case Study
Cybersecurity is essential for the protection of companies against cyber
threats. Traditionally, cybersecurity experts assess and improve a company's
capabilities. However, many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) consider
such services not to be affordable. We explore an alternative do-it-yourself
(DIY) approach to bringing cybersecurity to SMBs. Our method and tool, CYSEC,
implements the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to guide and motivate SMBs to
adopt good cybersecurity practices. CYSEC uses assessment questions and
recommendations to communicate cybersecurity knowledge to the end-user SMBs and
encourage self-motivated change. In this paper, the operationalisation of SDT
in CYSEC is presented and the results of a multi-case study shown that offer
insight into how SMBs adopted cybersecurity practices with CYSEC. Effective
automated cybersecurity communication depended on the SMB's hands-on skills,
tools adaptedness, and the users' willingness to documenting confidential
information. The SMBs wanted to learn in simple, incremental steps, allowing
them to understand what they do. An SMB's motivation to improve security
depended on the fitness of assessment questions and recommendations with the
SMB's business model and IT infrastructure. The results of this study indicate
that automated counselling can help many SMBs in security adoption. The final
publication is available at Springer via
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-59291-2_8Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, 13th World Conference on Information Security
Educatio
Crystallization of the Photosystem II core complex and its chlorophyll binding subunit CP43 from transplastomic plants of Nicotianatabacum
Photosystem II from transplastomic plants of Nicotiana tabacum with a hexahistidine tag at the N-terminal end of the PsbE subunit (α-chain of the cytochrome b559) was purified according to the protocol of Fey et al. (BBA 12:1501â1509, 2008). The protein sample was then subjected to two additional gel filtration runs in order to increase its homogeneity and to standardize the amount of detergent. Large three dimensional crystals of the core complex were obtained. Crystals of one of its chlorophyll binding subunits (CP43) in isolation grew in very similar conditions that differed only in the concentration of the detergent. Diffraction of Photosystem II and CP43 crystals at various synchrotron beamlines was limited to a resolution of 7 and 14 Ă
, respectively. In both cases the diffraction quality was insufficient for an unambiguous assignment of the crystallographic lattice or space group
Resistance to TGFÎČ suppression and improved anti-tumor responses in CD8âș T cells lacking PTPN22
Transforming growth factor ÎČ (TGFÎČ) is important in maintaining self-tolerance and inhibits T cell reactivity. We show that CD8âș T cells that lack the tyrosine phosphatase Ptpn22, a major predisposing gene for autoimmune disease, are resistant to the suppressive effects of TGFÎČ. Resistance to TGFÎČ suppression, while disadvantageous in autoimmunity, helps Ptpn22âŸ/⟠T cells to be intrinsically superior at clearing established tumors that secrete TGFÎČ. Mechanistically, loss of Ptpn22 increases the capacity of T cells to produce IL-2, which overcomes TGFÎČ-mediated suppression. These data suggest that a viable strategy to improve anti-tumor adoptive cell therapy may be to engineer tumor-restricted T cells with mutations identified as risk factors for autoimmunity
Sensitivity to change of the Beach Questionnaire to behaviour, attitudes and knowledge related to sun exposure: quasi-experimental before-after study
Background:
Health questionnaires must present accredited measurement properties such as validity, reliability and sensitivity to change, the latter being essential for interventions to be planned and for evaluating their effectiveness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity to change of a Beach Questionnaire.Methods:
Quasi-experimental before-after study carried out in 2011, for a study population of adolescents attending schools in the Costa del Sol. First, the questionnaire was administered to the adolescents, after which a multicomponent educational intervention was carried out; finally, three months later, the same questionnaire was re-administered to the same adolescents. Changes were assessed in the categories of each item, using the McNemar test, and the changes in the scores, standardised to a range of 0â100, using the Student t test for paired samples, and including the mean of the differences and the 95% confidence interval. The level of statistical significance was set at pâ<â0.05.Results:
228 adolescents, aged 14â17 years, and 55.3% were girls. Statistically significant changes were observed in sunburn experiences, exposure to the sun at mid-day and attitudes to sun exposure and suncreams. For the seven items related to knowledge about sun exposure, a higher rate of correct answers was observed. The analysis of changes, within the standardised range, revealed a significant improvement in the scores for sun exposure habits (MD 4.33; CI 95% 2.2-6.5), attitudes to sun exposure (MD 2.22; CI 95% 1.2-3.2) and knowledge (MD 9.10; CI 95% 7.1-11.1), but not in those for sun-protection practices (MD 0.23; CI 95% -1.2-1.7).Conclusions:
The Beach Questionnaire on behaviour, attitudes and knowledge related to sun exposure is the first such instrument in Spanish language to provide sufficient sensitivity to change. It constitutes a useful tool for epidemiologic research into photoprotection and for skin cancer prevention programmes.The authors would like to acknowledge support from the Research Department of the Costa del Sol Hospital
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