Fractionation of potentially toxic elements in urban soils from five European cities by means of a harmonised sequential extraction procedure

The revised (four-step) BCR sequential extraction procedure has been applied to fractionate the chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc contents in urban soil samples from public-access areas in five European cities. A preliminary inter-laboratory comparison was conducted and showed that data obtained by different laboratories participating in the study were sufficiently harmonious for comparisons to be made between cities and land types (e.g. parks, roadside, riverbanks, etc.). Analyte recoveries by sequential extraction, with respect to direct aqua regia digestion, were generally acceptable (100 ± 15%). Iron, nickel and, at most sites, chromium were found mainly in association with the residual phase of the soil matrix. Copper was present in the reducible, oxidisable and residual fractions, whilst zinc was found in all four sequential extracts. Manganese was strongly associated with reducible material as, in some cities, was lead. This is of concern because high lead concentrations were present in some soils (>500 mg kg−1) and the potential exists for remobilisation under reducing conditions. As would be expected, extractable metal contents were generally highest in older, more heavily industrialised cities. Copper, lead and zinc showed marked (and often correlated) variations in concentrations between sites within the same city whereas manganese and, especially, iron, did not. No overall relationships were, however, found between analyte concentrations and land use, nor between analyte partitioning and land use

Vertebrate SLRP family evolution and the subfunctionalization of osteoglycin gene duplicates in teleost fish

Background Osteoglycin (OGN, a.k.a. mimecan) belongs to cluster III of the small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRP) of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In vertebrates OGN is a characteristic ECM protein of bone. In the present study we explore the evolution of SLRP III and OGN in teleosts that have a skeleton adapted to an aquatic environment. Results The SLRP gene family has been conserved since the separation of chondrichthyes and osteichthyes. Few gene duplicates of the SLRP III family exist even in the teleosts that experienced a specific whole genome duplication. One exception is ogn for which duplicate copies were identified in fish genomes. The ogn promoter sequence and in vitro mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) cultures suggest the duplicate ogn genes acquired divergent functions. In gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) ogn1 was up-regulated during osteoblast and myocyte differentiation in vitro, while ogn2 was severely down-regulated during bone-derived MSCs differentiation into adipocytes in vitro. Conclusions Overall, the phylogenetic analysis indicates that the SLRP III family in vertebrates has been under conservative evolutionary pressure. The retention of the ogn gene duplicates in teleosts was linked with the acquisition of different functions. The acquisition by OGN of functions other than that of a bone ECM protein occurred early in the vertebrate lineag

Verification of focusing from a hemispherically shaped surface

The proposed intense slow positron source (ISPS) at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) requires focusing from a large area source to a small (1 cm) remoderator foil. A diameter reduction of ≳30 is desirable, and a gridless design appears to accommodate the design requirements. Experimental confirmation of the gridless focusing concept is presented here together with SIMION (simulated ion tracking) computer simulations, which indicate a diameter reduction of ∼50x.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87601/2/200_1.pd

UV-A activation of peroxymonosulfate for the removal of micropollutants from secondary treated wastewater

The occurrence of micropollutants (MPs) in the aquatic environment poses a threat to the environment and to the human health. The application of sulfate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) to eliminate these contaminants has attracted attention in recent years. In this work, the simultaneous degradation of 20 multi-class MPs (classified into 5 main categories, namely antibiotics, beta-blockers, other pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and herbicides) was evaluated for the first time in secondary treated wastewater, by activating peroxymonosulfate (PMS) with UV-A radiation, without any pH adjustment or iron addition. The optimal PMS concentration to remove the spiked target MPs (100 mu g L-1) from wastewater was 0.1 mM, leading to an average degradation of 80% after 60 min, with most of the elimination occurring during the first 5 min. Synergies between radiation and the oxidant were demonstrated and quantified, with an average extent of synergy of 69.1%. The optimized treatment was then tested using non-spiked wastewater, in which 12 out of the 20 target contaminants were detected. Among these, 7 were degraded at some extent, varying from 10.7% (acetamiprid) to 94.4% (ofloxacin), the lower removals being attributed to the quite inferior ratio of MPs to natural organic matter. Phytotoxicity tests carried out with the wastewater before and after photo-activated PMS oxidation revealed a decrease in the toxicity and that the plants were able to grow in the presence of the treated water. Therefore, despite the low degradation rates obtained for some MPs, the treatment effectively reduces the toxicity of the matrix, making the water safer for reuse

La libertad como condición de posibilidad del crecimiento humano según Antonio Millán-Puelles

El objetivo del presente trabajo es mostrar, a partir de la especulación metafísica de Antonio Millán-Puelles, que la libertad bien entendida constituye el resorte más radical para posibilitar el crecimiento humano. La libertad constituye la dimensión propia de la naturaleza del ser personal, de ahí que la aceptación del propio ser, sea condición de libertad. Esta afirmación lleva consigo que el crecimiento humano es un cre- cimiento en el orden del ser y por tanto requiere una fundamentación estrictamente ontológica que llegue al núcleo de su perfección. Esta libertad configurada desde la realidad del propio ser, no se limita al estrecho horizonte de los intere- ses personales ni se reduce a una mera capacidad de elegir. Se trata de una libertad que encuentra su espacio creativo en el ámbito del bien. El crecimiento humano no es solo un crecimiento en el orden del ser, sino también un crecimiento en armonía interior. La virtud moral integra la dimensión sensible y corporal con la dimensión social de la persona. Esta armonía se manifiesta en la facilidad y el agrado con los que se realiza los actos de virtud. Estos impulsos sensibles que participan de la razón, se convierten en principios del actuar humanos y son señal de la perfección del actuar humano. Esta connaturalidad afectiva con el bien convierte la afectividad en guía del juicio de la razón, acertando con lo verdaderamente bueno de modo espontáneo y seguro. En este contexto, el crecimiento humano adquiere un horizonte insospechado.The aim of this work is to show, through Antonio Millán-Puelles’ metaphysical speculation, that freedom, when well-understood, constitutes the most radical means to make human growth possible. Freedom constitutes the suitable as well as the natural dimension of the nature of people, therefore the condition of freedom itself entails the acceptance of the own being. This statement implies that human growth is a growth in the order of being, and so it requires a strictly ontological foundation that reaches to the core of its perfection. This freedom set from the reality of the self does not confine itself to the narrow horizons of personal interests nor to the sheer capacity of choosing. It is rather a freedom that finds its creative space in the area of the good. Human growth is not only a growth in the order of being, but also a growth in inner harmony. Moral virtue integrates sensitive and bodily dimension with the social dimension of the person. This harmony is expressed in the ease and pleasure with which acts of virtue are accomplished. These sensitive impulses that take part in the reason turn into principles of acting among humans and are a sign of the human being’s perfection in acting. Such affective connaturality towards the good turns affectivity in the guide for the judgement of reason and spontaneously comes across the truly good and safe. In this context, human growth acquires an unexpected, unimagined horizon

Analysis of genome expression of rhizobium etli in free living and plant-associated symbiotic state

Comunicaciones a congreso

Factors related to attitudes toward organ donation after death in the immigrant population in Spain

The version posted must contain the text: This is the accepted version of the following article: [full citation], which has been published in final form at [Link to final article]Considering the relevance of the migratory processes in Western societies, the attitudes toward organ donation after death are analyzed bymeans of a survey applied to a representative random sample of the resident immigrant population in Spain, comprising 1202 subjects (estimated marginof error of ±2.88%, p = q, p < 0.05). Considered variables were disposition toward own organ donation, disposition toward deceased relatives donation in different situations, arguments against donation, socio-demographic indicators, religious beliefs, social integration, and information about organ donation and transplantation. Predisposition to donate varies strongly across geographical origin and religious beliefs and also shows relationships with additional socio-demographic, social integration, and informative variables. In turn, the relationship between religious beliefs and attitude toward donation varies as a function of the degreeof social integration. In Spain, the immigrant population is a heterogeneous collective that requires differential strategies to promote donation. Such strategies should be aimed at reinforcing the existing positive attitudes ofcitizens from West Europe and Latin America, and at familiarizing and informing about donation in citizens from the East, and at making specific efforts to break down the cultural and religious barriers toward donation in African citizens, with special emphasis on people of the Muslim faith

Comparative proteomics using 2-D gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry as tools to dissect stimulons and regulons in bacteria with sequenced or partially sequenced genomes

We propose two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry to define the protein components of regulons and stimulons in bacteria, including those organisms where genome sequencing is still in progress. The basic 2-DE protocol allows high resolution and reproducibility and enables the direct comparison of hundreds or even thousands of proteins simultaneously. To identify proteins that comprise stimulons and regulons, peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) with matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis is the first option and, if results from this tool are insufficient, complementary data obtained with electrospray ionization tandem-MS (ESI-MS/MS) may permit successful protein identification. ESI-MS/MS and MALDI-TOF-MS provide complementary data sets, and so a more comprehensive coverage of a proteome can be obtained using both techniques with the same sample, especially when few sequenced proteins of a particular organism exist or genome sequencing is still in progress

Promising composts as growing media for the production of baby leaf lettuce in a floating system

The floating system is a successful strategy for producing baby leaf vegetables. Moreover, compost from agricultural and agri-food industry wastes is an alternative to peat that can be used as a component of growing media in this cultivation system. In this study, we experimented with three composts containing tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), leek (Allium porrum L.), grape (Vitis vinifera L.), and/or olive (Olea europaea L.) mill cake residues, which were used as the main component (75/25 volume/volume) of three growing media (GM1, GM2 and GM3) to evaluate their e_ect on the growth and quality of red baby leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). We used a commercial peat substrate as a control treatment (100% volume) and in mixtures (25% volume) with the composts. The plants were cultivated over two growing cycles, in spring and summer, and harvested twice in each cycle when the plants had four to five leaves. We found that the percentage of seed germination was significantly higher in plants grown in peat than in those grown in compost growing media. The yield was a_ected by the growing media in the summer cycle, and we obtained the highest value with GM1. Furthermore, the second cut was more productive than the first one for all the growing media in both cycles. The lettuce quality was also a_ected by the growing media. In general, the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in the leaves was higher in plants grown in the compost growing media, particularly in the second cut, but the nitrate content in the leaves was greater in some of the compost treatments compared with the peat treatment. In addition, an in vitro suppressive activity study demonstrated that the interaction between di_erent fungi and bacteria observed through metagenomics analysis could contribute to the e_ectiveness of the compost in controlling Pythium irregulare. The use of compost as a component of the growing media in the production of baby leaf vegetables in a floating system does not only favor the crop yield and producto quality, but also shows suppressive e_ects against P. irregulare.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness: Reference project: AGL2017-84085-C3-1-R, AGL2017-84085-C3-2-R, AGL2017-84085-C3-3-R