A meta-analysis of environmental factor effects on ammonia emissions from dairy cattle houses

[EN] Livestock housing is one of the main sources of ammonia (NH3) emissions from agriculture. Different management and environmental factors are known to affect NH3 emissions from housing systems. The aim of this study was to quantitatively define the effect of temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and ventilation rate on NH3 release rates from dairy cattle housing by conducting a meta-analysis of published scientific results. A literature survey was performed to review studies published before January 2018 that have identified statistical relationships between NH3 emissions and environmental factors such as air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, or ventilation rate in dairy cattle housing. Experimental values were related using a mixed model analysis in order to analyse the effect of environmental factors on NH3 emissions. For this exercise, a total of 19 peerreviewed papers were considered and 27 different relations between air temperature and NH3 emissions were used for the analysis. A significant effect of air temperature inside the barn and ventilation rate on NH3 emissions was observed. Results showed that NH3 emissions increased linearly with increasing air temperature (ºC) inside the barn by 1.47 g [NH3] cow 1 d 1 when temperature increased by one degree. For ventilation rate, an increase of 100 m3 h 1 cow 1 led to an increase in NH3 emissions of 0.007 g [NH3] cow 1 d 1 . The equations obtained in this work might help to provide information on NH3 barnrelated emissions behaviour under these environmental conditions, bearing in mind that other source of emissions such as diet composition and animal performance might be also affected by climate changes.This study is part of the project OPTIBARN and was financially supported by the Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria through the research grant 618105 FACCE Era Net Plus - Food Security, Agriculture, Climate Change ERA-NET plus. This work has been also funded by the Basque Government through the BERG 2018-2021 program and by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 Maria de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714.Sanchis Jiménez, EM.; Calvet, S.; Del Prado, A.; Estellés, F. (2019). A meta-analysis of environmental factor effects on ammonia emissions from dairy cattle houses. Biosystems Engineering. 178:176-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2018.11.017S17618317

Maximizing resource recovery from urban wastewater through an innovative facility layout

[EN] This research work proposes an innovative layout for urban wastewater treatment based on anaerobic technology, microalgal cultivation and membrane technology. The proposed Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) system can treat urban wastewater efficiently, complying with legal discharge limits and allowing for resource recovery, i.e. energy, nutrients and reclaimed water. In addition, the proposed layout produces less solid wastes than a conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and it is possible to recover energy as biogas, not only from the original wastewater sources but also from the biomass generated in the WRRF system

Resource recovery from sulphate-rich sewage through an innovative anaerobic-based water resource recovery facility (WRRF)

[EN] This research work proposes an innovative water resource recovery facility (WRRF) for the recovery of energy, nutrients and reclaimed water from sewage, which represents a promising approach towards enhanced circular economy scenarios. To this aim, anaerobic technology, microalgae cultivation, and membrane technology were combined in a dedicated platform. The proposed platform produces a high-quality solid- and coliform-free effluent that can be directly discharged to receiving water bodies identified as sensitive areas. Specifically, the content of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluent was 45 mg COD.L-1 , 14.9 mg N.L-1 and 0.5 mg P.L-1 , respectively. Harvested solar energy and carbon dioxide biofixation in the form of microalgae biomass allowed remarkable methane yields (399 STP L CH 4.kg(-1) CODinf ) to be achieved, equivalent to theoretical electricity productions of around 0.52 kWh per m 3 of wastewater entering the WRRF. Furthermore, 26.6% of total nitrogen influent load was recovered as ammonium sulphate, while nitrogen and phosphorus were recovered in the biosolids produced (650 +/- 77 mg N.L-1 and 121.0 +/- 7.2 mg P.L-1).This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Projects CTM2014-54980-C2-1-R and CTM2014-54980-C2-2-R) jointly with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which are gratefully acknowledged. This research was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport via two pre-doctoral FPU fellowships (FPU14/05082 and FPU15/02595) and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via two pre-doctoral FPI fellowships (BES-2015-071884, BES-2015-073403) and one Juan de la Cierva contract (FJCI-2014-21616). The authors would also like to acknowledge the support received from Generalitat Valenciana via two VALithornd post-doctoral grants (APOSTD/2014/049 and APOSTD/2016/104) and via the fellowships APOTI/2016/059 and CPI-16-155, as well as the financial aid received from the European Climate KIC association for the 'MAB 2.0' Project (APIN0057_ 2015-3.6-230_ P066-05) and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia via a pre-doctoral FPI fellowship to the seventh author.Seco Torrecillas, A.; Aparicio Antón, SE.; Gonzalez-Camejo, J.; Jiménez Benítez, AL.; Mateo-Llosa, O.; Mora-Sánchez, JF.; Noriega-Hevia, G.... (2018). Resource recovery from sulphate-rich sewage through an innovative anaerobic-based water resource recovery facility (WRRF). Water Science & Technology. 78(9):1925-1936. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2018.492S19251936789Bair, R. A., Ozcan, O. O., Calabria, J. L., Dick, G. H., & Yeh, D. H. (2015). Feasibility of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) for onsite sanitation and resource recovery (nutrients, energy and water) in urban slums. Water Science and Technology, 72(9), 1543-1551. doi:10.2166/wst.2015.349Barat, R., Serralta, J., Ruano, M. V., Jiménez, E., Ribes, J., Seco, A., & Ferrer, J. (2013). Biological Nutrient Removal Model No. 2 (BNRM2): a general model for wastewater treatment plants. Water Science and Technology, 67(7), 1481-1489. doi:10.2166/wst.2013.004Batstone, D. J., Hülsen, T., Mehta, C. M., & Keller, J. (2015). Platforms for energy and nutrient recovery from domestic wastewater: A review. Chemosphere, 140, 2-11. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.10.021Bilad, M. R., Arafat, H. A., & Vankelecom, I. F. J. (2014). Membrane technology in microalgae cultivation and harvesting: A review. Biotechnology Advances, 32(7), 1283-1300. doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2014.07.008Carrington E.-G. 2001 Evaluation of Sludge Treatments for Pathogen Reduction. http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/pubs/home.htm.Cookney, J., Mcleod, A., Mathioudakis, V., Ncube, P., Soares, A., Jefferson, B., & McAdam, E. J. (2016). Dissolved methane recovery from anaerobic effluents using hollow fibre membrane contactors. Journal of Membrane Science, 502, 141-150. doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2015.12.037De Morais, M. G., & Costa, J. A. V. (2007). Biofixation of carbon dioxide by Spirulina sp. and Scenedesmus obliquus cultivated in a three-stage serial tubular photobioreactor. Journal of Biotechnology, 129(3), 439-445. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2007.01.009Giménez, J. B., Robles, A., Carretero, L., Durán, F., Ruano, M. V., Gatti, M. N., … Seco, A. (2011). Experimental study of the anaerobic urban wastewater treatment in a submerged hollow-fibre membrane bioreactor at pilot scale. Bioresource Technology, 102(19), 8799-8806. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2011.07.014Giménez, J. B., Martí, N., Ferrer, J., & Seco, A. (2012). Methane recovery efficiency in a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) treating sulphate-rich urban wastewater: Evaluation of methane losses with the effluent. Bioresource Technology, 118, 67-72. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.05.019Giménez, J. B., Bouzas, A., Carrere, H., Steyer, J.-P., Ferrer, J., & Seco, A. (2018). Assessment of cross-flow filtration as microalgae harvesting technique prior to anaerobic digestion: Evaluation of biomass integrity and energy demand. Bioresource Technology, 269, 188-194. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2018.08.052González-Camejo, J., Serna-García, R., Viruela, A., Pachés, M., Durán, F., Robles, A., … Seco, A. (2017). Short and long-term experiments on the effect of sulphide on microalgae cultivation in tertiary sewage treatment. Bioresource Technology, 244, 15-22. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2017.07.126Martí, N., Barat, R., Seco, A., Pastor, L., & Bouzas, A. (2017). Sludge management modeling to enhance P-recovery as struvite in wastewater treatment plants. Journal of Environmental Management, 196, 340-346. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.12.074Moosbrugger R. , WentzelM. & EkamaG.1992Simple Titration Procedures to Determine H2CO3 Alkalinity and Short-chain Fatty Acids in Aqueous Solutions Containing Known Concentrations of Ammonium, Phosphate and Sulphide Weak Acid/Bases. Water. Res. Commission, Report, No. TT 57/92.Morales, N., Boehler, M., Buettner, S., Liebi, C., & Siegrist, H. (2013). Recovery of N and P from Urine by Struvite Precipitation Followed by Combined Stripping with Digester Sludge Liquid at Full Scale. Water, 5(3), 1262-1278. doi:10.3390/w5031262Pretel, R., Durán, F., Robles, A., Ruano, M. V., Ribes, J., Serralta, J., & Ferrer, J. (2015). Designing an AnMBR-based WWTP for energy recovery from urban wastewater: The role of primary settling and anaerobic digestion. Separation and Purification Technology, 156, 132-139. doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2015.09.047Pretel, R., Robles, A., Ruano, M. V., Seco, A., & Ferrer, J. (2016). Economic and environmental sustainability of submerged anaerobic MBR-based (AnMBR-based) technology as compared to aerobic-based technologies for moderate-/high-loaded urban wastewater treatment. Journal of Environmental Management, 166, 45-54. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.10.004Sharma, B., Sarkar, A., Singh, P., & Singh, R. P. (2017). Agricultural utilization of biosolids: A review on potential effects on soil and plant grown. Waste Management, 64, 117-132. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2017.03.002Sialve, B., Bernet, N., & Bernard, O. (2009). Anaerobic digestion of microalgae as a necessary step to make microalgal biodiesel sustainable. Biotechnology Advances, 27(4), 409-416. doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2009.03.001Sid, S., Volant, A., Lesage, G., & Heran, M. (2017). Cost minimization in a full-scale conventional wastewater treatment plant: associated costs of biological energy consumption versus sludge production. Water Science and Technology, 76(9), 2473-2481. doi:10.2166/wst.2017.423Viruela, A., Murgui, M., Gómez-Gil, T., Durán, F., Robles, Á., Ruano, M. V., … Seco, A. (2016). Water resource recovery by means of microalgae cultivation in outdoor photobioreactors using the effluent from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor fed with pre-treated sewage. Bioresource Technology, 218, 447-454. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.06.11

Jardins per a la salut

Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de Farmàcia. Assignatura: Botànica farmacèutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, Cèsar Blanché i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquí es presenten són el recull de les fitxes botàniques de 128 espècies presents en el Jardí Ferran Soldevila de l’Edifici Històric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de l’assignatura Botànica Farmacèutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte d’Innovació Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a Botànica farmacèutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs s’han dut a terme a través de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de l’assignatura. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat ha estat fomentar l’aprenentatge autònom i col·laboratiu en Botànica farmacèutica. També s’ha pretès motivar els estudiants a través del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a través d’una experiència d’Aprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a través d’una Web pública amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardí mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone

Pasados y presente. Estudios para el profesor Ricardo García Cárcel

Ricardo García Cárcel (Requena, 1948) estudió Historia en Valencia bajo el magisterio de Joan Reglà, con quien formó parte del primer profesorado de historia moderna en la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. En esta universidad, desde hace prácticamente cincuenta años, ha desarrollado una extraordinaria labor docente y de investigación marcada por un sagaz instinto histórico, que le ha convertido en pionero de casi todo lo que ha estudiado: las Germanías, la historia de la Cataluña moderna, la Inquisición, las culturas del Siglo de Oro, la Leyenda Negra, Felipe II, Felipe V, Austrias y Borbones, la guerra de la Independencia, la historia cultural, los mitos de la historia de España... Muy pocos tienen su capacidad para reflexionar, ordenar, analizar, conceptualizar y proponer una visión amplia y llena de matices sobre el pasado y las interpretaciones historiográficas. A su laboriosidad inimitable se añade una dedicación sin límites en el asesoramiento de alumnos e investigadores e impulsando revistas, dosieres, seminarios o publicaciones colectivas. Una mínima correspondencia a su generosidad lo constituye este volumen a manera de ineludible agradecimiento

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)