Glyphosate and AMPA concentrations in wind-blown material under field conditions

Agricultural intensification in fragile arid and semiarid environments has led to an increase in soil degradation, mainly through wind erosion. Argentina is an agricultural and cattle-farming country, which has increased its productivity in the last few decades, widening the boundaries of farm land and the use of herbicides to control weeds. Glyphosate, which accounts for 65% of the Argentinian pesticides market, is strongly retained in soil. The World Health Organization concluded that there was evidence to classify glyphosate as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans.’ In this context, the objective of this study was to determine the presence and concentration of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in wind-blown material in 3 areas in Argentine semiarid regions (Chaco, La Pampa, and San Luis). In 1-ha2 plots, left uncovered and levelled, the wind-blown material was collected at heights of 13.5, 50, and 150 cm during 18 erosion events. The wind-blown material carried by the wind at a height of 150 cm had concentrations of 247 and 218 μg kg−1 of glyphosate and AMPA, respectively. This material was enriched 60 times in glyphosate and 3 times in AMPA as compared with the original soil. This shows that the eroded material can, potentially, have a negative impact on the ecosystem and also on human health, depending on the proportion of this material released into the atmosphere in suspension as particulate matter. This study is, to our knowledge, the first to report concentrations of glyphosate and AMPA in wind-blown material under field conditions.Fil: Aparicio, Virginia Carolina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Aimar, Silvia Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: de Gerónimo, Eduardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mendez, Mariano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Costa, Jose Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentin

Consumo y fiscalidad de bebidas alcohólicas en España

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Departamento de Estructura Económica y Economía del Desarrollo. Fecha de lectura: 15-07-2014Los impuestos especiales, accisas en su denominación comunitaria, son tributos indirectos que gravan la fabricación de los bienes, aunque el devengo del impuesto se materialice en el consumo de estos. Los impuestos especiales sobre el alcohol cumplen una doble función: por un lado constituyen un elemento de recaudación para el Estado, lo cual contribuye a disminuir el déficit público; y por otro sirven de instrumento para determinadas políticas sanitarias. En esta Tesis se analiza cómo gestionar de la manera más eficiente estos impuestos cuantificando los efectos que provocaría en la recaudación un aumento de los mismos. Para ello se estudia si la carga fiscal que se traslada al consumidor de alcohol (un aumento en su precio) influye en la demanda de este tipo de bebidas. Como objetivos de la investigación se plantea: Sentar las bases de una reforma fiscal que afecta a los impuestos especiales sobre el alcohol en España, realizando una comparación con los países de la Unión Europea que siguen políticas fiscales similares. Presentar un ejercicio empírico de estimación de tres ecuaciones de demanda: cerveza, bebidas derivadas y vino. De esa manera se modeliza la relación económica que existe entre el consumo de alcohol, el precio del mismo, el precio de posibles sustitutivos, la renta disponible, medida a través del gasto en consumo final de los hogares y la población mayor de 18 años. Además se propondrán distintos escenarios impositivos que medirán las consecuencias sobre la recaudación.Special taxes (excise in the European Union) are indirect taxes that assess manufacturing goods, although the charges only materialize when the goods are consumed . Excise duties on alcohol plays a dual role: in one hand provides an element of revenue for the State, which helps to reduce the public deficit; on the other hand serves as another tool for certain health policies. This thesis discusses how to manage these taxes in the most efficient way quantifying the effects of an increase of these alcohol taxes. Therefore it will be studie if the tax burden is passed on to alcohol consumers (an increase in price) influences the demand for this type of beverage . The research objectives propose are: Set the bases of a tax reform affecting excise duty on alcohol in Spain, making a comparison with the countries of the European Union that follow similar fiscal policies . Submit an empirical estimation exercise of three demand equations: beer, wine and distilled beverages. This will model the economic relationship between alcohol consumption, its price, the price of possible substitutes, disposable income (measured by the final consumption expenditure of households) and the population over 18 years. Also different tax scenarios that measure the impact on the incomes will be proposed

Co-Rh modified natural zeolites as new catalytic materials to oxidize propane and naphthalene from emission sources

Natural zeolites as a raw material to prepare catalytic precursors for the oxidation reaction of linear and poly-aromatic hydrocarbons are reported in this work. The process consisted in the formation of mono- and bi-metallic species containing Co and Co-Rh on natural zeolite tuffs. The materials are analyzed by different physicochemical techniques and used as catalysts for propane and naphthalene oxidation in emissions sources. Comparatively, Rh-zeolites are the most active catalysts for propane conversion. In this case, the formation of mixed oxides seems to be conditioned by surface properties. It could also be suggested that the Rh incorporation on a non-active phase in bimetallic catalysts impacts the effectiveness of the system. In addition, the NO presence increases the activity of bimetallic materials. Rh-Co zeolite systems markedly influence the naphthalene combustion temperature. Whereas in the absence of a catalyst a conversion rate of 50% and 100% is reached at 430 C and 485 °C, respectively. It is interesting to observe that for RhCoCli-Mor and RhCoCli catalyst the 100% conversion is reached at 250 °C.Fil: Leguizamón Aparicio, María Silvia del Valle. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas ; ArgentinaFil: Canafoglia, Maria Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino"; ArgentinaFil: Ocsachoque, Marco Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas ; ArgentinaFil: Lick, Ileana Daniela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas "Dr. Jorge J. Ronco". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Botto, Irma Lia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Química Inorgánica ; Argentin

Un estudio sobre la noción de función constante

En este trabajo de investigación se realizó un estudio respecto a las formas de pensamiento que movilizan estudiantes de primer año de universidad cuando se les sitúa en un ambiente de discusión relativo a un conocimiento matemático particular, en este caso, función constante. En específico, interesó identificar la relación existente entre las dificultades manifiestas en estudiantes para incorporar a la función constante como tal, con las dificultades sui géneris manifestadas por algunos pensadores matemáticos de antaño

Prostate carcinoma and stem cells

[Abstract] Stem cells, as classically defined, are cells with a capacity to self-renew and to generate daughter cells that can differentiate down several cell lineages to form all of the cell types that are found in the mature tissue. Stem cells and tumour cells have many similar features, including infinite lifespan, self-renewal, multidrug resistance, telomerase expression and, in the instance of the prostate, androgen independence. Evidence supports a role for stem cells in the etiology of many types of cancer. The evolution of androgen-independent prostate carcinoma may reflect the emergence of stemlike prostate tumour cells. Because cancer may be a disease of stem cell lineages and Shh-Gli signalling controls the behaviour of precursors and of cells with stem cell properties in the mammalian tissues, prostate cancer might derive from inappropriate expansion of prostatic epithelial stem cell lineages caused by abnormal Shh-Gli function. This review attempts to integrate these recent results

Origin of renal cell carcinomas

[Abstract] Cancer is a heritable disorder of somatic cells: environment and heredity are both important in the carcinogenic process. The primal force is the “two hits” of Knudson’s hypothesis, which has proved true for many tumours, including renal cell carcinoma. Knudson et al. [1, 2] recognised that familial forms of cancer might hold the key to the identification of important regulatory elements known as tumour-suppressor genes. Their observations (i.e., that retinoblastoma tend to be multifocal in familial cases and unifocal in sporadic presentation) led them to propose a two-hit theory of carcinogenesis. Furthermore, Knudson postulated that patients with the familial form of the cancer would be born with one mutant allele and that all cells in that organ or tissue would be at risk, accounting for early onset and the multifocal nature of the disease. In contrast, sporadic tumours would develop only if a mutation occurred in both alleles within the same cell, and, as each event would be expected to occur with low frequency, most tumours would develop late in life and in a unifocal manner [3, 4]. The kidney is affected in a variety of inherited cancer syndromes. For most of them, both the oncogene/tumour-suppressor gene involved and the respective germline mutations have been identified. Each of the inherited syndromes predisposes to distinct types of renal carcinoma. Families with hereditary predisposition to cancer continue to provide a unique opportunity for the identification and characterisation of genes involved in carcinogenesis. A surprising number of genetic syndromes predispose to the development of renal cell carcinoma, and genes associated with five of these syndromes have been already identified: VHL, MET, FH, BHD and HRPT2. Few cancers have as many different types of genetic predisposition as renal cancer, although to date only a small proportion of renal cell cancers can be explained by genetic predisposition

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2): a molecular target in prostate cancer

[Abstract] Epidemiological studies provided the first evidence that COX may be involved in the pathogenesis of cancer. In the process of carcinogenesis and in the route of intracellular signalling during carcinogenesis, COX-2 expression may be a universal phenomenon. In general, COX-2 is up-regulated throughout the tumorigenic process, from early hyperplasia to metastatic disease. COX-2 has been reported to be constitutively overexpressed in a variety of malignancies and is frequently constitutively elevated in prostate carcinoma. COX-2 was consistently overexpressed in premalignant lesions such as prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, and carcinoma. Cases are described with evolution of proliferative inflammatory atrophy of the prostate and prostate carcinoma. The increase of evidence implicating COX-2 in cancer has stimulated clinical trials to investigate the efficacy of selective COX-2 inhibitors in individuals at risk for human cancer. Regarding prostate carcinoma there is much direct or indirect evidence to support the use of COX-2 inhibitors in this disease. Trials using these drugs in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and other patients with a high risk of colorectal carcinoma are ongoing

Role of extracellular matrix components and structure in new renal models in vitro

The extracellular matrix (ECM), a complex set of fibrillar proteins and proteoglycans, supports the renal parenchyma and provides biomechanical and biochemical cues critical for spatial-temporal patterning of cell development and acquisition of specialized functions. As in vitro models progress towards biomimicry, more attention is paid to reproducing ECM-mediated stimuli. ECM’s role in in vitro models of renal function and disease used to investigate kidney injury and regeneration is discussed. Availability, affordability, and lot-to-lot consistency are the main factors determining the selection of materials to recreate ECM in vitro. While simpler components can be synthesized in vitro, others must be isolated from animal or human tissues, either as single isolated components or as complex mixtures, such as Matrigel or decellularized formulations. Synthetic polymeric materials with dynamic and instructive capacities are also being explored for cell mechanical support to overcome the issues with natural products. ECM components can be used as simple 2D coatings or complex 3D scaffolds combining natural and synthetic materials. The goal is to recreate the biochemical signals provided by glycosaminoglycans and other signaling molecules, together with the stiffness, elasticity, segmentation, and dimensionality of the original kidney tissue, to support the specialized functions of glomerular, tubular, and vascular compartments. ECM mimicking also plays a central role in recent developments aiming to reproduce renal tissue in vitro or even in therapeutical strategies to regenerate renal function. Bioprinting of renal tubules, recellularization of kidney ECM scaffolds, and development of kidney organoids are examples. Future solutions will probably combine these technologies