The convergence between sustainability and conventional stock indices. Are we on the right track?

The growth of passive and socially responsible (SR) investment makes that sustainability indices play an important role in defining what constitutes a sustainable investment. In order to know the suitability of sustainability indices as benchmarks for SR investors, we used different linear regressions to compare the compositions of sustainability indices and their conventional counterparts and to compare the levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of both types of indices. We showed that the composition of sustainability indices gradually converged towards their conventional peers. Moreover, the difference between the CSR levels of both type of indices remained the same or even decreased over time. We concluded that a change in the weighting method of sustainability indices such as the equally weighted criterion would significantly increase the difference from their conventional counterparts. However, due to the relationship between CSR and size, this change would penalize the CSR level of the index. These results raise the question of whether SR passive investors will be able to meet their non-financial expectations as a consequence of the convergence. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Development of new remediation technologies for contaminated soils based on the application of zero-valent iron nanoparticles and bioremediation with compost

This study aimed to develop new techniques for the remediation of contaminated soils based on the applicationof zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) and bioremediation with compost from organic wastesand a mixed technique of both. An assessment of the effectiveness of remediation in two soils contaminatedwith hydrocarbons and heavy metals was carried out, with the aim of looking for positive synergiesby combining the two techniques, and demonstrating their viability on an industrial scale. The applicationof nZVI for in situ immobilization of As and Cr in two different soils (Soil I from a contaminatedindustrial site and Soil II, contaminated artificially) showed a decrease in the concentration of As in SoilI and Soil II, as well as a decrease in Cr concentration for Soil I and Soil II in the leachate of both soils.The addition of compost and nanoparticles under uncontrolled environmental conditions in biopiles wasable to produce a decrease in the concentration of aliphatic hydrocarbons of up to 60% in the two soils.Especially, degradation and transformation of longer chains occurred. A significant reduction of ecotoxicitywas observed throughout the process in the biopile of soil II, not reaching the LC50 even with 100%of the sample after the treatment, in both earthworm and seeds growth tests

Bioadhesión sobre Alúmina. Propiedades superficiales

La alúmina es uno de los materiales cerámicos de mayor relevancia en usos biomédicos. Así, este trabajo hace una completa caracterización de su superficie a través de propiedades que son de especial importancia en aquellos procesos de interacción con superficies biológicas como son células y microorganismos. Tensión superficial, potencial zeta y rugosidad superficial se analizan utilizando métodos diversos. La tensión superficial se muestra en torno a 35 mJ m-2 aunque los valores dependen en muchos casos de la aproximación escogida y de los grupos de líquidos prueba necesarios para su determinación. El punto isoeléctrico aparece a pH = 4,6 lo que indica una carga superficial negativa cuando la alúmina se encuentre inmersa en líquidos fisiológicos (pH = 7). Los accidentes topográficos responsables de la macrorugosidad pueden considerarse de periodicidad en torno a 25um presentando alta variabilidad a escalas inferiores, por ello, es importante determinar la rugosidad a escalas próximas al tamaño de las células que intervienen en el proceso de adhesión

Flexible workflows for on-the-fly electronmicroscopy single-particle image processing using Scipion

Electron microscopy of macromolecular structures is an approach that is in increasing demand in the field of structural biology. The automation of image acquisition has greatly increased the potential throughput of electron microscopy. Here, the focus is on the possibilities in Scipion to implement flexible and robust image-processing workflows that allow the electron-microscope operator and the user to monitor the quality of image acquisition, assessing very simple acquisition measures or obtaining a first estimate of the initial volume, or the data resolution and heterogeneity, without any need for programming skills. These workflows can implement intelligent automatic decisions and they can warn the user of possible acquisition failures. These concepts are illustrated by analysis of the well known 2.2 Å resolution β-galactosidase data setThe authors would like to acknowledge financial support from The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the BIO2016-76400-R (AEI/FEDER, UE) grant, the Comunidad Auto´noma de Madrid through grant S2017/BMD3817, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PT17/0009/0010), the European Union (EU) and Horizon 2020 through the CORBEL grant (INFRADEV-1-2014-1, Proposal 654248), the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation (ID 100010434, Fellow LCF/BQ/ IN18/11660021), Elixir–EXCELERATE (INFRADEV-3- 2015, Proposal 676559), iNEXT (INFRAIA-1-2014-2015, Proposal 653706), EOSCpilot (INFRADEV-04-2016, Proposal 739563) and INSTRUCT–ULTRA (INFRADEV03-2016-2017, Proposal 731005

Variación estacional de la condición nutricional larvaria del boquerón (Engraulis encrasicolus) en el estuario del Guadalquivir

European anchovy recruitment to the Guadalquivir estuary mainly occurs when the environmental conditions show more stability. Unusual changes in the environmental conditions of this estuary negatively impacted on key preys of anchovy and therefore on its nursery function. In this way, nutritional condition should determine strongly the physiological state of this species in estuaries and thus its survival and recruitment. RNA:DNA ratio has been applied with success as indicator of nutritional condition and growth in marine organisms. We study RNA:DNA ratio in anchovies of the coupled system Guadalquivir estuary-coastal influenced area in the Gulf of Cádiz in order to evaluate the condition seasonal variability of this species along this spatial gradient. Spatial differences in the size distribution of anchovy and high values of RNA:DNA in the Guadalquivir estuary compared to its influence coastal area suggest that anchovies migrate to the estuary and they acquire a very good condition. We conclude that RNA:DNA is an useful tool to understand the ecological mechanisms by which the coupled system Guadalquivir estuary-coastal influenced area in the Gulf of Cádiz control the success or failure of the recruitment of this important fishery resource in the region

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele