The Thermodynamics of Heavy Metal Sorption onto Lignocellulosic Biomass

The sorption equilibrium and thermodynamics of Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), and Cd(II) onto grape stalks (GS), a lignocellulosic waste from wine production industries, have been investigated. Different equilibrium models have been assessed to describe the experimental sorption equilibrium profile in the range of 5–60°C. Maximum sorption capacities have been calculated by means of Langmuir equilibrium model and mean free sorption energies through the Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) model. Mean free energies suggest that metal sorption takes place mainly through an ion exchange mechanism, except for Pb(II), where an additional contribution connected to a stronger bond might take place. The calculation of thermodynamic parameters, ΔG0, ΔH0 and ΔS0, puts into evidence that the sorption of all the metals onto GS is a spontaneous and exothermic process that occurs with an increase of randomness at the solid/liquid interface

Correlación entre la RNM pélvica preoperatoria y el estadío anatomopatológico postoperatorio en el cáncer rectal

El cáncer colorrectal supone el tumor maligno más frecuente en las sociedades desarrolladas si tenemos en cuenta a ambos sexos, alcanzado una incidencia de hasta 50 casos/100.000 habitantes, siendo además la segunda causa más frecuente de muerte por cáncer. El cáncer de recto afecta más a varones, mientras que el de colon es más frecuente en mujeres. Su clasificación se realiza en base a su extensión a través de la pared intestinal y órganos vecinos mediante la clasificación TNM que es la que se utiliza en la actualidad, basada en la extensión del tumor, la afectación ganglionar y la presencia de metástasis. Lo primero que nos debe hacer sospechar de la presencia de un cáncer de recto es la aparición de una clínica sugestiva y un tacto rectal sugerente del mismo. Para su valoración debemos realizar una serie de pruebas diagnósticas, tanto de imagen (entre las cuales toma mucha importancia la RMN pélvica) como anatomopatológicas, que nos ayuden a decidir la opción terapéutica más adecuada. Siendo la cirugía la piedra angular del tratamiento con fines curativos. Este trabajo consiste en un estudio observacional retrospectivo en el que, analizando diversas variables de los pacientes intervenidos de cáncer de recto, se pretende estudiar la correlación entre el TNM de la RMN pélvica preoperatoria y el del estudio histopatológico postoperatorio. Nuestros resultados han hallado relación estadística significativa entre la imagen por RNM pélvica y la anatomía patológica, pero se ha observado también que la RNM proporciona una precisión diagnóstica mayor para detectar enfermedad metastásica (M) que para caracterizar la afectación ganglionar(N) y estudiar la infiltración tumoral(T). Por último, cabe destacar que no se ha hallado relación estadísticamente significativa entre el IMC y el TNM anatomopatológico de los pacientes.Grado en Medicin

Valorisation of Lignocellulosic Biomass Wastes for the Removal of Metal Ions from Aqueous Streams: A Review

Heavy metal pollution derived from anthropogenic activities is a relevant environmental threat nowadays due to their toxic nature, persistence and accumulation potential in the food chain. A wide variety of lignocellulosic-based biomaterials have been thoroughly assessed by the scientific community as sorbents for the removal of metals from aqueous streams. This kind of biomaterials, mainly constituted by lignin and cellulose, bear functional groups such as alcohol, ketone and carboxylates that provide active sorption points for the effective removal of heavy metals. The role of lignin in the sorption process is especially relevant, since this substance provides polyhydroxy and polyphenol functional groups—especially effective in the coordination of metals—and that provide ion exchange functionality to the material. Depending on their nature, these materials can be used either in their raw form or chemically modified form so as to enhance their sorption capacity and/or to achieve improved mechanical and mass transfer properties

Neutrino Halos in Clusters of Galaxies and their Weak Lensing Signature

We study whether non-linear gravitational effects of relic neutrinos on the development of clustering and large-scale structure may be observable by weak gravitational lensing. We compute the density profile of relic massive neutrinos in a spherical model of a cluster of galaxies, for several neutrino mass schemes and cluster masses. Relic neutrinos add a small perturbation to the mass profile, making it more extended in the outer parts. In principle, this non-linear neutrino perturbation is detectable in an all-sky weak lensing survey such as EUCLID by averaging the shear profile of a large fraction of the visible massive clusters in the universe, or from its signature in the general weak lensing power spectrum or its cross-spectrum with galaxies. However, correctly modeling the distribution of mass in baryons and cold dark matter and suppressing any systematic errors to the accuracy required for detecting this neutrino perturbation is severely challenging.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to JCA

Original language and culture maintaining program for Moroccan students in Spain: design and validation of an instrument.

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo presentar los resultados deldiseño y validación teórica y empírica de un instrumento que permite efectuar una evaluación diagnóstica inicial del programa de Lengua Árabe y Cultura Marroquí (LACM) en España. Para ello, seaplicó el cuestionario a una muestra piloto, conformada por un totalde setenta padres y madres de alumnado matriculado en el programa, concretamente, en las etapas de educación primaria y secundariade las ciudades de Sevilla y Almería. Se calculó la consistencia interna a través del coeficiente Alpha de Cronbach, mostrando buenosíndices de fiabilidad según los expertos. Para la validez de contenidose llevó a cabo un juicio de expertos y se analizó la confiabilidad ogrado de acuerdo entre los mismos con el coeficiente Alpha de Krippendorff. La validez de constructo se efectuó a través de unAnálisis Factorial Exploratorio y un Escalamiento Multidimensional No Métrico o PROXSCAL. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que se trata de un instrumento eficaz para evaluar la opinión de las familias sobre el programa y el aprendizaje de la lengua árabe por parte de sus hijos e hijas.The aim ofthis paper is to present the results of the design and theoretical and empirical validation of an instrument that allows for an initial diagnostic evaluation of the Arabic Language and Moroccan Cultu(ALMC) programme in Spain. To this end, the questionnaire was applied to a pilot sample of seventy parents of students enrolled in the programme, specifically in the primary and secondary stages ofeducation in the cities of Seville and Almeria. Internal consistencywas calculated using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, showing good reliability indices according to the experts. For content validity, anexpert judgement was carried out and the reliability or degree of agreement between experts was analysed using Krippendorff’s Alpha coefficient. Construct validity was assessed by means of an Exploratory Factor Analysis and Non-Metric Multidimen-sionalScaling (PROXSCAL). The results obtained suggest that it is an effective instrument for assessing families’ opinions about the pro-gramme and their children’s learning of the Arabic language

Estudio de un brote poblacional de hepatitis A. Efectividad de la vacunación como medida de control

ResumenObjetivoDescribir un brote de hepatitis A en la ciudad de Albacete y valorar la efectividad de las medidas de control adoptadas.MétodosConstatada la existencia del brote, se establecieron las definiciones de caso. Se recogieron los datos clínicos y epidemiológicos de los casos mediante encuesta. Se describió la distribución temporoespacial, mediante la localización de los casos y la curva epidémica. Se pusieron en marcha, como medidas de control y prevención inmediatas, la administración de inmunoglobulina (IG) y educación sanitaria a la población en riesgo.ResultadosDesde enero de 2005 a enero de 2006 se declararon 62 casos. Los grupos de edad más afectados fueron los escolares y los adultos jóvenes. El mecanismo de transmisión fue de persona a persona. La curva epidémica presenta dos periodos. Las medidas de control iniciales fueron higiénicas y administración de IG a los contactos; en el segundo periodo se complementaron con la vacunación contra la hepatitis A, administrada a los alumnos de los centros de enseñanza de los dos barrios inicialmente implicados. La extensión del brote a los barrios colindantes y la alarma social que ocasionó hicieron que se ampliara la vacunación a los centros de enseñanza próximos a aquellos en que se habían detectado casos. Después de la última vacunación, en enero de 2006, no se notificó ningún caso.ConclusionesEl uso de la vacuna postexposición frente al virus de la hepatitis A en la población escolar y los adultos jóvenes parece ser una medida efectiva para el control de un brote.AbstractObjectiveTo describe an outbreak of hepatitis A in the city of Albacete (Spain) and to assess the effectiveness of the control measures implemented.MethodsWhen the outbreak was noted, definitions of a case were established. Clinical and epidemiological data were collected through a survey. The temporal-spatial distribution was identified through mapping and the epidemic curve. Health education and immunoglobulin (IG) administration were conducted as immediate prevention and control measures in the population at risk.ResultsFrom January 2005 to January 2006, 62 cases were reported. The most affected age groups were school children and young adults. Transmission was person to person. The epidemic curve was divided into two periods. Initial control measures consisted of hygiene measures and IG administration to contacts. In the second period, these measures were complemented with vaccination against hepatitis A in students of the school centers of the two neighborhoods initially involved. Due to public alarm and spread of the outbreak to adjacent neighborhoods, vaccination was extended to schools close to those where cases had been detected. No cases were notified after the last vaccination in January 2006.ConclusionsThe use of vaccination after exposure to the hepatitis A virus in young adults and the school population seems to be an effective outbreak control measure

Bacterioplankton Community Composition Along Environmental Gradients in Lakes From Byers Peninsula (Maritime Antarctica) as Determined by Next-Generation Sequencing

This study comprises the first attempt to describe the planktonic bacterial communities of lakes from Byers Peninsula, one of the most significant limnological districts in the Maritime Antarctica, leveraging next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. For the survey, we selected 7 lakes covering the environmental gradient from inland to coastal lakes, some of them sampled both in surface and deep waters. Analysis provided just over 85,000 high quality sequences that were clustered into 864 unique Zero-radius Operational Taxonomic Units (ZOTUs) (i.e., 100% sequence similarity). Yet, several taxonomic uncertainties remained in the analysis likely suggesting the occurrence of local bacterial adaptations. The survey showed the dominance of the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Among the former, the Gammaproteobacteria class, more specifically the order Betaproteobacteriales, was the dominant group, which seems to be a common trend in nutrient-limited Antarctic lakes. Most of the families and genera ubiquitously detected belonging to this class are indeed typical from ultra-oligotrophic environments, and commonly described as diazotrophs. On the other hand, among the members of the phylum Bacteroidetes, genera such as Flavobacterium were abundant in some of the shallowest lakes, thus demonstrating that also benthic and sediment-associated bacteria contributed to water bacterial assemblages. Ordination analyses sorted bacterial assemblages mainly based on the environmental gradients of nutrient availability and conductivity i.e., salinity. However, transient bacterial associations, that included the groups Clostridiaceae and Chloroflexi, also occurred as being forced by other drivers such as the influence of the nearby fauna and by the airborne microorganisms. As we intended, our NGS-based approach has provided a much greater resolution compared to the previous studies conducted in the area and confirmed to a large extent the previously obtained patterns, thus reinforcing the view of Byers as a hotspot of microbial biodiversity within Antarctica. This high microbial diversity allows the use of these aquatic ecosystems and their bacterial assemblages as sentinels for the monitoring of adaptive responses to climate change in this rapidly warming area

MicroRNA 101b Is Downregulated in the Prefrontal Cortex of a Genetic Model of Depression and Targets the Glutamate Transporter SLC1A1 (EAAT3) in Vitro

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory molecules that cause translational repression by base pairing with target mRNAs. Cumulative evidence suggests that changes in miRNA expression may in part underlie the pathophysiology and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD). METHODS: A miRNA expression assay that can simultaneously detect 423 rat miRNAs (miRBase v.17) was used to profile the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of a genetic rat model of MDD (the Flinders Sensitive Line [FSL]) and the controls, the Flinders Resistant Line (FRL). Gene expression data from the PFC of FSL/FRL animals (GEO accession no. GSE20388) were used to guide mRNA target selection. Luciferase reporter assays were used to verify miRNA targets in vitro. RESULTS: We identified 23 miRNAs that were downregulated in the PFC of the FSL model compared with controls. Interestingly, one of the identified miRNAs (miR-101b) is highly conserved between rat and human and was recently found to be downregulated in the PFC of depressed suicide subjects. Using a combination of in silico and in vitro analyses, we found that miR-101b targets the neuronal glutamate transporter SLC1A1 (also known as EAAC1 or EAAT3). Accordingly, both mRNA and protein levels of SLC1A1 were found to be upregulated in the PFC of the FSL model. CONCLUSIONS: Besides providing a list of novel miRNAs associated with depression-like states, this preclinical study replicated the human association of miR-101 with depression. In addition, since one of the targets of miR-101b appears to be a glutamate transporter, our preclinical data support the hypothesis of a glutamatergic dysregulation being implicated in the etiology of depression

Non-linear evolution of the cosmic neutrino background

We investigate the non-linear evolution of the relic cosmic neutrino background by running large box-size, high resolution N-body simulations which incorporate cold dark matter (CDM) and neutrinos as independent particle species. Our set of simulations explore the properties of neutrinos in a reference Lambda CDM model with total neutrino masses between 0.05-0.60 eV in cold dark matter haloes of mass 10(11) ¿ 10(15) h(-1) M-circle dot, over a redshift range z = 0 ¿ 2. We compute the halo mass function and show that it is reasonably well fitted by the Sheth-Tormen formula, once the neutrino contribution to the total matter is removed. More importantly, we focus on the CDM and neutrino properties of the density and peculiar velocity fields in the cosmological volume, inside and in the outskirts of virialized haloes. The dynamical state of the neutrino particles depends strongly on their momentum: whereas neutrinos in the low velocity tail behave similarly to CDM particles, neutrinos in the high velocity tail are not affected by the clustering of the underlying CDM component. We find that the neutrino (linear) unperturbed momentum distribution is modified and mass and redshift dependent deviations from the expected Fermi-Dirac distribution are in place both in the cosmological volume and inside haloes. The neutrino density profiles around virialized haloes have been carefully investigated and a simple fitting formula is provided. The neutrino profile, unlike the cold dark matter one, is found to be cored with core size and central density that depend on the neutrino mass, redshift and mass of the halo, for halos of masses larger than similar to 10(13.5) h(-1) M-circle dot. For lower masses the neutrino profile is best fitted by a simple power-law relation in the range probed by the simulations. The results we obtain are numerically converged in terms of neutrino profiles at the 10% level for scales above similar to 200 h(-1) kpc at z = 0, and are stable with respect to box-size and starting redshift of the simulation. Our findings are particularly important in view of upcoming large-scale structure surveys, like Euclid, that are expected to probe the non-linear regime at the percent level with lensing and clustering observations