Educational Activities to Help Transferring Knowledge in Nuclear: The Seminars of Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (Jóvenes Nucleares)

From its creation, Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (Jóvenes Nucleares, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE), has as an important scope to help transferring the knowledge between those generations in the way that it can be possible

From Secondary School To University: Attracting Young Students Towards A Career In Nuclear

From its creation, Spanish Young Generation in Nuclear (Jóvenes Nucleares, JJNN), a non-profit organization that depends on the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE), has as an important scope to help spread knowledge about nuclear energy, not only pointing out its advantages and its role in our society, but also trying to correct some of the ideas that are due to the biased information and to the lack of knowledge. To try to have success in that goal, some high school lectures were taught and it has been organized regularly a Basic Course on Nuclear Science and Technolog

Correlation between ribonucleoside-diphosphate reductase and three replication proteins in Escherichia coli

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has long been evidence supporting the idea that RNR and the dNTP-synthesizing complex must be closely linked to the replication complex or replisome. We contributed to this body of evidence in proposing the hypothesis of the replication hyperstructure. A recently published work called this postulate into question, reporting that NrdB is evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Consequently we were interested in the localization of RNR protein and its relationship with other replication proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We tagged NrdB protein with 3×FLAG epitope and detected its subcellular location by immunofluorescence microscopy. We found that this protein is located in nucleoid-associated clusters, that the number of foci correlates with the number of replication forks at any cell age, and that after the replication process ends the number of cells containing NrdB foci decreases.</p> <p>We show that the number of NrdB foci is very similar to the number of SeqA, DnaB, and DnaX foci, both in the whole culture and in different cell cycle periods. In addition, interfoci distances between NrdB and three replication proteins are similar to the distances between two replication protein foci.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>NrdB is present in nucleoid-associated clusters during the replication period. These clusters disappear after replication ends. The number of these clusters is closely related to the number of replication forks and the number of three replication protein clusters in any cell cycle period. Therefore we conclude that NrdB protein, and most likely RNR protein, is closely linked to the replication proteins or replisome at the replication fork. These results clearly support the replication hyperstructure model.</p

Effect of the nature of exogenous organic matter on pesticide sorption by the soil

A study was carried out on the sorption of two sparingly water-soluble pesticides (diazinon and linuron) by a sandy loam soil modified with different exogenous organic materials (EOMs) containing humic like substances: city refuse compost (CRC), peat (P), commercial humic acid (HA), liquid humic acid (LHA) extracted from leonardite and two (non humic) model compounds (surfactants): tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TDTMA) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) before and after 2 and 8 months incubation periods with the soil. In all cases, the isotherms fitted the Freundlich sorption equation (x/m=KCen), generally with r2 values greater than 0.99. The value of the sorption constant K for the natural soil was 8.81 for diazinon and 2.29 for linuron. These values increased significantly for EOM modified soils with respect to natural soil, with the exception of the samples modified with SDS and LHA, in which cases they decreased, possibly due to the micellar properties of these compounds. Incubation of EOMs with soil increased their sorption capacity: the Koc values were increased proportionally to the incubation time for both pesticides and for all treatments carried out. Accordingly, the sorption capacity of hydrophobic pesticides increases with the degree of evolution in the soil of EOMs with humic type compounds, possibly due, among other causes, to the increase in the EOMs colloidal properties and the modifications occurring in the hydrophobic- hydrophilic characteristics of the soil surfaces. The main conclusion is that application to the soil of solid carbon rich wastes, especially those with a high degree of maturity, may offer an important strategy for reducing pesticide leaching, and for eliminating pesticide residues from soil with the use of liquid humic acids.Peer reviewe

Effect of the nature of exogenous organic matter on pesticide sorption by the soil

A study was carried out on the sorption of two sparingly water-soluble pesticides (diazinon and linuron) by a sandy loam soil modified with different exogenous organic materials (EOMs) containing humic like substances: city refuse compost (CRC), peat (P), commercial humic acid (HA), liquid humic acid (LHA) extracted from leonardite and two (non humic) model compounds (surfactants): tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide (TDTMA) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) before and after 2 and 8 months incubation periods with the soil. In all cases, the isotherms fitted the Freundlich sorption equation (x/m=KCen), generally with r2 values greater than 0.99. The value of the sorption constant K for the natural soil was 8.81 for diazinon and 2.29 for linuron. These values increased significantly for EOM modified soils with respect to natural soil, with the exception of the samples modified with SDS and LHA, in which cases they decreased, possibly due to the micellar properties of these compounds. Incubation of EOMs with soil increased their sorption capacity: the Koc values were increased proportionally to the incubation time for both pesticides and for all treatments carried out. Accordingly, the sorption capacity of hydrophobic pesticides increases with the degree of evolution in the soil of EOMs with humic type compounds, possibly due, among other causes, to the increase in the EOMs colloidal properties and the modifications occurring in the hydrophobic- hydrophilic characteristics of the soil surfaces. The main conclusion is that application to the soil of solid carbon rich wastes, especially those with a high degree of maturity, may offer an important strategy for reducing pesticide leaching, and for eliminating pesticide residues from soil with the use of liquid humic acids.Peer reviewe

Decoding stem cells: an overview on planarian stem cell heterogeneity and lineage progression

Planarians are flatworms capable of whole-body regeneration, able to regrow any missing body part after injury or amputation. The extraordinary regenerative capacity of planarians is based upon the presence in the adult of a large population of somatic pluripotent stem cells. These cells, called neoblasts, offer a unique system to study the process of stem cell specification and differentiation in vivo. In recent years, FACS-based isolation of neoblasts, RNAi functional analyses as well as high-throughput approaches such as single-cell sequencing have allowed a rapid progress in our understanding of many different aspects of neoblast biology. Here, we summarize our current knowledge on the molecular signatures that define planarian neoblasts heterogeneity, which includes a percentage of truly pluripotent stem cells, and guide the commitment of pluripotent neoblasts into lineage-specific progenitor cells, as well as their differentiation into specific planarian cell types

Nonlinear self-collimated sound beams in sonic crystals

We report the propagation of high-intensity sound beams in a sonic crystal, under self-collimation or reduced-divergence conditions. The medium is a fluid with elastic quadratic nonlinearity, where the dominating nonlinear effect is harmonic generation. The conditions for the efficient generation of narrow, non-diverging beam of second harmonic are discussed. Numerical simulations are in agreement with the analytical predictions made, based on the linear dispersion characteristics in modulated media and the nonlinear interaction in a quadratic medium under phase matching conditions.Comment: Sent to PR

Dificultades en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de los problemas de física y química : I. Opiniones del alumno

Analysing the ideas with which teachers and pupils confront problems in physics and chemistry. The starting point for this analysis is the compilation of the difficulties and causes of failure involved in solving problems raised during a didactic investigation of these subjects. This part shows the results obtained in relation to the pupils. They show their opinions on the difficulties they came across, their evaluations, relationships between these and other groups of students showing similar characteristics. Another paper will be dedicated to the teacher's opinions and a comparison between both groups