Hemicellulose-derived sugars solubilisation of rape straw. Cofermentation of pentoses and hexoses by Escherichia coli

Bioconversion of hemicellulose sugars is essential for increasing fuel ethanol yields from lignocellulosic biomass. We report for the first time with rape straw, bioethanol production from hemicellulose sugars. Rape straw was pretreated at mild conditions with sulfuric acid to solubilize the hemicellulose fraction. This pretreatment allows obtaining a prehydrolysate, consisting basically in a solution of monomeric hemicellulosic sugars, with low inhibitor concentrations. The remaining water insoluble solid constitutes a cellulose-enriched, free of extractives material. The influence of temperature (120ºC and 130ºC), acid concentration (2-4% w/v) and pretreatment time (30-180 min) on hemicellulose-derived sugars solubilisation was evaluated. The highest hemicellulosic sugars recovery, 72.3%, was achieved at 130ºC with 2% sulfuric acid and 60 min. At these conditions, a concentrated sugars solution, 52.4 g/L, was obtained after three acid consecutive contacts, with 67% xylose and acetic acid concentration above 4.5 g/L. After a detoxification step by activated charcoal or ion-exchange resin, prehydrolysate was fermented by ethanologenic Escherichia coli. An alcoholic solution of 25 g/L and 86% of theoretical ethanol yield was attained after 144 h when the prehydrolysate was detoxified by ion-exchange resin. The results obtained in the present work show sulfuric acid pretreatment under mild conditions and E. coli as an interesting process to exploit hemicellulosic sugars in rape straw

Nuevos escenarios y contextos en la formación inicial docente. Fundamentos pedagógicos y espaciales para aprender a ser docentes: Aula Viva

Un grupo multidisciplinar de docentes de la Universidad de Málaga nos hemos constituido en equipo de investigación para diseñar y desarrollar un contexto universitario de formación inicial docente coherente con las necesidades y retos educativos actuales. El proyecto, perteneciente al II Plan Propio de Smart Campus y denominado “Naturalización de espacios educativos para nuevos modelos docentes innovadores” (“Naturalezas docentes”), trata de diseñar e investigar un espacio armónico, natural, vivo y complejo donde los docentes en formación se pongan en acción y relación con la enseñanza y el aprendizaje, creando propuestas reales y dialogadas que ofrecerán a niños y niñas de las escuelas cercanas. Es decir, un espacio de creación que nos permitirá investigar la propia formación docente en sí misma y orientarla hacia un proceso de investigación ligado a la práctica en ciclos de reflexión y acción crítica (Helgevold y Wilkins, 2019), donde el alumnado y también los docentes implicados en la formación, analicen las experiencias educativas que se viven y promueven entre la escuela y la universidad. Teniendo en cuenta todo lo anterior, nuestra investigación parte de un análisis contextual básico, tanto social como pedagógico y natural. Una tríada que nos ayude a situar los retos educativos actuales, así como la formación inicial del profesorado, analizando espacios escolares y universitarios contemporáneos y definiendo, por último, las cualidades y dimensiones de un espacio universitario provocador, sugerente, acogedor y, sobre todo, educativo: Aula Viva

Detection of freeze injury in oranges using magnetic resonance imaging under motion conditions

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is applied for on-line inspection of fruits. The aim of this work is to address the applicability of MRI for freeze injury detection in oranges directly on a distribution chain. Undamaged and damaged oranges are conveyed at 50 and 100 mm/s by a specially designed conveyor within a 4.7 T spectrometer obtaining fast low-angle shot images. An automatic segmentation algorithm is proposed that allows the discrimination between undamaged and damaged orange

Aplicación del programa de simulación de procesos Hysys para el diseño de actividades de aprendizaje de operaciones unitarias en las áreas de Ingeniería Química y Tecnologías del Medio Ambiente

En esta comunicación se resume el trabajo realizado por el equipo de profesores participante en el proyecto de innovación docente PID25D (financiado por el Secretariado de Innovación Docente de la Universidad de Jaén).El objetivo general del proyecto ha sido el diseño de actividades formativas útiles para ponerlas en práctica en asignaturas de las áreas de Ingeniería Química y Tecnologías del Medio Ambiente. Para ello, se ha empleado como recurso didáctico un software de simulación de procesos, que resulta atractivo y motivador para el alumno, permitiendo la contextualización (aprendizaje significativo) al trabajar en un entorno similar al de la industria real

Programa de Tutorías Personalizadas en la Licenciatura de Química

Son muchas las novedades a las que se enfrenta el estudiante a su llegada a la Universidad. Acostumbrados a un grupo reducido de amigos y profesores del instituto local, la Universidad les abre la posibilidad inquietante de salir por primera vez de casa, de conocer nuevos compañeros y amigos, de conocer nuevas formas de enseñanza y estudio, de relacionarse con gente de diversas nacionalidades y profesión.Por todo esto, conscientes por nuestra experiencia con alumnos de cursos anteriores de que todas estas novedades no serán fáciles de asimilar y avalados por los informes de evaluación de la Titulación de Química de la UJA (interno y externo), que detectan importantes deficiencias en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, un grupo de profesores de la Universidad hemos considerado interesante y especialmente formativo ofrecer a los alumnos nuestra ayuda en la forma de un servicio de tutorización personalizado, mediante el cual y desde una perspectiva más cercana se puedan mejorar todos estos aspectos

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

CARB-ES-19 Multicenter Study of Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli From All Spanish Provinces Reveals Interregional Spread of High-Risk Clones Such as ST307/OXA-48 and ST512/KPC-3

ObjectivesCARB-ES-19 is a comprehensive, multicenter, nationwide study integrating whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in the surveillance of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae (CP-Kpn) and E. coli (CP-Eco) to determine their incidence, geographical distribution, phylogeny, and resistance mechanisms in Spain.MethodsIn total, 71 hospitals, representing all 50 Spanish provinces, collected the first 10 isolates per hospital (February to May 2019); CPE isolates were first identified according to EUCAST (meropenem MIC &gt; 0.12 mg/L with immunochromatography, colorimetric tests, carbapenem inactivation, or carbapenem hydrolysis with MALDI-TOF). Prevalence and incidence were calculated according to population denominators. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the microdilution method (EUCAST). All 403 isolates collected were sequenced for high-resolution single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing, core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST), and resistome analysis.ResultsIn total, 377 (93.5%) CP-Kpn and 26 (6.5%) CP-Eco isolates were collected from 62 (87.3%) hospitals in 46 (92%) provinces. CP-Kpn was more prevalent in the blood (5.8%, 50/853) than in the urine (1.4%, 201/14,464). The cumulative incidence for both CP-Kpn and CP-Eco was 0.05 per 100 admitted patients. The main carbapenemase genes identified in CP-Kpn were blaOXA–48 (263/377), blaKPC–3 (62/377), blaVIM–1 (28/377), and blaNDM–1 (12/377). All isolates were susceptible to at least two antibiotics. Interregional dissemination of eight high-risk CP-Kpn clones was detected, mainly ST307/OXA-48 (16.4%), ST11/OXA-48 (16.4%), and ST512-ST258/KPC (13.8%). ST512/KPC and ST15/OXA-48 were the most frequent bacteremia-causative clones. The average number of acquired resistance genes was higher in CP-Kpn (7.9) than in CP-Eco (5.5).ConclusionThis study serves as a first step toward WGS integration in the surveillance of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in Spain. We detected important epidemiological changes, including increased CP-Kpn and CP-Eco prevalence and incidence compared to previous studies, wide interregional dissemination, and increased dissemination of high-risk clones, such as ST307/OXA-48 and ST512/KPC-3

Hidrólisis y fermentación de residuos de tallos de girasol

Tesis Univ. Jaén. Departament