Modelos predictivos de la concentración polínica en la atmósfera de Cartagena (1993-1999)

Se ha construido una base da datos meteorológica y aeropalinológica para la ciudad de Cartagena, con datos desde el año 1993 y 1999, ambos inclusive. Se ha realizado una detallada descripción de las características meteorológicas de la zona para este periodo, para pasar a continuación a estudiar la influencia de los distintos parámetros meteorológicos en los registros polínicos diarios, mediante correlaciones bivariadas y análisis de la varianza, haciendo mayor hincapié en los parámetros presión atmosferica, velocidad del viento, dirección del viento y precipitaciones. Como paso previo a la construcción de los modelos predictivos, y dada la importancia del vector viento en el transporte y dispersión de los granos de polen en la atmosfera, se han definido los flujos de viento caracteristicos de la zona y su relación con los datos aerobiológicos, mediante análisis de cluster en dos pasos, primero un metodo jerarquico, seguido de un metodo no jerárquico. Finalmente se ha procedido a la elaboracion de modelos predictivos estadisticos: modelos de regresion lineal multiple, modelos de regresión logistica y modelos ARIMA, para las concentraciones polínicas totales y para las concentraciones de la segunda floración del tipo polinico Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae, así como tambien se han validado los distintos modelos obtenidos.Universidad Politécnica de CartagenaPrograma de doctorado en Ingeniería Ambienta

Disinfection efficiency of secondary effluents with ultraviolet light in a Mediterranean area

This paper deals with the study of physicochemical and microbiological parameters affecting disinfection efficiency of secondary effluents in a municipal wastewater treatment plant, for irrigation purposes. There appears to be an important increase on turbidity values as chlorine values increases, due to the conversion of particulate organic carbon into dissolved organic carbon. The nitrification-denitrificacion processes appeared to be sensitive to changes in pH, with a minimum nitrate value in the wastewater when pH ranged between 7.01-8.00. With a similar behaviour, the phosphate removal was conditioned by pH, showing the highest efficiency in the same pH range. Both anions probed to be strongly correlated. Total coliforms were more UV light resistant than faecal coliforms, after an exposure of 10 min, corresponding to an UV dose of 73 mJ/cm2. The experimental results for both groups of microorganisms followed first order reaction kinetics, with a gradual flattening at higher UV doses. A total elimination of both indicators would be achieved with doses over 95 mJ/cm2. A previous step on the treated wastewater would improve its quality before the disinfection process

Betaxanthin-Rich Extract from Cactus Pear Fruits as Yellow Water-Soluble Colorant with Potential Application in Foods

Cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) fruit juice is a source of betaxanthin pigments which can be used as a natural yellow food colorant. The HPLC chromatographic pigment pattern corresponding to the betaxanthin-rich extract revealed the presence of four betaxanthins, of which indicaxanthin (proline-betaxanthin) accounts for around 85%. A betaxanthin-rich water-soluble food colorant from cactus pears fruits was produced by spray-drying microencapsulation using maltodextrin as a wall material. The resulting powder was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and its apparent color was analyzed by spectrometry. The stability of the microcapsules was examined at +20, +4 and −20 °C in the dark during six months of storage. The degradation of betaxanthins was delayed by microencapsulation and their colorant stability increased at lower temperatures. The potential application of the colorant microcapsules was successfully assessed in two food model systems: a yogurt and a soft-drink. Both foods presented an attractive pale yellow color. Pigment retention and color parameters were investigated during storage under controlled conditions. Slight changes in the pigment retention, in both model systems, pointed to excellent preservation in the dark, even after 28 days at 4 °C. However, the presence of light contributed to betaxanthin deterioration. Spray-drying microencapsulation succeeds in reducing volumen of the pigment extract and can be easy in storage and delivery of the powders. It is proved to be a suitable process that can be recommended for stabilizing betaxanthins from cactus pears to be used as water-soluble natural colorants in foods.This research is part of the QUIMYTEC R&D group. Authors greatly acknowledge the financial 16 support provided by Fundación Séneca (project 08702PI08)

Prototyping a spinning adsorber submerged filter for continuous removal of wastewater contaminants

Adsorption process is widely used for the removal of wastewater contaminants. Classic adsorption units are fixed beds and membrane filtration systems. In this work a novel configuration of a bench scale spinning adsorber submerged filter is proposed. Different prototypes of cylindric, truncated cone or prismatic spinning adsorbers were studied using activated carbon of different particle sizes GAC (1.5 mm, Granulated), μGAC (0.475 mm, microGranulated), and cPAC (0.237 mm, coarse Powder) as adsorbent, and azorubine as model adsorbate. High maximum azorubine adsorptions per unit mass of adsorbent of 214, 225 and 275 mg/g for GAC, μGAC and cPAC, respectively, were obtained using the Langmuir isotherm adsorption model. Batch adsorption followed pseudo-second order kinetics, and adsorbate uptake rate increased with decreasing adsorbent particle size. Best adsorption unit was a tank equipped with a spinning rectangular prism adsorber prototype all made of stainless-steel woven wire filter of 180 mesh size. Running at 600 rpm and filled with a high cPAC concentration (25 g/L), adsorber can remove azorubine at similar rates that the use of free moving cPAC. Adsorber unit can run in continuous mode and works even better as a novel spinning submerged filter where filtered flow exits from a central pipe axis. This integrated adsorption-submerged filtration operation mode offer the possibility of adding a high initial dose or a continuous dosing of adsorbent in the tank, increasing the adsorbent concentration of the unit. This system can also offer novel opportunities for wastewater contaminants removal using different adsorbent materials located separately.We want to thank Hector Flores Aparicio (Industrial Design and Scientific Calculation Service, UPCT) for 3D printing of studied prototypes and useful suggestions. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors

Adsorptive and surface characterization of Mediterranean agrifood processingwastes: prospection for pesticide removal

The sustainable management of biomass is a key global challenge that demands compliance with fundamental requirements of social and environmental responsibility and economic effectiveness. Strategies for the valorization of waste biomass from agrifood industries must be in line with sustainable technological management and eco-industrial approaches. The efficient bioremoval of the pesticides imazalil and thiabendazole from aqueous effluents using waste biomass from typically Mediterranean agrifood industries (citrus waste, artichoke agrowaste and olive mill residue) revealed that these residues may be transformed into cost-effective biosorbents. Agrifood wastes present irregular surfaces, many different sized pores and active functional groups on their surface, and they are abundant in nature. The surface and adsorptive properties of olive mill residue, artichoke agrowaste and citrus waste were characterized with respect to elemental composition, microstructure, crystallinity, pore size, presence of active functional groups, thermal stability, and point of zero charge. Olive mill residue showed the highest values of surface area (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method), porosity, crystallinity index, and pH of zero point of charge. Olive mill residue showed the highest efficiency with sorption capacities of 9 mg·g−1 for imazalil and 8.6 mg·g−1 for thiabendazole.This research is part of the QUIMYTEC R&D group. The excellent technical assistance of M.J. Roca, V. Muñoz, L.A. Alcolea and M. Vázquez (Technical Research Support Service, UPCT) is greatly appreciated. This research was funded by the Technical University of Cartagena (UPCT), grant number ACI B

A Promising, Highly Effective Nitrate Sorbent Derived from Solid Olive Mill Residues

Olive mill residues have been valorized by chemical modification with amines to improve their adsorption capacity and to be used as a low-cost bioadsorbent for nitrate removal. The Taguchi method was used to optimize the process. By performing a three-factor analysis with three levels, it was possible to significantly reduce the number of experiments to be performed and to obtain the best working conditions. The results of the Taguchi method showed that the highest adsorption capacity was 110 mg·g −1 with a functionalized biomass dose of 1 g·L −1 using an initial nitrate concentration of 500 mg·L −1 . Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the surface morphology and study the chemical changes that occurred in the biomass. For the best conditions of the Taguchi approach, the kinetic and equilibrium aspects of the adsorption process were analyzed. The adsorption isotherms obtained were successfully fitted to the Freundlich (R2 = 0.98) and Langmuir (R2 = 0.97) models. The kinetics of the process were studied, and the data obtained fit very well to the pseudo-second-order model (R2 = 0.99). The adsorption values obtained suggest that it is a bioadsorbent with great potential for nitrate retention in aqueous solutions.This research was funded by the Project 2I20SAE00081 through the Call for Public Grants to finance the strategic projects included in the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation-RIS3MUR Strategy by the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia (CARM), Spain, within the framework of the FEDER Operational Program Region of Murcia 2014–2020 under the thematic objective 1: Strengthen research, technological development and innovation by 80% and with CARMs own funds by 20%

Evaluation of physichochemical parameters influencing bulking episodes in a municipal wastewater treatment plant

A study of physicochemical parameters in a municipal wastewater treatment plant was undertaken to consider the presence of bulking phenomena by means of statistical and logistic regression analyses. There appears to be an important effect on activated sludge settleability that can be related to the temperature of wastewater. Besides, there were significant differences between the percentage of nitrogen removal from the secondary treatment with the season. The SVI increased with conductivity, meanwhile BOD5 removal decreased with this parameter. The development of logistic regression models identified two statistically significant variables that appeared to be important to the contribution of a higher SVI: season and pH

ENO regulates tomato fruit size through the floral meristem development network

A dramatic evolution of fruit size has accompanied the domestication and improvement of fruit-bearing crop species. In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), naturally occurring cis-regulatory mutations in the genes of the CLAVATA-WUSCHEL signaling pathway have led to a significant increase in fruit size generating enlarged meristems that lead to flowers with extra organs and bigger fruits. In this work, by combining mapping-by-sequencing and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing methods, we isolated EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF FLORAL ORGANS (ENO), an AP2/ERF transcription factor which regulates floral meristem activity. Thus, the ENO gene mutation gives rise to plants that yield larger multilocular fruits due to an increased size of the floral meristem. Genetic analyses indicate that eno exhibits synergistic effects with mutations at the LOCULE NUMBER (encoding SlWUS) and FASCIATED (encoding SlCLV3) loci, two central players in the evolution of fruit size in the domestication of cultivated tomatoes. Our findings reveal that an eno mutation causes a substantial expansion of SlWUS expression domains in a flower-specific manner. In vitro binding results show that ENO is able to interact with the GGC-box cis-regulatory element within the SlWUS promoter region, suggesting that ENO directly regulates SlWUS expression domains to maintain floral stem-cell homeostasis. Furthermore, the study of natural allelic variation of the ENO locus proved that a cis-regulatory mutation in the promoter of ENO had been targeted by positive selection during the domestication process, setting up the background for significant increases in fruit locule number and fruit size in modern tomatoes

Albino T-DNA tomato mutant reveals a key function of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS1) in plant development and survival

[EN] Photosynthetic activity is indispensable for plant growth and survival and it depends on the synthesis of plastidial isoprenoids as chlorophylls and carotenoids. In the non-mevalonate pathway (MEP), the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase 1 (DXS1) enzyme has been postulated to catalyze the ratelimiting step in the formation of plastidial isoprenoids. In tomato, the function of DXS1 has only been studied in fruits, and hence its functional relevance during plant development remains unknown. Here we report the characterization of the wls-2297 tomato mutant, whose severe deficiency in chlorophylls and carotenoids promotes an albino phenotype. Additionally, growth of mutant seedlings was arrested without developing vegetative organs, which resulted in premature lethality. Gene cloning and silencing experiments revealed that the phenotype of wls-2297 mutant was caused by 38.6 kb-deletion promoted by a single T-DNA insertion affecting the DXS1 gene. This was corroborated by in vivo and molecular complementation assays, which allowed the rescue of mutant phenotype. Further characterization of tomato plants overexpressing DXS1 and comparative expression analysis indicate that DXS1 may play other important roles besides to that proposed during fruit carotenoid biosynthesis. Taken together, these results demonstrate that DXS1 is essentially required for the development and survival of tomato plants.This work was supported by research grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the UE-European Regional Development Fund (AGL2015-64991-C3-1-R, and AGL2015-64991-C3-3-R), and Junta de Andalucia (P12-AGR-1482). PhD fellowship to M.G.-A. was funded by the FPU Programme of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The authors thank research facilities provided by the Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario (CeiA3).Garcia-Alcazar, M.; Giménez Caminero, ME.; Pineda Chaza, BJ.; Capel, C.; García Sogo, B.; Sánchez Martín-Sauceda, S.; Yuste-Lisbona, FJ.... (2017). Albino T-DNA tomato mutant reveals a key function of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS1) in plant development and survival. Scientific Reports. 7:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep45333112

Evaluación formativa y de calidad de la competencia genérica "comunicación eficaz oral y escrita" en titulaciones técnicas

[SPA] En este trabajo, hemos llevado a cabo la evaluación de una actividad formativa enmarcada dentro de la competencia genérica “comunicación eficaz oral y escrita” con el fin de comprobar si el proceso evaluativo propuesto cumple con los estándares de calidad definidos por expertos y agencias de evaluación. La búsqueda e implementación de modelos de evaluación coherentes con los resultados esperados del aprendizaje y orientados a la calidad van a ser claves en los futuros procesos de acreditación de los títulos universitarios ya que, si están bien diseñados permitirán verificar la consecución de las competencias descritas en el perfil de formación de los Grados. En este artículo, tras definir los criterios de calidad evaluativa, se comenta la estructura curricular de dicha competencia genérica y del proceso de selección de la rúbrica empleada. Los resultados obtenidos ponen de manifiesto la importancia del proceso de planificación, divulgación y retroalimentación para satisfacer los criterios de adecuación, autenticidad, transparencia, viabilidad y carácter formativo de la evaluación. En relación con la validez y fiabilidad del proceso de evaluación, se plantean una serie de posibles estrategias para la mejora de ambos parámetros. [ENG] This paper reports the design and test of an evaluation tool for formative activities in the field of the generic competence "Effective written and oral communication". The agreement of the evaluative results with the standards defined by experts and quality assurance agencies is discussed. The importance of defining evaluation tools that are coherent with the expected learning outcomes relies on the necessity to verify the achievement of the competences defined in Graduate programs. We define the quality criteria for the evaluation of the generic competence and therefore its curriculum structure and the selection of the adequate rubric for evaluation. The results obtained state the importance of the planning, circulation and feedback of the evaluation process, in order to assure the requirements for adequacy, authenticity, transparency, viability and formative character. Finally, some strategies are proposed in order to improve the validity and reliability of these evaluation tools