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El objetivo de este estudio es determinar la capacidad de almacenamiento energético del material obtenido de cascarilla de cacao en configuración de capacitor. El material lignocelulósico proviene de la cosecha de cacao ecuatoriano utilizado en procesos agroindustriales. Se realizó el análisis de los volátiles generados durante la pirólisis instantáneo mediante la técnica GC/MS; además, de la comparación del capacitor con dos electrólitos diferentes: ácido sulfúrico (H2SO4) y cloruro de sodio (NaCl). El procesamiento del material se realizó mediante un proceso de carbonización y otro de activación por vía química, los cuales se llevaron a cabo en un reactor de pirólisis en atmósfera inerte de nitrógeno (N2) a una velocidad de calefacción de 20 oC min-1 y se activaron a 850 oC en la misma atmósfera por 4 horas. A partir de este material se prepararon los electrodos y se probó mediante voltametría cíclica el almacenamiento de energía a diferentes velocidades de barrido para cinco ciclos. Los resultados del análisis GC/MS y de voltametría cíclica demostraron que la materia prima secundaria preparada puede utilizarse para obtener productos de alto valor agregado. Los principales compuestos volátiles identificados corresponden a fenoles, ácido acético y alcoholes. El máximo potencial fue de 1,1 kW kg-1 con electrolito de NaCl y, la máxima durabilidad se logró con electrolito de H2SO4 con una potencia de 0,29 kW kg-1 estos valores fueron obtenidos a una velocidad de 100 mV s-1., The purpose of this study is to determine the energy storage capacity of the material obtained from cocoa husks in a capacitor configuration. The lignocellulosic material comes from Ecuadorian cocoa harvests used in agro-industrial processes. Analysis of the volatiles generated during instant pyrolysis was conducted using GC/MS technique. Additionally, a comparison of the capacitor with two different electrolytes was made: sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and sodium chloride (NaCl). The material processing involved carbonization and chemical activation processes, carried out in a pyrolysis reactor under an inert nitrogen (N2) atmosphere at a heating rate of 20 °C min-1, and activated at 850 °C in the same atmosphere for 4 hours. Electrodes were prepared from this material and tested using cyclic voltammetry to assess energy storage at different scan rates for five cycles. The results of the GC/MS analysis and cyclic voltammetry demonstrated that the prepared secondary raw material can be used to obtain high-value added products. The main identified volatile compounds include phenols, acetic acid, and alcohols. The maximum potential was 1,1 kW kg-1 with NaCl electrolyte, and the maximum durability was achieved with H2SO4 electrolyte with a power of 0,29 kW kg-1; these values were obtained at a scan rate of 100 mV s-1.

Phase equilibria for systems that present different types of azeotropy have been analyzed by using the dimensionless Gibbs energy of mixing (gM) for the liquid and vapor phases along with both the common tangent criterion and the phase stability test. First, the gM,L function for the liquid phase and its derivatives have been analyzed to obtain the boundary function between the homogeneous (L) and heterogeneous (LLE) regions as a function of the parameters for different activity coefficient models. Next, the excess Gibbs free energies and their first derivatives for the liquid and vapor phases have been analyzed to determine the mathematical conditions and the limits of different types of azeotropy (VLE and VLLE) and the possible combinations of two azeotropes in the same binary system. Finally, as a result of the combination of all this information, azeotropy and miscibility maps have been obtained as a function of the parameter values for Margules, van Laar, Wilson, and NRTL activity coefficient models.

The emergence of insecticide resistance in arbovirus vectors is putting the focus on the development of new strategies for control. In this regard, the exploitation of Wolbachia endosymbionts is receiving increasing attention due to its demonstrated effectiveness in reducing the vectorial capacity of Aedes mosquitoes. Here, we describe the establishment of a naïve Wolbachia infection in a wild Aedes albopictus population of eastern Spain through a hybridization approach to obtain males capable of sterilizing wild females. The obtained lines were compared with the Wolbachia donor, Ae. albopictus ARwP, previously artificially infected with Wolbachia wPip, regarding immature and adult survival, female fecundity, egg fertility, and level of induced sterility. Our results did not show significant differences between lines in any of the biological parameters analyzed, indicating the full suitability of the hybrids to be used as a control tool against Ae. albopictus. In particular, hybrid males induced 99.9% sterility in the eggs of wild females without the need for any preliminary treatment. Being harmless to non-target organisms and the environment, the use of this bacterium for the control of Ae. albopictus deserves further exploration. This is especially relevant in areas such as eastern Spain, where this mosquito species has recently spread and may represent a serious threat due to its competence as a vector for dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses.

This paper studied the thermal behaviour of Heet tobacco analysing the functional groups generated in the process of decomposition in inert and oxidative atmosphere. The effect of three zeolites, ZSM5, USY, and Beta, and two silicates, SBA-15 and Silica Fumed (SF) in the compounds of decomposition has been studied. The stages of decomposition of the tobacco (TGA) and the evolution of the functional groups with temperature (FTIR) have been analyzed. All additives produce significant changes in the volatiles generated under both atmospheres, being Beta zeolite and especially SBA-15 the materials more markedly reducing the yields of methylene, alcohols, CO, CO2 and carbonyl compounds, during the pyrolysis of Heet tobacco under nitrogen and air atmospheres. This effect may contribute efficiently to further reduce the toxicity of the Heet HNB tobacco.

In the present work, the NRTL model has been analyzed to obtain a good representation of the different ternary liquid-liquid equilibria that this thermodynamic model can reproduce satisfactorily. To do that, the main characteristics of different possible binary subsystems, ternary binodal curves (location in the composition diagram, size, tie-lines orientation, and plait point location), and LLLE tie triangles have been evaluated. With more than two hundred systems studied, the different behaviors have been parametrized to create, as the main objective of the present work, a database and a graphical user interface associated (ParamIni_LL_NRTL, Labarta et al. 2022. RUA: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/130017). This resource (publicly available for teaching and research uses) allows, given a set of ternary experimental LLE data to obtain by comparison with the elements of the database, a consistent set of initial NRTL parameters (taui,j, alfai,j) to start the corresponding correlation data procedure with enough guarantees.

Island-type ternary systems, at constant temperature and pressure, present a closed liquid–liquid miscibility gap in the ternary region while the three binary subsystems are completely miscible. Correlation of this type of phase equilibrium behavior is a challenge. Accordingly, correlation results using classical activity coefficient models (as NRTL or UNIQUAC) are not usually reported in the literature for this type of system. In this paper, the limitations of the NRTL model to correlate LLE data sets for island-type ternary systems are discussed. The lack of flexibility and the uncertainty in the equilibrium solution are the main problems. A new expression for the excess Gibbs free energy is proposed to overcome these limitations with a practical aim. The empirical model proposed has two contributions: a Gaussian-like function and a non-ideal homogeneous term. Both are combined to fulfill the topological requirements of the Gibbs energy of mixing surfaces for island-type ternary systems according to the Gibbs common tangent plane criterion along with the phase stability analysis. The model proposed avoids the uncertainty problems of classical activity models for island-type ternary systems. Additionally, in this model, the relations between the parameter values and the calculated LLE are easily interpreted, which allows generating good initial values and guiding the correlation algorithm when convergence problems occur. Some island-type ternary systems have been selected to illustrate this subject.

Seminal plasma contains many morphologically hetero-geneous extracellular vesicles (sEVs). These are sequentially released by cells of the testis, epididymis, and accessory sex glands and involved in male and fe-male reproductive processes. This study aimed to define in depth sEV subsets isolated by ultrafiltration and size exclusion chromatography, decode their proteomic profiles using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and quantify identified proteins using sequential window acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra. The sEV subsets were defined as large (L-EVs) or small (S-EVs) by their protein concentration, morphology, size distribution, and EV-specific protein markers and purity. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry identified a total of 1034 proteins, 737 of them quantified by SWATH in S-EVs, L-EVs, and non-EVs-enriched samples (18-20 size exclusion chromatography-eluted fractions). The differential expression analysis revealed 197 differentially abundant proteins between both EV subsets, S-EVs and L-EVs, and 37 and 199 between S-EVs and L-EVs versus non-EVs-enriched samples, respectively. The gene ontology enrichment analysis of differentially abundant proteins suggested, based on the type of protein detected, that S-EVs could be mainly released through an apocrine blebbing pathway and be involved in modulating the im-mune environment of the female reproductive tract as well as during sperm-oocyte interaction. In contrast, L-EVs could be released by fusion of multivesicular bodies with the plasma membrane becoming involved in sperm physiological processes, such as capacitation and avoidance of oxidative stress. In conclusion, this study provides a procedure capable of isolating subsets of EVs from pig seminal plasma with a high degree of purity and shows differences in the proteomic profile between EV subsets, indicating different sources and biological functions for the sEVs., Funding Agencies|Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation(MCIN/AEI) [PID2019- 105713GB-I00, RED2018-102411-T, 891382]; European Union [PROMETEO/2020/071]; Generalitat Valenciana [2019-00288]; FORMAS, Stockholm; Madrid, Spain; [PID2020-113493RB-I00]

La eutrofización es el proceso de contaminación más importante de las aguas en ríos, lagos, embalses y mares. Este proceso, inducido principalmente por la actividad del hombre (vertidos domésticos e industriales), provoca un exceso de nutrientes, principalmente nitrógeno y fósforo, en las aguas. Las microalgas se presentan como una alternativa eficaz para la eliminación de estos nutrientes con un bajo coste con respecto a otras tecnologías que se utilizan para tratar aguas residuales. La actividad fotosintética y la productividad son parámetros clave que deben controlarse para una producción exitosa de microalgas. Es por ello que, en este trabajo se plantea un modelo cinético para la cepa Spirulina platensis que permite conocer los valores de concentración microalgal mediante el control continuo del pH y la temperatura del reactor. El modelo cinético desarrollado ha permitido conocer con éxito la concentración de biomasa en el reactor.

[EN] Objective: The presence of Aedes albopictus, of high sanitary and social impact, was first reported in Valencia (Eastern Spain) in 2015. Innovative tools for its control include the use of the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia pipientis. The release of mosquito males infected with the wPip strain, has proven very promising for large-scale Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) applications. Before this strategy can be implemented in Valencia, it is important to know whether the natural local mosquito populations are Wolbachia-infected and, if so, identifying the infecting strains/supergroups, these being the objectives of the present work. Methods: Eggs were collected from the 19 districts of the València city between May and October 2019. A total of 50 lab-reared adult Ae. albopictus individuals were processed and analyzed for Wolbachia detection and molecular characterization. These actions took place within the framework of a collaboration established with the Department of Health and Consumer Affairs of the city council of Valencia. Fisher's exact test was used to detect the statistical significance of the differences between groups. Results: Our study revealed that 94% of the analyzed samples were naturally infected with Wolbachia. Both wAlbA and wAlbB supergroups were identified, with most samples (72% of the infected ones) carrying co-infections. Conclusions: These data provide the first characterization of the Wolbachia presence in natural populations of Ae. albopictus in the Mediterranean area of Spain. This information is relevant to evaluate the potential use of Wolbachia strains in order to achieve the suppression of the Asian tiger mosquito populations through massive release of artificially-infected males., [ES] Objetivo: La presencia de Aedes albopictus, de alto impacto sanitario y social, se informó por primera vez en Valencia en 2015. Las herramientas innovadoras para su control incluyen el uso de la bacteria endosimbiótica Wolbachia pipientis. La liberación de mosquitos machos infectados con la cepa wPip ha demostrado ser muy prometedora para aplicar la Técnica de Insectos Incompatibles (IIT) a gran escala. Antes de que esta estrategia pueda implementarse, es importante saber si las poblaciones locales de mosquitos silvestres están infectadas por Wolbachia y, de ser así, identificar las cepas/supergrupos infectantes, siendo estos los objetivos del presente trabajo. Metodos: Se recolectaron huevos de los diecinueve distritos de València entre mayo y octubre de 2019, y se mantuvieron en el laboratorio hasta llegar a adultos. Un total de cincuenta individuos adultos de Ae albopictus fueron procesados y analizados para detectar la presencia de Wolbachia y su caracterización molecular. Estas acciones se enmarcaron en la colaboración establecida con la Concejalía de Salud y Consumo del Ayuntamiento de València. La prueba exacta de Fisher fue utilizada para detectar la significación estadística de las diferencias entre grupos. Resultados: El 94% de las muestras analizadas estaban infectadas de forma natural con Wolbachia. Se identificaron los supergrupos wAlbA y wAlbB, y la mayoría de las muestras (72% de las infectadas) presentaban coinfecciones. Conclusiones: Los datos proporcionan la primera caracterización de la presencia de Wolbachia en poblaciones naturales de Ae. albopictus en el área mediterránea de España. Esta información es relevante para evaluar el potencial uso de cepas de Wolbachia de cara a la supresión de poblaciones de mosquito tigre asiático mediante la liberación masiva de machos infectados artificialmente.

4-(Methylnitrosoamine)-1-(3-Pyrydyl)-1-Butanone is one of the most toxic substances present in tobacco that comes mainly from the curing process. In this work we have studied the decomposition reactions and the compounds obtained as a function of temperature, under inert atmosphere and air atmosphere. TGA and EGA PY-GC/MS (flash pyrolysis) have been used. The effect of the addition of two SBA-15, with different morphologies (fibres and platelets), and a MCM-41 catalyst were studied. In TGA analysis MCM-41 is the material that produces more changes in the decomposition of this nitrosamine, especially in oxidative atmosphere. The EGA experiments show that 4-(Methylnitrosoamine)-1-(3-Pyrydyl)-1-Butanone is more unstable in air atmosphere and the three materials accelerate the decomposition being MCM-41 followed by SBA-15p those producing the larger modifications in the composition of the gases evolved. All three materials studied favor the elimination of the highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds generated in decomposition of 4-(Methylnitrosoamine)-1-(3-Pyrydyl)-1-Butanone, thus making them interesting materials for reducing of the toxicity of the tobacco smoke.

Fast pyrolysis of nicotine under He and Air atmospheres and in the presence of three mesoporous materials (two different morphology SBA-15 materials and one MCM-41) has been studied by EGA/Py/GC/MS. Nicotine is more stable under inert atmosphere, still representing around 6.7% of the products at 900 ºC, than under oxidizing atmosphere, where it is almost completely decomposed at 700 ºC. The products distribution as well as their evolution is also highly affected by the atmosphere, being 3-vynil pyridine and nornicotyrine the major compounds under inert atmosphere, whereas 3-cyano pyridine and nicotyrine are the major compounds under oxidizing atmosphere, where the significant presence of hydrogen cyanide is also observed at 700 ºC. The presence of catalysts modifies and accelerates the degradation of nicotine under both atmospheres studied. MCM-41 and SBA-15p show higher activity than SBA-15f, probably due to their higher textural properties and accessibility of the nicotine molecule. Under Inert atmosphere, 3-vynil pyridine is highly reduced by SBA-15p and MCM-41, still being the major compound. Pyridine increases its yield in presence of these two catalysts, as well as quinoline and isoquinoline (products not present when pyrolyzing sole nicotine). Under oxidizing atmosphere, the three catalysts increase the water yield, as well as that of 3-(2,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)pyridine, compound that is almost not obtained in absence of catalyst. HCN as well as the toxicity of the compounds evolved are reduced by the three catalysts.