El patrimoni vegetal de l’espai natural «Coladors de Boldú-Montsuar» a la comarca de l’Urgell

En aquest article es fa una descripció dels valors naturals presents al paratge conegut amb el nom de Coladors de Boldú-Montsuar, ubicat a la plana urgellenca, així com una proposta de redacció d’un Pla especial de protecció del medi natural i del paisatge que a manca d’altres figures normatives permetria garantir la conservació i tutela d’aquest espai.

Anàlisi i proposta de millora del bloc de continguts d'activitats en el medi natural de la ESO

En aquet TFG1 és presenta un estudi on el seu objectiu és l’anàlisi de les dificultats que és troben els professors a l’hora d’impartir les activitats al medi natural, per tal de poder entendré com és que és el bloc de continguts menys treballat. Per això, s’ha utilitzat com a instrument un qüestionari que s’ha aplicat a 49 professors d’educació física de 26 comarques de Catalunya. Aquests docents han estat escollit aleatòriament i han respòs el qüestionari per voluntat pròpia. El tractament estadístic del qüestionari s’ha dut a terme amb Google Drive. Entre les conclusions cal destacar la diferència entre el currículum proposat per la LOE (2006) i el proposat per la LOE (2007), i la clara aposta del professorat per realitzar les activitats al medi natural fora del centre, amb el cost afegit que això suposa. Aquest últim fet, a més, sembla comportar, per una banda, la dificultat afegida que suposa pels professors el fet de sortir fora de l’escola i, per altra banda, la responsabilitat que requereix dur a terme aquestes activitats.

Semantic domain and grammatical class effects in the picture-word interference paradigm

The role of grammatical class in lexical access and representation is still not well understood. Grammatical effects obtained in picture-word interference experiments have been argued to show the operation of grammatical constraints during lexicalization when syntactic integration is required by the task. Alternative views hold that the ostensibly grammatical effects actually derive from the coincidence of semantic and grammatical differences between lexical candidates. We present three picture-word interference experiments conducted in Spanish. In the first two, the semantic relatedness (related or unrelated) and the grammatical class (nouns or verbs) of the target and the distracter were manipulated in an infinitive form action naming task in order to disentangle their contributions to verb lexical access. In the third experiment, a possible confound between grammatical class and semantic domain (objects or actions) was eliminated by using action-nouns as distracters. A condition in which participants were asked to name the action pictures using an inflected form of the verb was also included to explore whether the need of syntactic integration modulated the appearance of grammatical effects. Whereas action-words (nouns or verbs), but not object-nouns, produced longer reaction times irrespective of their grammatical class in the infinitive condition, only verbs slowed latencies in the inflected form condition. Our results suggest that speech production relies on the exclusion of candidate responses that do not fulfil task-pertinent criteria like membership in the appropriate semantic domain or grammatical class. Taken together, these findings are explained by a response-exclusion account of speech output. This and alternative hypotheses are discussed.

El desenvolupament curricular del bloc d’activitats al medi natural per part dels professors d’Educació Física de la ciutat de Vic i les poblacions del voltant

L’estudi que es presenta a continuació té l’objectiu d’analitzar el desenvolupament curricular del bloc de continguts d’activitats al medi natural de l’assignatura d’Educació Física de la ciutat de Vic i de les poblacions situades en un radi de 10 kilòmetres. Per tal de dur-ho a terme, primerament s’ha realitzat un procés d’aproximació a les activitats al medi natural en l’educació, aprofundint en les característiques d’aquestes activitats en els centres, en la poca pràctica i els factors de limitació que tenen. A partir d’aquí, s’ha fet l’estudi amb una mostra formada de 29 professors d’Educació Física dels diferents cursos de la ESO. Per tal de realitzar la recerca i l’anàlisi, s’ha emprat una metodologia quantitativa de caràcter explicatiu, transversal i quasi experimental, i s’ha utilitzat l’instrument corresponent al qüestionari. Aquest, ha estat elaborat prenent com a referència el de l’estudi de Peñarrubia et al.(2011). Els resultats que s’han obtingut demostren que el bloc d’activitats al medi natural és el menys treballat per part del professors d’Educació Física, que un 14% del professorat no les treballa i dels que si ho fan un 68% les realitzen només una vegada a l’any. També destacar que aquests continguts no es treballen en el 33% dels cursos de la zona estudiada. Pel què fa els continguts més treballats destaquen l’orientació seguit del senderisme. Referent als factors de limitació destaquen la responsabilitat civil del professor i l’horari de classe com els més condicionants. Pel què fa a les activitats, l’escalada esdevé l’activitat on els factors de limitació influeixen més mentre que en l’orientació i el senderisme tenen poca importància. D’aquesta manera es pot veure una estreta relació entre els factors de limitació d’aquestes activitats i la poca pràctica d’aquestes en els centres educatius estudiats.

Remoção de metais pesados de efluentes aquosos pela zeólita natural escolecita - influência da temperatura e do pH na adsorção em sistemas monoelementares

Cation exchange capabilities of a Brazilian natural zeolite, identified as scolecite, were evaluated for application in wastewater control. We investigated the process of sorption of chromium(III), nickel(II), cadmium(II) and manganese(II) in synthetic aqueous effluents, including adsorption isotherms of single-metal solutions. The natural zeolite showed the ability to take up the tested heavy metals in the order Cr(III) > Cd(II) > Ni(II) > Mn(II), and this could be related to the valence and the hydration radius of the metal cations. The influence of temperature (25, 40 and 60 ºC) and initial pH value (from 4 to 6) was also evaluated. It was found that the adsorption increased substantially when the temperature was raised to 60 ºC and that maximum adsorption capacity was observed at pH 6. These results demonstrate that scolecite can be used for removal of heavy metals from aqueous effluents, under optimized conditions.

Effect of Seasonal Dynamics on Queen Densities of the Argentine Ant (Linepithema Humile) in an Invaded Natural Area of the NE Iberian Peninsula

The annual elimination of large numbers of Argentine ant queens near the advance front of an invasion could be a useful tool for weakening the species’ dispersion and, therefore, limiting its establishment in non-invaded areas. However, before carrying out trials to test the effectiveness of this method it would be essential to have sufficient knowledge of the effect of seasonal dynamics acting on the queens’ densities of the species in order to determine the most favourable period of the year to act. We analyzed the seasonal densities and nest dynamics of Argentine ant queens in an invaded Mediterranean natural ecosystem. We observed that the queens’ density varied depending on the season of the year and that this variation was mainly due to the seasonal dynamics of nest aggregations in winter and ant dispersions in summer. The greatest densities per litre of nest soil were observed in winter (December to March, approximately) and the lowest densities were observed in summer ( June to July). This information is essential for improving current knowledge of the Argentine ant’s biology and developing control methods based on the elimination of queens in invaded natural areas

New approximation to the third-order density : application to the calculation of correlated multicenter indices

In this work we present the formulas for the calculation of exact three-center electron sharing indices (3c-ESI) and introduce two new approximate expressions for correlated wave functions. The 3c-ESI uses the third-order density, the diagonal of the third-order reduced density matrix, but the approximations suggested in this work only involve natural orbitals and occupancies. In addition, the first calculations of 3c-ESI using Valdemoro's, Nakatsuji's and Mazziotti's approximation for the third-order reduced density matrix are also presented for comparison. Our results on a test set of molecules, including 32 3c-ESI values, prove that the new approximation based on the cubic root of natural occupancies performs the best, yielding absolute errors below 0.07 and an average absolute error of 0.015. Furthemore, this approximation seems to be rather insensitive to the amount of electron correlation present in the system. This newly developed methodology provides a computational inexpensive method to calculate 3c-ESI from correlated wave functions and opens new avenues to approximate high-order reduced density matrices in other contexts, such as the contracted Schrödinger equation and the anti-Hermitian contracted Schrödinger equation

Memoria de la elaboración de subtítulos para "Babel", primer capítulo de la serie documental Fry's Planet Word

Este trabajo pretende identificar algunas de las habilidades que un traductor audiovisual debe desarrollar, desde un punto de vista práctico, para ejercer la profesión, haciendo hincapié en el dominio del software específico para subtituladores. Esta memoria describe el proceso de ensayo y error llevado a cabo durante la elaboración de los subtítulos de un documental e identifica algunas de las dificultades con las que podemos encontrarnos al realizar un encargo de este tipo si trabajamos con programas de licencia gratuita, además de intentar aportar las soluciones correspondientes.

Simulação do intemperismo natural de pilhas zinco-carbono e alcalinas

Spent alkaline and Zn-C batteries were placed in seawater, rainwater or landfill leachate at room temperature for up 30 days in order to simulate natural weathering. After the experiments pH and electrical conductivity of the liquid were measured. The precipitate formed and the filtrate were submitted to metal analysis by ICP-OES. Seawater is the most corrosive medium, followed by landfill leachate. Pb, Cd and Hg were mainly in the filtrate. Fe, Mn and Zn were generally dominant in the precipitate. Na and K account for the electrical conductivity and are good indicators of the corrosion stage of the batteries.

Preconcentration of copper from natural water samples using ligand-less in situ surfactant-based solid phase extraction prior to FAAS determination

In the present work, a simple and rapid ligand-less, in situ, surfactant-based solid phase extraction for the preconcentration of copper in water samples was developed. In this method, a cationic surfactant (n-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide) was dissolved in an aqueous sample followed by the addition of an appropriate ion-pairing agent (ClO4-). Due to the interaction between the surfactant and ion-pairing agent, solid particles were formed and subsequently used for the adsorption of Cu(OH)2 and CuI. After centrifugation, the sediment was dissolved in 1.0 mL of 1 mol L-1 HNO3 in ethanol and aspirated directly into the flame atomic absorption spectrometer. In order to obtain the optimum conditions, several parameters affecting the performance of the LL-ISS-SPE, including the volumes of DTAB, KClO4, and KI, pH, and potentially interfering ions, were optimized. It was found that KI and phosphate buffer solution (pH = 9) could extract more than 95% of copper ions. The amount of copper ions in the water samples varied from 3.2 to 4.8 ng mL-1, with relative standard deviations of 98.5%-103%. The determination of copper in water samples was linear over a concentration range of 0.5-200.0 ng mL-1. The limit of detection (3Sb/m) was 0.1 ng mL-1 with an enrichment factor of 38.7. The accuracy of the developed method was verified by the determination of copper in two certified reference materials, producing satisfactory results.

UTILIZAÇÃO DO COMPÓSITO NANOESTRUTURADO SIO2/TIO2NA FOTODEGRADAÇÃO DE CORANTES TÊXTEIS COM LUZ SOLAR NATURAL

SiO2/TiO2 nanostructured composites with three different ratios of Si:Ti were prepared using the sol-gel method. These materials were characterized using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence, Raman with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the specific surface area. The band gaps of materials were determined by diffuse reflectance spectra, and the values of 3.20 ± 0.01, 2.92 ± 0.02, and 2.85 ± 0.01 eV were obtained as a result of the proportional increases in the amount of Ti within the composite. The materials exhibit only the anatase (TiO2) crystalline phase and have crystalline domains ranging from 4 to 5 nm. The photodegradation process of methylene blue, royal blue GRL, and golden yellow GL dyes were studied with respect to their contact times, pH variations within the solution, and the variations in the dye concentration of the solution in response to only sunlight. The maximum amount of time for the mineralization of dyes was 90 min. The kinetics of the process follows an apparently first order model, in which the obtained rate constant values were 5.72 × 10-2 min-1 for methylene blue, 6.44 × 10-2min-1 for royal blue GRL, and 1.07 × 10-1min-1 for golden yellow.

Natural history of celiac disease-associated antibodies and progression to overt disease in children at increased genetic risk

Background: Celiac disease is a lifelong, gluten-sensitive, autoimmune-mediated chronic enteropathy, tightly associated with risk alleles at the HLA class II genes. Aims: This study was carried out as a part of the population-based Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Project. The first aim was to study the natural history of celiac disease-associated antibodies before the diagnosis of celiac disease was made. The second aim was to describe when and in which order celiac disease-associated and type 1 diabetes-associated antibodies appeared in children with genetic risk for both diseases. Subjects and Methods: Antibodies against tissue transglutaminase (TGA) and other celiac disease-associated antibodies were measured in serum samples collected at 3- to 12-month intervals of children at genetic risk for celiac disease who participated in the DIPP project. Celiac disease was confirmed by duodenal biopsy. Type 1 diabetes-associated antibodies were measured in all samples that had been collected. Overt disease was diagnosed according to World Health Organization criteria. Follow-up continued until a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes or until the end of a defined follow-up period. Results: TGA appeared in children at genetic risk for celiac disease only after the first year of life, but anti-gliadin antibodies often emerged significantly earlier, at age 6 months. The data show that spontaneous disappearance of celiac disease-associated antibodies, transient or persisting, is a common phenomenon, at least in prepubertal children. In children with genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, celiac disease-associated antibodies usually develop earlier than the type 1 diabetes-associated antibodies. Conclusions: The transient nature of celiac disease-associated antibodies emphasizes the significance of establishing seropositivity repeatedly in screening detected celiac disease before gastroscopy and duodenal biopsy are considered and emphasized the importance of duodenal biopsy for diagnosing celiac disease.

Natural regeneration in abandoned fields following intensive agricultural land use in an Atlantic Forest Island, Brazil

The time required to regrowth a forest in degraded areas depends on how the forest is removed and on the type of land use following removal. Natural regeneration was studied in abandoned old fields after intensive agricultural land use in areas originally covered by Brazilian Atlantic Forests of the Anchieta Island, Brazil in order to understand how plant communities reassemble following human disturbances as well as to determine suitable strategies of forest restoration. The fields were classified into three vegetation types according to the dominant plant species in: 1) Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae) fields, 2) Dicranopteris flexuosa (Schrader) Underw. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets, and 3) Gleichenella pectinata (Willd.) Ching. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets. Both composition and structure of natural regeneration were compared among the three dominant vegetation types by establishing randomly three plots of 1 x 3 m in five sites of the island. A gradient in composition and abundance of species in natural regeneration could be observed along vegetation types from Dicranopteris fern thickets to Miconia fields. The gradient did not accurately follow the pattern of spatial distribution of the three dominant vegetation types in the island regarding their proximity of the remnant forests. A complex association of biotic and abiotic factors seems to be affecting the seedling recruitment and establishment in the study plots. The lowest plant regeneration found in Dicranopteris and Gleichenella thickets suggests that the ferns inhibit the recruitment of woody and herbaceous species. Otherwise, we could not distinguish different patterns of tree regeneration among the three vegetation types. Our results showed that forest recovery following severe anthropogenic disturbances is not direct, predictable or even achievable on its own. Appropriated actions and methods such as fern removal, planting ground covers, and enrichment planting with tree species were suggested in order to restore the natural forest regeneration process in the abandoned old fields.

Production of natural aroma by yeast in wastewater of cassava starch industry

ABSTRACT2-Phenylethanol (PE) is an aromatic alcohol with a characteristic odor of roses, widely used in food industry to modify certain aroma compositions in formulations with fruit, jam, pudding, and chewing gums, and also in cosmetic and fragrance industry. This compound occurs naturally in low concentrations in some essential oils from flowers and plants. An alternative to plants extraction are biotechnological processes. This study evaluated 2-phenylethanol’s production in cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in cassava wastewater originated from starch industry. The substrate was supplemented with glucose and L-phenylalanine in order to obtain higher 2-phenylethanol concentrations and better efficiency in glucose/2-phenylethanol conversion. It was performed using Rotatable Center Composite Design and response surface analysis. Cultures were performed under aerobic conditions in a batch system in Erlenmeyer flasks containing 50 mL of medium in shaker at 150 rpm and 24 ± 1 ºC. The highest PE values ​​were obtained with supplementation of 20.0 g.L-1 of glucose and 5.5 g.L-1 of L-phenylalanine, which has been experimentally validated, obtaining a PE production of 1.33 g.L-1 and PE/glucose yield factor of 0.070 g.g-1, equivalent to 74.3 and 89.7% ​​of desirability values according to the validated model.

Ion selective electrodes for determination of low and ultra low concentrations of lead (II) in natural waters

Att övervaka förekomsten av giftiga komponenter i naturliga vattendrag är nödvändigt för människans välmående. Eftersom halten av föroreningar i naturens ekosystem bör hållas möjligast låg, pågår en ständig jakt efter kemiska analysmetoder med allt lägre detektionsgränser. I dagens läge görs miljöanalyser med dyr och sofistikerad instrumentering som kräver mycket underhåll. Jonselektiva elektroder har flera goda egenskaper som t.ex. bärbarhet, låg energiförbrukning, och dessutom är de relativt kostnadseffektiva. Att använda jonselektiva elektroder vid miljöanalyser är möjligt om deras känslighetsområde kan utvidgas genom att sänka deras detektionsgränser. För att sänka detektionsgränsen för Pb(II)-selektiva elektroder undersöktes olika typer av jonselektiva membran som baserades på polyakrylat-kopolymerer, PVC och PbS/Ag2S. Fast-fas elektroder med membran av PbS/Ag2S är i allmänhet enklare och mer robusta än konventionella elektroder vid spårämnesanalys av joniska föroreningar. Fast-fas elektrodernas detektionsgräns sänktes i detta arbete med en nyutvecklad galvanostatisk polariseringsmetod och de kunde sedan framgångsrikt användas för kvantitativa bestämningar av bly(II)-halter i miljöprov som hade samlats in i den finska skärgården nära tidigare industriområden. Analysresultaten som erhölls med jonselektiva elektroder bekräftades med andra analytiska metoder. Att sänka detektionsgränsen m.hj.a. den nyutvecklade polariseringsmetoden möjliggör bestämning av låga och ultra-låga blyhalter som inte kunde nås med klassisk potentiometri. Den verkliga fördelen med att använda dessa blyselektiva elektroder är möjligheten att utföra mätningar i obehandlade miljöprov trots närvaron av fasta partiklar vilket inte är möjligt att göra med andra analysmetoder. Jag väntar mig att den nyutvecklade polariseringsmetoden kommer att sätta en trend i spårämnesanalys med jonselektiva elektroder.