Des catalyseurs a base d'oxyde de gallium supporte sur des supports tels que Al2O3, SiO2, TiO... more Des catalyseurs a base d'oxyde de gallium supporte sur des supports tels que Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2,WO3, Nb2O5 de structure et proprietes superficielles differentes ont ete prepares par une methode d'impregnation en milieu aqueux et par une methode innovante de type sol-gel. Differentes techniques d'analyse (AES-ICP, mesure de surface specifique, DRX, spectrometrie infrarouge, XPS, TEM, 71GaRMN) ont ete employees pour l'etude de la structure et du degre de dispersion de l'oxyde de gallium sur la surface des supports. Les proprietes superficielles de nos supports ont influence d'une maniere importante la dispersion de la phase active d'oxyde de gallium. L'acido-basicite des supports, de l'oxyde de gallium massique, ainsi que des catalyseurs contenant des teneurs variables en Ga2O3 a ete analysee par microcalorimetrie d'adsorption couplee a la volumetrie et par spectrometrie infrarouge qui fournit des informations complementaires sur la nature,...
In order to promote education in environmental sustainability at higher education institutions an... more In order to promote education in environmental sustainability at higher education institutions and establish action priorities, a detailed analysis of the initial situation is needed, both in terms of courses offered and teaching and assessment strategies implemented. This article presents a methodology that can be used to standardize the evaluation of teaching in environmental sustainability at different universities. We exemplify its application at the University of Alcalá, located in Central Spain. The inventory was conducted using in-house software development for the extraction of environmental sustainability concepts in the degree courses’ syllabi, completed with a survey to faculty members and a manual review to confirm its adjustment to environmental issues. Those finally selected were analyzed in depth. The main results indicate that currently, only a small part of the courses (5.5%) offered at the University explicitly include environmental sustainability content. The grad...
La relación pedagógica en la universidad, lo transdisciplinar y los estudiantes.: Desdibujando fronteras, buscando puntos de encuentro, 2013, ISBN 978-84-695-8202-2, págs. 456-474, 2013
The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as c... more The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (< 0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p < 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 10 3 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status.
The contact assay measuring the inhibition of Arthrobacter globiformis dehydrogenase activity as ... more The contact assay measuring the inhibition of Arthrobacter globiformis dehydrogenase activity as an endpoint to evaluate the toxicity of solid samples was tested in an international ring-test to validate its performance for ISO standardization (ISO/CD 18187). This work reports the results of the ring-test involving 9 laboratories from six countries. At least 8 valid data sets were obtained for each sample and more than three quarters of the participants attained the validity criteria defined in the standard. The coefficient of variation within (CV) and between (CV) laboratories was generally on average <15% and <30% for negative and positive controls, respectively. Regarding solid samples, the laboratories provided a similar ranking of the samples based on their toxicity, despite some variation in the LOEC values. The logarithmic within-lab standard deviation <0.50 for soils and <0.25 for wastes evidenced a good repeatability. The between-lab variability assessed by a CV...
El conjunto de evidencias que proporciona esta metodología de trabajo, aparte de su significado b... more El conjunto de evidencias que proporciona esta metodología de trabajo, aparte de su significado básico (aportaciones de muy distinta índole que permiten al alumno y a los demás ver y valorar el esfuerzo, los logros, las dificultades), requiere y estimula de una manera peculiar la coordinación y planificación docente que permite intercambios y enriquecimiento didáctico en términos de estrategias docentes, flexibilidad y toma de decisiones de cada uno de los docentes implicados, proporcionando una visión integradora, plural, implicada, responsable, autodisciplinada y cooperativa del aprendizaje en Ciencias Ambientales.
h i g h l i g h t s BAC was significantly removed by ozonation. BAC degradation pathway and ozone... more h i g h l i g h t s BAC was significantly removed by ozonation. BAC degradation pathway and ozone dose were influenced by NiO-NPs. BAC abatement was influence by water matrix. BAC toxicity was completely removed by ozonation.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2014
The treatment of a non-biodegradable agrochemical wastewater has been studied by coupling of prel... more The treatment of a non-biodegradable agrochemical wastewater has been studied by coupling of preliminary coagulation-flocculation step and further Fenton oxidation. High percentages of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (up to 58 %) were achieved in a first step using polyferric chloride as coagulant. This reduced significantly the amount of H2O2 required in the further Fenton oxidation. Using the stoichiometric amount relative to COD around 80 % of the remaining organic load was mineralized. The combined treatment allowed achieving the regional discharge limits of ecotoxicity at a cost substantially lower than the solution used so far where these wastewaters are managed as hazardous wastes.
The continuous ozonation of the antibiotic ofloxacin (OFX) has been performed using a synthetic w... more The continuous ozonation of the antibiotic ofloxacin (OFX) has been performed using a synthetic water matrix and in a sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent. The aim was to study the effect of the water matrix on the ozonation with particular emphasis on the aquatic toxicity of treated water. OFX was completely removed in both water matrices, although the amount of ozone consumed for its depletion was strongly matrix-dependent. The extent of mineralization was limited and a number of intermediate transformation products (TPs) appeared, twelve of which could be identified. OFX reaction pathway includes the degradation of piperazinyl and quinolone moieties. The further oxidation of TPs gave rise to the formation and accumulation of carboxylic acids, aldehydes, nitrogen-containing organic compounds and inorganic ions. Aquatic toxicity of treated mixtures was assessed using four standard species: the bacteria Vibrio fischeri and Pseudomonas putida as target organisms and the algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila as non-target organisms. OFX was toxic for the bacteria and the microalgae at the spiked concentration in untreated water. However, the continuous ozonation at the upper operational limit removed its toxic effects. T. thermophila was not affected by OFX, but was sensitive to STP effluent.
A survey is given of the recent advances in the study of and the present knowledge of the thermal... more A survey is given of the recent advances in the study of and the present knowledge of the thermal degradation of polyvinyl chloride. The sites for initiation of the thermal degradation, the mechanism of the dehydrochiorination, the discolouration of PVC by heat and the influence of plasticizers on the rate of degradation are discussed.
Delineando Lazos Hacia Nuevas Propuestas Innovadoras Recurso Electronico La Interdisciplinariedad Como Punto De Partida 2013 Isbn 978 84 15834 03 8 Pags 293 302, 2013
Delineando Lazos Hacia Nuevas Propuestas Innovadoras Recurso Electronico La Interdisciplinariedad Como Punto De Partida 2013 Isbn 978 84 15834 03 8 Pags 515 524, 2013
Des catalyseurs a base d'oxyde de gallium supporte sur des supports tels que Al2O3, SiO2, TiO... more Des catalyseurs a base d'oxyde de gallium supporte sur des supports tels que Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2,WO3, Nb2O5 de structure et proprietes superficielles differentes ont ete prepares par une methode d'impregnation en milieu aqueux et par une methode innovante de type sol-gel. Differentes techniques d'analyse (AES-ICP, mesure de surface specifique, DRX, spectrometrie infrarouge, XPS, TEM, 71GaRMN) ont ete employees pour l'etude de la structure et du degre de dispersion de l'oxyde de gallium sur la surface des supports. Les proprietes superficielles de nos supports ont influence d'une maniere importante la dispersion de la phase active d'oxyde de gallium. L'acido-basicite des supports, de l'oxyde de gallium massique, ainsi que des catalyseurs contenant des teneurs variables en Ga2O3 a ete analysee par microcalorimetrie d'adsorption couplee a la volumetrie et par spectrometrie infrarouge qui fournit des informations complementaires sur la nature,...
In order to promote education in environmental sustainability at higher education institutions an... more In order to promote education in environmental sustainability at higher education institutions and establish action priorities, a detailed analysis of the initial situation is needed, both in terms of courses offered and teaching and assessment strategies implemented. This article presents a methodology that can be used to standardize the evaluation of teaching in environmental sustainability at different universities. We exemplify its application at the University of Alcalá, located in Central Spain. The inventory was conducted using in-house software development for the extraction of environmental sustainability concepts in the degree courses’ syllabi, completed with a survey to faculty members and a manual review to confirm its adjustment to environmental issues. Those finally selected were analyzed in depth. The main results indicate that currently, only a small part of the courses (5.5%) offered at the University explicitly include environmental sustainability content. The grad...
La relación pedagógica en la universidad, lo transdisciplinar y los estudiantes.: Desdibujando fronteras, buscando puntos de encuentro, 2013, ISBN 978-84-695-8202-2, págs. 456-474, 2013
The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as c... more The World Health Organization Global Action Plan recommends integrated surveillance programs as crucial strategies for monitoring antibiotic resistance. Although several national surveillance programs are in place for clinical and veterinary settings, no such schemes exist for monitoring antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment. In this transnational study, we developed, validated, and tested a low-cost surveillance and easy to implement approach to evaluate antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by targeting cefotaxime-resistant (CTX-R) coliforms as indicators. The rationale for this approach was: i) coliform quantification methods are internationally accepted as indicators of fecal contamination in recreational waters and are therefore routinely applied in analytical labs; ii) CTX-R coliforms are clinically relevant, associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and are rare in pristine environments. We analyzed 57 WWTPs in 22 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North America. CTX-R coliforms were ubiquitous in raw sewage and their relative abundance varied significantly (< 0.1% to 38.3%), being positively correlated (p < 0.001) with regional atmospheric temperatures. Although most WWTPs removed large proportions of CTX-R coliforms, loads over 10 3 colony-forming units per mL were occasionally observed in final effluents. We demonstrate that CTX-R coliform monitoring is a feasible and affordable approach to assess wastewater antibiotic resistance status.
The contact assay measuring the inhibition of Arthrobacter globiformis dehydrogenase activity as ... more The contact assay measuring the inhibition of Arthrobacter globiformis dehydrogenase activity as an endpoint to evaluate the toxicity of solid samples was tested in an international ring-test to validate its performance for ISO standardization (ISO/CD 18187). This work reports the results of the ring-test involving 9 laboratories from six countries. At least 8 valid data sets were obtained for each sample and more than three quarters of the participants attained the validity criteria defined in the standard. The coefficient of variation within (CV) and between (CV) laboratories was generally on average <15% and <30% for negative and positive controls, respectively. Regarding solid samples, the laboratories provided a similar ranking of the samples based on their toxicity, despite some variation in the LOEC values. The logarithmic within-lab standard deviation <0.50 for soils and <0.25 for wastes evidenced a good repeatability. The between-lab variability assessed by a CV...
El conjunto de evidencias que proporciona esta metodología de trabajo, aparte de su significado b... more El conjunto de evidencias que proporciona esta metodología de trabajo, aparte de su significado básico (aportaciones de muy distinta índole que permiten al alumno y a los demás ver y valorar el esfuerzo, los logros, las dificultades), requiere y estimula de una manera peculiar la coordinación y planificación docente que permite intercambios y enriquecimiento didáctico en términos de estrategias docentes, flexibilidad y toma de decisiones de cada uno de los docentes implicados, proporcionando una visión integradora, plural, implicada, responsable, autodisciplinada y cooperativa del aprendizaje en Ciencias Ambientales.
h i g h l i g h t s BAC was significantly removed by ozonation. BAC degradation pathway and ozone... more h i g h l i g h t s BAC was significantly removed by ozonation. BAC degradation pathway and ozone dose were influenced by NiO-NPs. BAC abatement was influence by water matrix. BAC toxicity was completely removed by ozonation.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2014
The treatment of a non-biodegradable agrochemical wastewater has been studied by coupling of prel... more The treatment of a non-biodegradable agrochemical wastewater has been studied by coupling of preliminary coagulation-flocculation step and further Fenton oxidation. High percentages of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (up to 58 %) were achieved in a first step using polyferric chloride as coagulant. This reduced significantly the amount of H2O2 required in the further Fenton oxidation. Using the stoichiometric amount relative to COD around 80 % of the remaining organic load was mineralized. The combined treatment allowed achieving the regional discharge limits of ecotoxicity at a cost substantially lower than the solution used so far where these wastewaters are managed as hazardous wastes.
The continuous ozonation of the antibiotic ofloxacin (OFX) has been performed using a synthetic w... more The continuous ozonation of the antibiotic ofloxacin (OFX) has been performed using a synthetic water matrix and in a sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent. The aim was to study the effect of the water matrix on the ozonation with particular emphasis on the aquatic toxicity of treated water. OFX was completely removed in both water matrices, although the amount of ozone consumed for its depletion was strongly matrix-dependent. The extent of mineralization was limited and a number of intermediate transformation products (TPs) appeared, twelve of which could be identified. OFX reaction pathway includes the degradation of piperazinyl and quinolone moieties. The further oxidation of TPs gave rise to the formation and accumulation of carboxylic acids, aldehydes, nitrogen-containing organic compounds and inorganic ions. Aquatic toxicity of treated mixtures was assessed using four standard species: the bacteria Vibrio fischeri and Pseudomonas putida as target organisms and the algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila as non-target organisms. OFX was toxic for the bacteria and the microalgae at the spiked concentration in untreated water. However, the continuous ozonation at the upper operational limit removed its toxic effects. T. thermophila was not affected by OFX, but was sensitive to STP effluent.
A survey is given of the recent advances in the study of and the present knowledge of the thermal... more A survey is given of the recent advances in the study of and the present knowledge of the thermal degradation of polyvinyl chloride. The sites for initiation of the thermal degradation, the mechanism of the dehydrochiorination, the discolouration of PVC by heat and the influence of plasticizers on the rate of degradation are discussed.
Delineando Lazos Hacia Nuevas Propuestas Innovadoras Recurso Electronico La Interdisciplinariedad Como Punto De Partida 2013 Isbn 978 84 15834 03 8 Pags 293 302, 2013
Delineando Lazos Hacia Nuevas Propuestas Innovadoras Recurso Electronico La Interdisciplinariedad Como Punto De Partida 2013 Isbn 978 84 15834 03 8 Pags 515 524, 2013
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