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This paper analyzes the inflection of a border-crossing ecological concern on the regional cultures of settlement through Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s Turtle Valley (2007) and Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer (2000). Their engagement with the contingent position of the farmers in the British Columbia Shuswap region, and the southern Appalachian Zebulon County resituates the self. The struggle for production is substituted by a revisionist at- titude that relocates (wo)men and nature in a sustainable coexistence that approaches the human species and others. The ecological awareness of these novels uses a postindustrial landscape where human bodies and lives exhibit the malaise inflicted on the environment; they increasingly become waste(d) and toxic, and their habitat becomes a threat, also ma- terialized in (post)natural catastrophes impelling the relocation of human communities, or business reinvention. The human wastification of Eden is instrumental to launch a revision that detoxifies identity thanks to a remodeled bond with nature. Este artículo analiza la inflexión de una preocupación ecológica transfronteriza entre las culturas regionales de asentamiento a través de Turtle Valley (2007), de Gail Anderson- Dargatz, y Prodigal Summer (2000), de Barbara Kingsolver. En ellas, su compromiso con la posición contingente de los agricultores en la región de Shuswap, en la Columbia Británica, y el condado de Zebulon, al sur de los Apalaches, resitúa al sujeto. El compromiso con la producción deja paso a una actitud revisionista que posiciona a hombres, mujeres y naturaleza en una convivencia sostenible donde se aproximan la especie humana y otras. La conciencia ecológica de estas novelas surge de un paisaje postindustrial donde los cuerpos y las vidas humanas exhiben el malestar infligido al medio ambiente; se transforman crecientemente en desechos/desechados materiales y tóxicos, y su hábitat en una amenaza evidente en catás- trofes (pos)naturales que fuerzan la reubicación de comunidades humanas, o la reinvención empresarial. La devastación humana del Edén es fundamental para lanzar una revisión que desintoxique la identidad, gracias a un vínculo transformado con la naturaleza.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified many variants associated with complex traits, but identifying the causal gene(s) is a major challenge. In the present study, we present an open resource that provides systematic fine mapping and gene prioritization across 133,441 published human GWAS loci. We integrate genetics (GWAS Catalog and UK Biobank) with transcriptomic, proteomic and epigenomic data, including systematic disease–disease and disease–molecular trait colocalization results across 92 cell types and tissues. We identify 729 loci fine mapped to a single-coding causal variant and colocalized with a single gene. We trained a machine-learning model using the fine-mapped genetics and functional genomics data and 445 gold-standard curated GWAS loci to distinguish causal genes from neighboring genes, outperforming a naive distance-based model. Our prioritized genes were enriched for known approved drug targets (odds ratio = 8.1, 95% confidence interval = 5.7, 11.5). These results are publicly available through a web portal ( http://genetics.opentargets.org ), enabling users to easily prioritize genes at disease-associated loci and assess their potential as drug targets. Open Targets Genetics is a community resource that provides systematic fine mapping at human GWAS loci, enabling users to prioritize genes at disease-associated regions and assess their potential as drug targets.

Lignocellulosic waste-streams are resources worth investigating to produce value-added bioproducts due to their low-cost, renewability, versatility, and abundance. This study evaluated five Zygomycota strains as potential oleaginous microorganisms for direct bioconversion of cakes derived from the vegetable-oil-milling industry into microbial oil. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) conditions in tray bioreactors revealed that temperature, moisture content, and substrate affected lipid production and fatty acids composition. Employing SSF, under optimal conditions (30 °C, 65% initial moisture content), and substrate supplementation with nitrogen sources increased lipid productivity 1.1-fold on palm kernel cake (PKC) substrate. Supplementation strategies using glycerol, molasses, or mineral solution did nοt favor lipid production. When cotton seed cake (CoSC) was applied, C. echinulata was able to produce 304.1 mg/gfs of biomass with a lipid content of 40.2% (w/w) in tray bioreactors. Scaling-up SSF using CoSC in packed bed reactors led to the highest biomass production (320.5 mg/gfs), while lipids production was unaffected. Then, microbial oil was enzymatically converted into polyol esters achieving the highest conversion yield of 80% after 2 h. Physicochemical properties of polyol esters demonstrated their potential utilization as biolubricants. The present study showed the perspective of bioconverting industrial side streams into microbial oil and a route for sustainable synthesis of oleochemicals.

Open Targets Genetics (https://genetics.opentargets.org) is an open-access integrative resource that aggregates human GWAS and functional genomics data including gene expression, protein abundance, chromatin interaction and conformation data from a wide range of cell types and tissues to make robust connections between GWAS-associated loci, variants and likely causal genes. This enables systematic identification and prioritisation of likely causal variants and genes across all published trait-associated loci. In this paper, we describe the public resources we aggregate, the technology and analyses we use, and the functionality that the portal offers. Open Targets Genetics can be searched by variant, gene or study/phenotype. It offers tools that enable users to prioritise causal variants and genes at disease-associated loci and access systematic cross-disease and disease-molecular trait colocalization analysis across 92 cell types and tissues including the eQTL Catalogue. Data visualizations such as Manhattan-like plots, regional plots, credible sets overlap between studies and PheWAS plots enable users to explore GWAS signals in depth. The integrated data is made available through the web portal, for bulk download and via a GraphQL API, and the software is open source. Applications of this integrated data include identification of novel targets for drug discovery and drug repurposing.

The use of renewable energies to combat climate change is one of the greatest goals for humanity. To achieve this objective, one alternative is to valorize and recycle wastes, i.e. food waste, generated daily due to our way of life. Every day, human beings generate thousands of tons of this organic matter that can be recycled to produce bioenergy. Food waste is a source of carbon that must be included into the carbon dioxide cycle. In this manuscript, we propose to recycle the organic waste produced in a kebab local restaurant through biodiesel production, assisted by clean energy i.e. ultrasound. Biodiesel of both chicken grease and a mixture of beef-lamb were synthesized and optimized by response surface methodology and desirability function. Fatty acid methyl ester yields were higher (97.42% w/w for chicken grease and 96.98 for beef-lamb grease) than the minimum threshold established by European regulation EN 14214 (≥96.5% w/w). Although, cold-filter plugging point and oxidation stability resulted in values far from those established by the EN 14214 standard. To improve them while meeting standard threshold, both antifreeze and antioxidant were added following a design of experiments. The addition of antioxidant t-butyl-hydroxyquinone (TBHQ) at concentrations between 800 and 900 ppm and a commercial antifreeze at concentrations above 0.08% v/v, significantly improved biofuel quality in terms of storage and cold flow properties. We can conclude that animal fat residues from kebab restoration can provide suitable biodiesel if antioxidants and antifreezes are added.

Fundamento: En la actualidad se necesita incorporar las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones (TIC) para contribuir al perfeccionamiento de la educación de los adolescentes en higiene bucal. Objetivo: Identificar conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas de los adolescentes sobre higiene bucal mediadas por las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones. Metodología: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal entre septiembre de 2020 y enero de 2021. Se seleccionaron 174 adolescentes de 7.mo del municipio Jatibonico mediante asignación aleatoria. Se estudiaron las variables: higiene bucal, nivel de conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre higiene bucal mediadas por las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones. Se utilizaron métodos del nivel teórico, empírico (encuesta, entrevista y observación) y estadístico. Resultados: Se constató una higiene bucal Deficiente en el 77 % de los adolescentes estudiados, el 64.9 % presentó un Bajo nivel de conocimientos de higiene bucal mediado por las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones y el 72.4 % prácticas Inadecuadas, sin embargo, el 77 % mostró actitudes Favorables relacionadas con este tema. Conclusiones: Se identificó más de la tercera parte de los adolescentes con higiene bucal Deficiente, con predominio de conocimientos Bajos y prácticas Inadecuadas relacionado con la salud bucal mediada por las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones, aunque predominaron las actitudes favorables.

The Open Targets Platform (https://www.targetvalidation.org/) provides users with a queryable knowledgebase and user interface to aid systematic target identification and prioritisation for drug discovery based upon underlying evidence. It is publicly available and the underlying code is open source. Since our last update two years ago, we have had 10 releases to maintain and continuously improve evidence for target–disease relationships from 20 different data sources. In addition, we have integrated new evidence from key datasets, including prioritised targets identified from genome-wide CRISPR knockout screens in 300 cancer models (Project Score), and GWAS/UK BioBank statistical genetic analysis evidence from the Open Targets Genetics Portal. We have evolved our evidence scoring framework to improve target identification. To aid the prioritisation of targets and inform on the potential impact of modulating a given target, we have added evaluation of post-marketing adverse drug reactions and new curated information on target tractability and safety. We have also developed the user interface and backend technologies to improve performance and usability. In this article, we describe the latest enhancements to the Platform, to address the fundamental challenge that developing effective and safe drugs is difficult and expensive.

Biodiesel production using microbial oil derived from food waste discarded by the hospilatity sector could provide a sustainable replacement for diesel fuel. Discarded potato peels were used in solid-state fermentations of Aspergillus awamori for the production of glucoamylase (30 U/g) and protease (50 U/g). Hospitality food waste hydrolysis led to 98% (w/w) starch to glucose conversion yields. Crude hydrolyzates were used in shake flask fermentations with the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides Y-27012 leading to 32.9 g/L total dry weight (TDW) with 36.4% (w/w) intracellular lipid content. Fed-bath bioreactor cultures resulted in TDW of 53.9 g/L and lipid concentration of 26.7 g/L. Principal component analysis showed a fatty acid profile similar to soybean oil and solid food waste oil. Microbial oil was transesterified into biodiesel with satisfactory performance considering the European standard EN 14214. This work demonstrated that valorization of food waste for biodiesel production is feasible.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many variants robustly associated with complex traits but identifying the gene(s) mediating such associations is a major challenge. Here we present an open resource that provides systematic fine-mapping and protein-coding gene prioritization across 133,441 published human GWAS loci. We integrate diverse data sources, including genetics (from GWAS Catalog and UK Biobank) as well as transcriptomic, proteomic and epigenomic data across many tissues and cell types. We also provide systematic disease-disease and disease-molecular trait colocalization results across 92 cell types and tissues and identify 729 loci fine-mapped to a single coding causal variant and colocalized with a single gene. We trained a machine learning model using the fine mapped genetics and functional genomics data using 445 gold standard curated GWAS loci to distinguish causal genes from background genes at the same loci, outperforming a naive distance based model. Genes prioritized by our model are enriched for known approved drug targets (OR = 8.1, 95% CI: [5.7, 11.5]). These results will be regularly updated and are publicly available through a web portal, Open Targets Genetics (OTG, http://genetics.opentargets.org), enabling users to easily prioritize genes at disease-associated loci and assess their potential as drug targets.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified many variants associated with complex traits, but identifying the causal gene(s) is a major challenge. In the present study, we present an open resource that provides systematic fine mapping and gene prioritization across 133,441 published human GWAS loci. We integrate genetics (GWAS Catalog and UK Biobank) with transcriptomic, proteomic and epigenomic data, including systematic disease-disease and disease-molecular trait colocalization results across 92 cell types and tissues. We identify 729 loci fine mapped to a single-coding causal variant and colocalized with a single gene. We trained a machine-learning model using the fine-mapped genetics and functional genomics data and 445 gold-standard curated GWAS loci to distinguish causal genes from neighboring genes, outperforming a naive distance-based model. Our prioritized genes were enriched for known approved drug targets (odds ratio = 8.1, 95% confidence interval = 5.7, 11.5). These results are publicly available through a web portal ( http://genetics.opentargets.org ), enabling users to easily prioritize genes at disease-associated loci and assess their potential as drug targets.

Waste management is one of the most significant challenges of EU policies for the coming decades. Our changing food habits carries an inherent increase in waste nutrients, that worth recycling. The traditional method of waste management is not adapted to meet future energy and environmental requirements. Food waste (FW)-based biorefinery allows new approaches in waste recovery, while improving industrial processes. However, interactions between FW nutrients, their derivates and subsequent treatment methodologies may lead to negative effects and bioprocess low yield. This work aims to state the importance of new strategies in biorefineries, based on FW nutrients and their interactions.

The IFMIF accelerator facility consists of 2 identical linacs, each accelerating a 125 mA CW deuteron beam up to the energy of 40 MeV. In order to reach these unprecedented performances, the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc) is under installation and commissioning at the International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC) in Rokkasho, Japan, in the framework of the IFMIF/EVEDA project, which is part of the Broader Approach (BA) agreement between Japan and EU. The accelerator is designed to validate components up to 125 mA CW deuteron beam at 9 MeV. The accelerator components of LIPAc have been designed and manufactured mainly by European Institutes. The injector and superconducting linac, RFQ, MEBT, Diagnostics Plate, HEBT and beam dump have been developed respectively by CEA-Saclay, INFN-Legnaro and CIEMAT-Madrid and were delivered to Rokkasho between 2013 and 2016. The commissioning of the injector with beam started in November 2014. This paper dealt with the experimental data obtained with the beam diagnostics of the injector. The electrical measurements of the beam intensity on the beam stopper were compared with calorimetric measurements. The beam profiles measured with a CCD camera and a custom image-intensified CID camera are also addressed. The analysis of beam emittance and ion species fractions from data obtained with an Allison scanner is described and the results of species fraction measurements are compared with those obtained by using a deported spectrometer. Finally, the analysis of beam space potential from data obtained with a 4-Grid analyser is presented.

There is a growing interest in using long-chain alcohols, i.e. butanol and pentanol, in the transport sector, as a consequence of their potential production from residual biomass via fermentative processes. There is evidence that incorporation of alcohols to diesel fuel enables to overcome the well-known smoke-NOx trade-off under steady state compression ignition engine operation. Nevertheless, the impact of long-chain alcohols under engine transient conditions is not understood and their behavior under Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) cycle has not been reported. This investigation addresses the above-mentioned research gaps by characterization of noise and exhaust emissions (CO, total hydrocarbon content or THC, NOx and particulate matter or PM mass, PM number and PM distribution) of a diesel engine running on ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel and its mixtures with 1-pentanol and 1-butanol under stationary and transient conditions (WLTP). Transient PM number, mass and size distribution have been monitored using Dekati electrical pressure low impactor ELPI + coupled by Dekati Fine Particle Sampler FPS-4000, whereas transient gaseous emissions have been measured with Horiba Mexa 7100D. Increasing the long-chain alcohol content in fuel blends, significantly reduces PM number and mass for both stationary and WLTP tests, being mainly attributed to oxygen content of 1-butanol and 1-pentanol. Addition of long-chain alcohols causes a decrease of emitted NOx in stationary operation, but the opposite trend was found under WLTP. Noise levels seem to slightly increase with the use of higher alcohol/ULSD fuel mixtures. Overall, it may be concluded that utilization of higher alcohol/ULSD fuel blends appears as a favorable substitute to straight ULSD fuel.

The aim of this study is the analysis of food waste (FW) composition from local catering services to assess potential biorefinery development. Moisture content of different FW samples showed that 27-47% (w/w) was organic material. Main components were lipids (25.7-33.2, w/w), starch (16.2-29.4%, w/w) and proteins (23.5-18.3%, w/w) on a dry basis. A metal profile with Na and Mg as main components, followed by trace elements, i.e. Zn or Fe, was also found in food waste samples. Statistical tests in combination with principal component analysis provides an efficient methodology to establish specific composition variations between FW from different catering services, while relating them to FW typology. The combination of chemical characterization with statistical study constitutes a promising decision-making tool for FW processing and valorization. The innovative methodology presented in this study provides systematic evaluation of FW composition and variability to allow selection of the most appropriate valorization paths.

Spanish law did not set up, until recently, any rules about either the prevention or the settlement of international conflicts of jurisdiction. These types of conflicts were not frequent at all in the context of Spain’s international relationships in the days of the codification of Spanish law, in the last decades of the nineteenth century, when the main legal bodies were established. Broadly speaking, in those days there was little or no cross-​border or transnational crime and, as a result, Spain saw little reason to legislate about concurrence of jurisdictions. The authors of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal (LECrim), the Criminal Procedure Law of 1882, which is still the principal legal text on the matter, would probably consider that the affirmation of the principle of territoriality would be sufficient. Therefore, in contrast to the detailed regulation of the conflicts of jurisdictions between the common and military courts or between secular and ecclesiastic courts, not a single word was devoted in the original text of this Law to possible international conflicts.

Contemporary transnational and transcontinental trends of theory enable a mandatory analysis of how region and regionalism have been fundamental in the solidification of the Canadian national ethos, making locality and globality go hand in hand. Negotiating the meaning of regional identities is therefore a consequence of the processes of globalisation, which have been affecting how we (de)construct the nation. This paper addresses how a vested representation in fiction from the Canadian west and the prairies helped keep at bay the spectrum of fragmentation that threatened the hermetic body of a national literature and culture. Whereas traditional patterns of history and fiction have constructed the west under a recurrent attention to ossified issues of landscape, the west and the plains were more recently conceptualized in attention to a different tackling of time / space: one that unified the former prairies and the west in just one single experience. Anticipating much of the theoretical approach to the global through locality launched in the early 21st century, while also being inheritors of previous theoretical and fictional attempts at renewing regional myths, Guy Vanderhaege’s The Englishman’s Boy (1996) and Thomas Wharton’s Icefields (1997) make the structuring potential of their times and spaces lose their hegemony, thus favouring the rooting of postmodern myths and ineffability to unmark the borders of region, and destabilize those of the national discourse.

Substitution of fossil diesel fuel by biodiesel is a realistic alternative due to its compatibility with commercial diesel engines. However, detractors consider that traditional raw materials used for biodiesel production may compete with human feeding (edible vegetables oils), land and water. So, new raw materials are needed. Annually, around 1.3 billion ton of food are discarded or wasted. This huge figure has led researchers to seek for new applications to this carbon source. The main goal of this work is biodiesel production optimization (with and without auxiliary energy assistance), and further characterization, by using the lipid fraction included in solid food waste, collected from local restaurants. Solid food waste oil (SFWO) characterization showed a fatty acid profile rich in oleic (C18:1), palmitic (C16:0) and linolenic (C18:2) acids, a remarkable fatty acid composition suitable for biodiesel production. Due to high free fatty acid content, acid esterification pre-treatment was conducted, followed by a basic transesterification optimization, by both conventional and ultrasound (US) assisted reactions. Response surface methodology was selected to perform the experimental design; optimal conditions for conventional transesterification were achieved at 6.08:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio, 1.28% w/w catalyst and 52.5 °C reaction temperature, providing 93.23% w/w fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) conversion. Biodiesel quality was also analyzed with excellent results considering cold properties (cold filter plugging point below −3 °C), although oxidation stability did not fulfill European standard limit. US-assisted reaction was also compared with conventional transesterification in terms of energy consumption and reaction time, providing significant savings in both energy and reaction time (40 min reduction). As a conclusion, US-assisted SFWO biodiesel meets most European standard limits, following circular economy. To extend its use, blends with diesel fuel and antioxidant addition are recommended, besides long-term engine tests.

This study focuses on the potential of four lipogenic yeasts to produce lipids using glycerol as carbon substrate; Candida molendinolei MH267796, Meyerozyma caribbica MH267795 and Rhodotorula minuta MH267794 were isolated from olive oil mill wastewater, while Cryptococcus curvatus ATCC20509 was used as control strain. Lipid production with crude glycerol was higher than that provided with pure glycerol. Fed-batch bioreactor cultures with M. caribbica MH267795 led to the production of 42.12 g L−1 of total dry weight with a microbial oil content of 48.14% (w w−1). In general terms, tested biodiesel properties meet all the limits set by European biodiesel standard UNE 14214:2013, excepting fatty acid methyl ester content. In addition, M. caribbica MH267795 oil biodiesel depicts a fatty acid methyl ester content (90.2% (w w−1)) higher than that of the most intensively studied C. curvatus oil biodiesel. Re-use of crude glycerol as raw material in biodiesel industry has been proven through fermentation, increasing potential full-scale application of such alternative.

A wide range of contractual arrangements are increasingly being used by the public sector to materialise the delegation of transport infrastructure provision tasks to the private sector, over long periods of time. This paper addresses the issue of transport infrastructure regulation in the specific context of public-private settings. Starting by the discussion on the concept of Public–Private Partnership (PPP) it is stressed that, despite the different meanings that can be found in the literature, it is possible to define a PPP by using a core group of characteristics, such as the bundling of services and the transference of a relevant part of the risks to the private sector on a long term basis. Regarding the action of the regulator, we look at three dimensions of efficiency that are expected to be pursued at the strategic level of regulatory action. However, it is acknowledged that the regulatory function is in practice rather complex since it requires balancing a multiplicity of other objectives or goals, which may vary according to specific economic conditions. In the domain of pricing, the review carried out suggests that since “first best” assumptions are not met in the “real world” it hardly seems possible that the short run marginal cost pricing “canon” could be directly used to shape pricing policies. Consequently, when considering the application of the standard neoclassical marginal cost pricing approach it is pertinent to ask whether the second best solutions can lead to efficient outcomes that might be accepted by the stakeholders. Bundling construction and maintenance tasks into a single long term contract, which is a typical characteristic of “standard” PPPs, could theoretically bring cost benefits since it allows for the possible internalization of any positive externalities that may be generated during the whole project life cycle. The economic rationale for the bundling of construction/maintenance with financing services is that it enhances the likelihood of submission of realistic bids at the procurement stage. In addition, the chances of the contractor sticking to the agreed contractual terms, after contract award, are potentially increased given the higher exposure to financial risk.