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Aluminum saline slags is a waste of the metallurgical industry that presents serious environmental problems since it needs very extensive areas for its disposal, the toxicity it causes in the atmosphere and groundwater, in addition to high transportation costs. The valorization of this residue by the synthesis of alumina, a compound widely used in the chemical industry, generates a high impact and great interest. In this work, the strategies for synthesizing alumina from aluminum saline slags are reviewed in a context of growing demand for this metal and environmental crisis. The first sections present the aluminum production processes, both from natural bauxite (primary process) and from the recycling of materials with a high aluminum content (secondary process); paying attention to the waste generated and what environmental problems they produce. The main investigations that have allowed to address the recovery of the waste generated are described below, focusing on the processes of recovery/extraction of the aluminum present in its composition. The aluminum in these residues can be found as a metal or forming other compounds such as simple or mixed oxides. Chemical processes are the most relevant, especially those that deal with the acid and alkaline extraction of the metal. The most important section of the work reports on the methods of synthesis of Al2O3, highlighting the methods of precipitation, sol-gel, hydrothermal synthesis, and combustion, among others. The work ends with a summary and conclusions section. Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) through project PID2020-112656RB-C21. Open access funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra.

The effectiveness of conservation agriculture (CA) and other soil management strategies implying a reduction of tillage has been shown to be site-dependent (crop, clime and soil), and thus any new soil and crop management should be rigorously evaluated before its implementation. Moreover, farmers are normally reluctant to abandon conventional practices if this means putting their production at risk. This study evaluates an innovative soil and crop management (including no-tillage, cover crops and organic amendments) as an alternative to conventional management for rainfed cereal cropping in a calcareous soil in a semi-arid Mediterranean climatic zone of Navarra (Spain), based on the analysis of soil water retention curves (SWRCs) and soil structure. The study was carried out in a small agricultural area in the municipality of Garínoain (Navarre, Spain) devoted to rainfed cereal cropping. No other agricultural area in the whole region of Navarre exists where soil and crop management as proposed herein is practiced. Climate is temperate Mediterranean, and the dominant soil is Fluventic Haploxerept. Within the study area there is a subarea devoted to the proposed soil and crop management (OPM treatment), while there is another subarea where the soil and crop management is conventional in the zone (CM treatment). OPM includes no-tillage (18 years continuous) after conventional tillage, crop rotation, use of cover crops and occasional application of organic amendments. CM involves continuous conventional tillage (chisel plow), mineral fertilization, no cover crops and a lower diversity of crops in the rotation. Undisturbed soil samples from the topsoil and disturbed samples from the tilled layer were collected for both systems. The undisturbed samples were used to obtain the detailed SWRCs in the low suction range using a HYPROP©device. From the SWRCs, different approaches found in the literature to evaluate soil physical quality were calculated. The pore-size distribution was also estimated from the SWRCs. Disturbed samples were used in the laboratory to assess soil structure by means of an aggregate-size fractionation and to perform complementary analysis from which other indicators related to soil functioning and agricultural sustainability were obtained. The approaches evaluated did not show clear differences between treatments. However, the differences in soil quality between the two forms of management were better observed in the pore size distributions and by the analysis of the size distribution and stability of soil aggregates. There was an overabundance of macropores under CM, while the amount of mesopores (available water) and micropores were similar in both treatments. Likewise, more stable macroaggregates were observed in OPM than in CM, as well as more organic C storage, greater microbial activity, and biomass. The proposed management system is providing good results regarding soil physical quality and contributing also to the enhancement of biodiversity, as well as to the improvement in water-use efficiency. Finally, our findings suggest that the adoption of the proposed practice would not result in a loss in yields compared to conventional management. This study was partially supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Government of Spain) via research project CGL2015-64284-C2-1-R and PID2020-112908RB-I00 funded by 568 MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER “Una manera de hacer Europa”.

Soil degradation is a growing challenge to global agriculture and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This has prompted calls for less use of mineral fertilizer and greater reliance on organic fertilizers. However, we need to understand better the long-term effects of organic fertilizer usage on soil structure to guide soil management practice, as many soil functions are sensitive to pore morphology and connectivity. In this study, we characterized topsoil (0–30 cm) pore architecture in relation to soil physical properties in a long-term experiment (LTE) site where calcareous soil had received 25 years of sewage sludge application. Two dosage rates (SSa, 20 and SSe, 80 Mg ha−1) were compared to mineral fertilization treatment and a control (no fertilization) in a random factorial block design. Soil microstructure and the types of pores were characterized using micromorphological methods and image analysis, in soil thin sections. Long-term sewage sludge SSa application improved soil microstructure (crumb and sub-angular-blocky type) and increased the presence of biopores, while mineral fertilized soil showed a platy to apedal microstructure, with more elongated pores and lower faunal activity. Mineral fertilized soil had the lowest total porosity values, with differences found in the aspect ratio of pores of equivalent diameter 100–200 μm. These findings suggest a relation between the different types of fertilization and soil pore shape and network. Further exploration of these changes in soil functioning is needed for a complete assessment of the consequences of SS application. This project has received funding from the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) through the RTA2017-00088-C03-01 project and from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801586.

Additive manufacturing technology has attracted the attention of industrial and technological sectors due to the versatility of the design and the easy manufacture of structural and functional elements based on composite materials. The embedding of magnetic nanoparticles in the polymeric matrix enables the development of an easy manufacturing process of low-cost magnetically active novel polymeric composites. In this work, we report a series of magnetic composites prepared by solution casting method combining 5 to 60 wt.% of 140 $$\pm$$ ± 50 nm commercial Fe3O4 nanoparticles, with a semi-crystalline, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymeric blend made of polylactic acid (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL). The composites were extruded, obtaining 1.5 $$\pm$$ ± 0.2 mm diameter continuous and flexible filaments for fused deposition modelling 3D printing. The chemical, magnetic, and calorimetric properties of the obtained filaments were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, magnetometry, and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, taking advantage of the magnetic character of the filaments, their capability to generate heat under the application of low-frequency alternating magnetic fields (magnetic induction heating) was analyzed. The obtained results expose the versatility of these easy manufacturing and low-cost filaments, where selecting a desired composition, the heating capacity can be properly adjusted for those applications where magnetic induction plays a key role (i.e., magnetic hyperthermia, drug release, heterogeneous catalysis, water electrolysis, gas capture, or materials synthesis). Graphical Abstract This paper presents the manufacture of novel magnetically activated 3D printable filaments, low cost and easy to manufacture, whereby selecting the desired composition, the heating capacity (ρ) generated under the application of an alternating magnetic field (Happ) can be adjusted to the needs of the user.

Magnetic Induction Heating (MIH) of magnetite nanoparticles is employed as a novel synthesis procedure of carbon based magnetic nanocomposites. Magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) and fructose (1:2 weight ratio) were mechanically mixed and submitted to a RF magnetic field (305 kHz). The heat generated by the nanoparticles leads to the decomposition of the sugar and to the formation of an amorphous carbon matrix. Two sets of nanoparticles, with mean diameter sizes of 20 and 100 nm, are comparatively analysed. Structural (X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)), electrical and magnetic (resistivity, SQUID magnetometry) characterizations confirm the nanoparticle carbon coating through the MIH procedure. The percentage of the carbonaceous fraction is suitably increased controlling the magnetic heating capacity of the magnetic nanoparticles. The procedure enables the synthesis of multifunctional nanocomposites with optimized properties to be applied in different technological fields. Particularly, Cr (VI) removal from aqueous media is presented employing the carbon nanocomposite with 20 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The research was funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Grant PID2020-116321RB-C21. L. Cervera-Gabalda acknowledges Public University of Navarre for her PhD contract “Contratos Pre-doctorales adscritos a Grupos e Institutos de Investigación de la Universidad Pública de Navarra”.

Struvite (MgNH4PO4 · 6H2O) has been widely studied as an emerging recycled phosphorous fertilizer despite its low solubility. However, there are few studies on the use of this mineral as an N fertilizer. This article evaluates the use of two powder struvite-containing materials from wastewater treatment as an N fertilizer in agricultural soils. A 9-week soil incubation experiment was conducted to compare the effectiveness of this mineral as an N fertilizer in two soils with different pH values (8.2 and 6.7), using two different doses and a control soil. The use of these materials has a positive effect on soil fertility, especially in acidic soils where struvite seems to be more soluble. Thus, struvite can be a potential N fertilizer for agricultural soils and can promote circular economy opportunities for the wastewater industry, especially in acid soils (concentrations of mineral N between 453–339 mg/kg were obtained in the mixtures with acid soil, and values between 408–212 mg/kg in the mixtures with the basic soil after 6 weeks of soil incubation). However, associated with this process, an increase in soil salt content was observed (EC values reaching 3.9 dS/cm in mixtures with the acid soil and 2.8 dS/cm in the mixtures with the basic soil after nine weeks of soil incubation). Therefore, this parameter should be controlled in the case of continuous applications of the amendments, especially in conditions of poor drainage and/or non-percolating water regime, since it can be a limiting factor in crop development. These processes should be studied in detail in the future considering that the N soil cycle has a significant impact on soil chemistry and fertility and on the soil microbiological community. This study was funded by two OTRI projects between the Universidad Pública de Navarra and Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales S. A. with the codes 2021904212 and 2022904154, and it was also funded with FEDER European funds from the project MAGNYFOS RTC2019-007257-5.

At a strategic moment for agricultural soils, which are expected to contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon storage while safely feeding a growing world population, the fertiliser strategies used will be key. In a calcareous soil with extensive rainfed agricultural use and straw removal, different fertiliser strategies were evaluated with the aim of determining their effects on crop yield, nitrogen agronomic efficiency, and the storage of organic carbon and total nitrogen in the soil. Different doses of mineral fertiliser, expressed as kg of mineral nitrogen ha−1 year−1 (0, 60, 120, 180, and 240 nitrogen fertilising units (NFUs)), were applied to plots with and without biosolid amendment. The biosolid, applied at a rate of 40 Mg ha−1 every 3 years for 18 years, complied with national and European regulations to be applied on agricultural soil. The use of combined fertilisation reduced the amount of mineral fertiliser applied between 33 and 67% and the total fertiliser units between 7 and 40%, while maintaining similar yields to the reference mineral fertilisation (180 NFUs). These results could be related to a higher nitrogen agronomic efficiency in the combined fertilisation treatments that do not exceed the total NFUs required by the crop. Combined fertilisation was also an effective fertiliser technique to store total nitrogen and organic carbon in the soil. However, compared to the reference mineral fertilisation (180 NFUs), no significant changes in the soil organic carbon were observed, probably due to the crop management method in which the straw is removed and to higher gas emissions. Our results support the need to assess the efficacy of each agricultural technique at local scales in order not to overestimate or underestimate the potential of each agricultural technique to store soil organic carbon. This study was funded and promoted by the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) which granted aid for the hiring of teaching and research staff through the RTA2017-00088-C03-01 project from 2019 to 2023.

15 Pags.- 11 Figs. © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License., The ornithine–urea cycle (urea cycle) makes a significant contribution to the metabolic responses of lower photosynthetic eukaryotes to episodes of high nitrogen availability. In this study, we compared the role of the plant urea cycle and its relationships to polyamine metabolism in ammonium-fed and nitrate-fed Medicago truncatula plants. High ammonium resulted in the accumulation of ammonium and pathway intermediates, particularly glutamine, arginine, ornithine, and putrescine. Arginine decarboxylase activity was decreased in roots, suggesting that the ornithine decarboxylase-dependent production of putrescine was important in situations of ammonium stress. The activity of copper amine oxidase, which releases ammonium from putrescine, was significantly decreased in both shoots and roots. In addition, physiological concentrations of ammonium inhibited copper amine oxidase activity in in vitro assays, supporting the conclusion that high ammonium accumulation favors putrescine synthesis. Moreover, early supplementation of plants with putrescine avoided ammonium toxicity. The levels of transcripts encoding urea-cycle-related proteins were increased and transcripts involved in polyamine catabolism were decreased under high ammonium concentrations. We conclude that the urea cycle and associated polyamine metabolism function as important protective mechanisms limiting ammonium toxicity in M. truncatula. These findings demonstrate the relevance of the urea cycle to polyamine metabolism in higher plants., This work was supported by the grants from the Spanish Government AGL2014-52396-P (MICINN) and AGL2017-86293-P (MINECO/FEDER) to JFM, and the Basque Government, Spain, IT-1018-16 (UPV/EHU-GV) to RE. MU is a recipient of a pre-doctoral fellowship from the Government of Navarre, Spain. JB and PLG have received pre-doctoral fellowships from the Public University of Navarre, Spain. PT has received funding from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (Grant to Department of Science, University ‘Roma Tre’-‘Dipartimenti di Eccellenza’, ARTICOLO 1, COMMI 314–337. LEGGE 423 232/2016; PRIN 2017—CUP F84I19000730005). Partial support was obtained from the Spanish State Research Agency AGL2017-83358-R (AEI/FEDER) and the Government of Aragón, Spain, Group A09-20R to YG. Open Access funding was provided by the Public University of Navarra.

The success of catalytic schemes for the large-scale valorization of CO2 does not only depend on the development of active, selective and stable catalytic materials but also on the overall process design. Here we present a multidisciplinary study (from catalyst to plant and techno-economic/lifecycle analysis) for the production of green methanol from renewable H2 and CO2. We combine an in-depth kinetic analysis of one of the most promising recently reported methanol-synthesis catalysts (InCo) with a thorough process simulation and techno-economic assessment. We then perform a life cycle assessment of the simulated process to gauge the real environmental impact of green methanol production from CO2. Our results indicate that up to 1.75 ton of CO2 can be abated per ton of produced methanol only if renewable energy is used to run the process, while the sensitivity analysis suggest that either rock-bottom H2 prices (1.5 $ kg−1) or severe CO2 taxation (300 $ per ton) are needed for a profitable methanol plant. Besides, we herein highlight and analyze some critical bottlenecks of the process. Especial attention has been paid to the contribution of H2 to the overall plant costs, CH4 trace formation, and purity and costs of raw gases. In addition to providing important information for policy makers and industrialists, directions for catalyst (and therefore process) improvements are outlined., Journal of Energy Chemistry, 68

Previous studies have reported that dietary sphingomyelin could inhibit early stages of colon cancer. Lactic acid–producing bacteria have also been associated with an amelioration of cancer symptoms. However, little is known about the potential beneficial effects of the combined administration of both sphingomyelin and lactic acid–producing bacteria. This article analyzes the effect of a diet supplemented with a combination of the probiotics Lacticaseibacillus casei and Bifidobacterium bifidum (108 CFU/ml) and sphingomyelin (0.05%) on mice with 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon cancer. Thirty-six BALB/c mice were divided into 3 groups: one healthy group (group C) and two groups with DMH-induced cancer, one fed a standard diet (group D) and the other fed a diet supplemented with sphingomyelin and probiotics (DS). The number of aberrant crypt foci, marker of colon cancer development, was lower in the DS. The dietary supplementation with the synbiotic reversed the cancer-induced impairment of galactose uptake in enterocyte brush–border–membrane vesicles. These results confirm the beneficial effects of the synbiotic on the intestinal physiology of colon cancer mice and contribute to the understanding of the possible mechanisms involved. This study was supported by the Government of Spain grant number AGL 2006–1029-C02-01/ALI, CIBER (CB12/03/30002) and the Department of Innovation, Business and Employment of the Government of Navarra (Spain).

Iron (Fe) is an essential plant micronutrient, being a major limiting growth factor in calcareous soils. To increase Fe uptake, plants induce lateral roots growth, the expression of a Fe(III)-chelate reductase (FCR), a Fe(II)-transporter and a H+-ATPase and the secretion of flavins. Furthermore, auxin hormone family is involved in the Fe-deficiency responses but the action mechanism remains elusive. In this work, we evaluated the effect of the auxin-precursor indole-3-acetaldoxime (IAOx) on hydroponically grown Medicago truncatula plants under different Fe conditions. Upon 4-days of Fe starvation, the pH of the nutrient solution decreased, while both the FCR activity and the presence of flavins increased. Exogenous IAOx increased lateral roots growth contributing to superroot phenotype, decreased chlorosis, and delayed up to 3-days the pH-decrease, the FCR-activity increase, and the presence of flavins, compared to Fe-deficient plants. Gene expression levels were in concordance with the physiological responses. Results: showed that IAOx was immediately transformed to IAN in roots and shoots to maintain auxin homeostasis. IAOx plays an active role in iron homeostasis delaying symptoms and responses in Fe-deficient plants. We may speculate that IAOx or its derivatives remobilize Fe from root cells to alleviate Fe-deficiency. Overall, these results point out that the IAOx-derived phenotype may have advantages to overcome nutritional stresses. This work was supported by the Spanish Research Agency [grant AGL2017-83358-R funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”] and the Government of Aragón [grant A09_23R], co-financed with FEDER funds; and the CSIC [grant 2020AEP119] to Y.G. This research was partially supported by [grants AGL2017-52396-P funded from MINECO (co-financed with FEDER funds) and PID-2020-1177 03GB-I00 from the Public University of Navarre] to J.F.M. J.M., M.U. and J.B. were the recipients of pre-doctoral contracts awarded by the Government of Aragon, Government of Navarre, and Public University of Navarre, Spain, respectively. A.R. was hired [grants AGL2017-83358-R and 2020AEP119]. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Gold Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

We present a novel approach to harmonic disturbance removal in single-channel wind turbine acceleration data by means of time-variant signal modeling. Harmonics are conceived as a set of quasi-stationary sinusoids whose instantaneous amplitude and phase vary slowly and continuously in a short-time analysis frame. These non-stationarities in the harmonics are modeled by low-degree time polynomials whose coefficients capture the instantaneous dynamics of the corresponding waveforms. The model is linear-in-parameters and is straightforwardly estimated by the linear least-squares algorithm. Estimates from contiguous analysis frames are further combined in the overlap-add fashion in order to yield overall harmonic disturbance waveform and its removal from the data. The algorithm performance analysis, in terms of input parameter sensitivity and comparison against three state-of-the-art methods, has been carried out with synthetic signals. Further model validation has been accomplished through real-world signals and stabilization diagrams, which are a standard tool for determining modal parameters in many timedomain modal identification algorithms. The results show that the proposed method exhibits a robust performance particularly when only the average rotational speed is known, as is often the case for stand-alone sensors which typically carry out data pre-processing for structural health monitoring. Moreover, for real-world analysis scenarios, we show that the proposed method delivers consistent vibration mode parameter estimates, which can straightforwardly be used for structural health monitoring. This work has been partially funded by Grant TED2021-130646B-I00 (UNDERVINE) by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGeneration EU/PRTR and by Grant PC044-045 (CUALVID) by Gobierno de Navarra (0011-1383-2022-000000). F. J. Abad is a beneficiary of the postgraduate scholarship funded by INIA (FPI-INIA-2016).

Aminocatalytic asymmetric conjugate addition of aldehydes to Michael acceptors is a well established C-C bond forming methodology. However, various acrylic-type acceptors, including acrylic acid derivatives and acrolein, remain reluctant. Here we demonstrate that the internal H-bonding self-activation in α'-hydroxy enones allows them to react smoothly with enolizable aldehydes using commercially available aminocatalysts to afford adducts in good yields and high enantioselectivity. Straightforward conversion of the ketol moiety of these adducts into aldehyde, ketone and carboxylic acid functionalities offers an indirect, unified entry to products derived from acrolein, alkyl-vinyl ketones and acrylates, respectively. Support has been provided by the Basque Government (GV grant IT‐1583‐22), and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grant PID2019‐109633GB/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), Spain. A predoctoral grant to B. L. from Navarra Government is acknowledged.

The adsorption phenomenon has been used extensively to achieve and explain solid-state reactions, control contamination, and purify liquids and gases. This process implies the use of a porous medium or a material with specific adsorption centers where the interactions with the reagents occur. Determination of the properties of adsorbent or catalyst materials that do not contain specific adsorption sites by physical gas adsorption is a well-established procedure in most research and quality-control laboratories. However, characterizing the specific centers by selective adsorption—chemisorption—remains an open question for discussion and study. The specific centers involved are often acidic/basic and metallic; in most cases, reagents are adsorbed and desorbed in these centers, whose determination allows controlling the processes and comparing the materials. The techniques and procedures presented herein facilitate the evaluation and the qualitative and quantitative determination of the surface properties of the materials using chemisorption processes for metallic and acidic/basic sites. The aim of this work is to review these techniques and procedures, including the updates published by several researchers, who mostly strive to explain the results of bifunctional metallic and acid–base catalytic behavior. The author is grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (AEI/MINECO) and Government of Navarra through projects PID2020-112656RB-C21 and 0011-3673-2021-000004. Open access funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra . AG also thanks Santander Bank for funding via the Research Intensification Program.

Soils represent a fundamental part of life on Earth and represent a crucial player on climate change action, for their capacity to sequester atmospheric carbon (C) through organic matter stabilization, constituting one of the largest C-reservoirs. The management of soil organic matter (SOM) seems highly relevant for maintaining or improving soil function in Mediterranean agricultural areas. Mediterranean soils face several threats that increase soil susceptibility to degradation processes, hampering soil ecosystem services. Under the framework of the European Green Deal, and the need to promote circular economy, the use of sewage sludge (SS) as a fertilizer seems a good solution. When properly managed, it can be a way to prevent environmental pollution, recycle nutrients, and decrease the need for commercial fertilizers. Long-term experiments (LTE) can provide valuable data for soil science. The main objective of this work is to make a holistic assessment to the state of the soil after 28 years of continuous fertilization with sewage sludge. To be resilient with future challenges on food security, soil needs to be addressed according to its importance on the planet wellbeing. The work carried out in this thesis provides a functional assessment of the continuous use of sewage sludge as an organic fertilizer in agricultural land in the region of Navarra. It is important to consider the multiple soil functions and de-centralize crop-production from health indicators. Soils are not good and not bad, management yes. The results provided by this thesis highlight the importance of a healthy management of the soil and the bias provided by small-set of indicators. Agricultural soils provide important services that should be valued, not only those related to food production, but also to other key functions such as the control of soil degradation and vulnerability or climate regulation. The scientific community must coordinate and collaborate with politicians, policy makers, and stakeholders to explore these services, and to guide a transition to sustainable agriculture to address the challenges of the future. The author of this thesis got funded from September 2019 until September 2022 from the European Union's H2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801586. The work developed under this thesis was possible due to the author fellowship funding and to the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) through the RTA2017-00088-C03-01 and the Erasmus+ mobility fundings. Programa de Doctorado en Agroalimentación (RD 99/2011) Nekazaritzako Elikagaietako Doktoretza Programa (ED 99/2011)

Flint bottles make ros´e wines more attractive to the customers and, also, allow them to detect oxidation problems in the color of these wines. Nonetheless, transparent bottles do not protect wines from light. In this work, a device capable of accelerating the degradation of ros´e wines using W lamps radiation for short times of exposure has been developed. This equipment has been used to accelerate the color photodegradation of ros´e wines, allowing, thus, to identify which parameters can be used as markers of such degradation. The irradiation treatment applied to ros´e wines bottled in different types of glass (Flint and Antique Green glass) influenced all the samples. However, the wines treated in Flint bottles displayed more important color variations, especially in color intensity (CI) and hue, than the wines treated in Antique Green bottles. These changes entailed a quality loss of ros´e wines that can be appreciated with a naked eye. The yellow component of ros´e wines treated in transparent bottles increased the detriment of the red and blue ones. Therefore, color parameters such as CI and a*, together with the total anthocyanin content, seem to be good markers of the loss of quality of ros´e wines due to the light effects. The next step will be to find a physical, chemical or physical-chemical protection strategy that, when applied to transparent glass, allow to achieve the light-filtering properties of green glass bottles. The authors are grateful to Eurostars programme for supporting the project ROSE-FILTER ´ (E!113304), the Spanish Innovation Agency (CDTI) for the project SURF-ERA (CER-20191003) and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) for the project PID2021-1226750OBC21/22 (SOLANUM) MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, also funded by FEDER (a way of making Europe)

El tutor de la tesis es Julián Garrido Segovia No existe un 'Planeta B'. Hace décadas que diversos factores tanto naturales como antropogénicos hacen inviable la persistencia del sistema tierra a largo plazo tal y como lo conocemos. El calentamiento global y sus efectos , lo que conocemos como cambio climático, es un hecho demostrado que urge a las naciones, los gobiernos de todo tipo y a la sociedad civil a tomar medidas. Porque la amenaza climática no solo pone en peligro el medio ambiente y los recursos naturales, es una amenaza que afecta directamente a las sociedades, su equilibrio y seguridad. Los paneles intergubernamentales de expertos concuerdan que la acción local climática es fundamental en los esfuerzos globales para mitigar y adaptarse a los efectos del cambio climático. Esta Tesis evalúa en profundidad la acción local climática en materia de mitigación y adaptación en Europa. Así, dentro del marco de una de las iniciativas mas importante en la materia, y en base a los únicos y primeros datos de monitorización existentes, se evalúan de manera cuantitativa así como cualitativa los factores que han determinado la eficiencia y eficacia de las acciones destinadas a mitigar y adaptarse a los efectos del cambio climático. Así, el primero de los cuatro artículos desarrollados y publicados durante mis años de doctorado que conforman esta Tesis analiza los factores que han determinado la eficiencia en el seguimiento de la implementación de medidas de mitigación del cambio climático en ciudades de Europa. Una vez identificados los factores que han facilitado o impedido a las ciudades adheridas a la iniciativa el implementar y monitorizar las medidas locales de acción climática proyectadas, el segundo articulo cuantifica los resultados reales obtenidos por las ciudades en sus territorios. Una vez evaluadas la eficiencia y eficacia de la acción local climática en Europa en el periodo 2008-2020, se ha procedido a estudiar la relevancia, sostenibilidad e impacto de estas acciones, estudiando primero el nivel de ambición de las ciudades europeas para el siguiente periodo de actuación climática local (2020-2030) , cuyos resultados viene descritos en el tercer articulo de esta Tesis. 24 Por ultimo y dado que en 2015 se incluyo en la iniciativa el pilar de adaptación contra el cambio climático, el cuarto articulo evalúa los principales factores y características de los planes de acción en la materia . Como se describe a continuación, veremos que estos 4 artículos dan un enfoque global o análisis ex post de la primera experiencia en materia de acción climática monitorizada de manera armonizada en Europa, evaluando los principales factores que han determinado el éxito o fracaso de los resultados e indicando el camino a tomar en la lucha local frente al cambio climático en el siguiente periodo de actuación con objetivos para el 2030. There is no 'Planet B'. Natural but mainly anthropogenic factors make it impossible to maintain in the long term the current earth system. Climate change is a demonstrated fact that urges governments of all kinds as well as civil society to take action; because the climatic threat is not only damaging the environment and the natural resources, is directly threatening society's equilibrium, and security. International governmental panels agree on the need of putting local climate action at the core of the efforts towards mitigating and adapting to climate change. This Thesis develops a deep evaluation of the local climate actions in Europe. In the frame of the European mainstream movement on the topic, and analyzing the first and unique monitoring harmonized database, it evaluates quantitatively and qualitatively the main factors and barriers explaining the effectiveness and the efficiency of the local actions developed in the period 2008-2020. The first of the four publications developed and published during my doctorate years, and that frames this Thesis, analyzes the drivers and barriers explaining the effectiveness of the implementation of concrete climate change mitigation actions by local authorities (LAs) in Europe for that period. After having identified the factors enabling or preventing LAs under the local climate initiative to implement and monitor the local climate actions developed, the second publication of this Thesis quantifies the real mitigation achievements in terms of Greenhouse gasses (GHG) reduction in their territories-i.e., the efficiency of the climate action. Once the effectiveness and efficiency of the local climate action of LAs in Europe were analyzed, the objective was to evaluate the relevance, sustainability and impact of the initiative conducted. That for, in the first place the level of ambition in terms of the GHG reduction target for 2030 established by the LAs was evaluated and the achieved results were described in the third publication of this thesis. Finally the fourth publication moves from mitigation action to adaptation to climate change, evaluating and extracting the main factors describing the local climate action in Europe in the matter. As described in the following sections, these four publications give, for the first time, a comprehensive understanding of the major European local climate action initiative, the only one monitored in a harmonized manner. This thesis analyzes and describe the main attributes leading European LAs to the success or failure of their climate plans and would be of extreme interest for the local climate action in the next period toward 2030 objectives. Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias y Tecnologías Industriales (RD 99/2011) Industria Zientzietako eta Teknologietako Doktoretza Programa (ED 99/2011)

The presence of emerging pollutants (EPs) in water is a major environmental concern. This study evaluates for the first time the removal of three EPs, namely triclosan (TCS), 2,6-dichlorophenol (2,6-DCP), and bisphenol A (BPA), 90 μmol/dm3, from water through both Fenton- and photo-Fenton-like reactions using montmorillonite (Mt) and aluminum interlayered pillared clays (Al-PILC) as catalytic supports. The catalysts (Fe2O3/TiO2/Mt and Fe2O3/TiO2/Al-PILC) were evaluated in single-component solutions and in an equimolar mixture. Two Al-PILC were synthesized from a hazardous waste, namely aluminum saline slag, using either the acid (Al-PILCAE) or the alkaline (Al-PILCBE) aluminum extract as precursors. The third Al-PILC was obtained by the conventional method using a commercial aluminum salt (Al-PILCCM). Catalytic supports were impregnated at 10 and 20 wt% titanium. Iron loadings from 1 to 20 wt% were tested for Mt, while only 20 wt% iron was tested for Al-PILC. All catalysts were characterized using several techniques and the results confirmed the formation of TiO2 and Fe2O3. Almost 100 % of TCS and 2,6-DCP were removed by both Fenton-like (240 and 420 min, respectively) and photo-Fenton-like reactions (30 and 90–120 min, respectively) using the Al-PILC based catalyst. The maximum removal for BPA was 80.14 ± 1.93 % after 120 min under photo-Fenton-like conditions using Al-PILCBE. The catalysts synthesized using the four catalytic supports showed good results for the removal of TCS by both processes, while for 2,6-DCP and BPA the best results were obtained using Al-PILCAE and Al-PILCBE as catalytic supports. Finally, a degradation pathway was suggested for every pollutant based on the by-products identified during the reactions by HPLC-MS. The results revealed that the materials used in this work are suitable catalysts for removing emerging pollutants from water by both Fenton- and photo-Fenton-like reactions. The authors are grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) through project PID2020-112656RB-C21 Open access funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra. YC thanks the Universidad Pública de Navarra for a pre-doctoral grant (IberusTalent, European Union's H2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement N° 801586). AG also thanks Banco Santander for funding via the Research Intensification Program.

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crfs.2023.100453., Sulfur dioxide (SO2), the main preservative in wine, may affect the sensory properties of the wines, as well as cause allergic reactions and headaches in sensitive people. The aim of this work was to evaluate the replacement of SO2 in Tempranillo wines with Mazuelo grape stem products. Five Tempranillo red wines were elaborated: positive control (60 mg/L SO2); negative control with no preservatives; Mazuelo extract (200 mg/L); Mazuelo extract combined with SO2 (100 mg/L + 20 mg/L); and Mazuelo stem (400 mg/L). The oenological parameters, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic (TP), total flavonoids (TF) and total anthocyanins (TA) contents were determined. Additionally, individual phenols were analyzed by HPLC-DAD-FLD. The spectrophotometric analyses showed that the wines had similar antioxidant capacities and concentrations of TP and TF. However, TA was more affected by the lack of SO2 as anthocyanins presented higher concentrations in positive control samples. The concentrations of individual phenols followed a similar path in all samples. Wines containing sulfites were more similar than the other treatments. However, these similarities were not reflected on the sensory analysis performed, as triangle test did not show differences between the wine with extract addition and the positive control wine. Therefore, Mazuelo stem extract could be a possible strategy for SO2 replacement. Nevertheless, further studies are necessary to confirm the potential of grape stem extracts as wine preservative., This study was also supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Competitiveness factors Operational program – Norte 2020, COMPETE and by National Funds through the FCT - under the project AgriFood XXI (NORTE- 01-0145-FEDER-000041)., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

La enseñanza de las ciencias basada en la indagación se ha convertido en una de las metodologías más eficaces para aprender ciencias; sin embargo, las propuestas en educación infantil son escasas. Diferentes factores son los responsables de esta situación, como la baja autoconfianza de los maestros para enseñar ciencias y la creencia de que el alumnado infantil es incapaz de desarrollar ciertas habilidades de razonamiento. En este artícul se presenta la implementación de una secuencia de indagación en infantil, durante las prácticas escolares de una maestra en formación. El objetivo fue promover el desarrollo de habilidades científicas básicas e integradas, mejorar la adquisición de conocimientos conceptuales y hacer que los estudiantes disfrutaran aprendiendo ciencias. La intervención se describe detalladamente, mostrando ejemplos de la implementación real de la secuencia teórica de indagación. Al inicio, el alumnado recibió una hipotética carta del astronauta Pedro Duque, en la que se les pedía ayuda para planificar su viaje a Marte, un planeta frío, con agua helada y salada. Tras diversas actividades sobre la percepción de la temperatura y experiencias con agua dulce y salada, siguiendo un esquema POE (predecir, observar y explicar), los estudiantes realizaron una investigación: cultivar lechugas en cuatro condiciones diferentes, combinando dos variables, temperatura y salinidad del agua. A lo largo del proyecto, los estudiantes fueron capaces de realizar progresivamente mejores descripciones y justificaciones, y mostraron gran interés en realizar más 'experimentos'. Para la maestra en formación, el proyecto brindó una excelente oportunidad para aplicar el conocimiento académico en la práctica escolar. Inquiry-based science education has become one of the most effective methodologies to learn science; however, proposals in preschool are scarce. Different factors are responsible for this situation, such as the low self-confidence of teachers to teach science and the belief that young children are unable to develop certain reasoning skills. This study reports the implementation of an inquiry-based science project in a preschool setting, in the context of a preservice teacher’s school placement. The project aimed to promote the development of basic and integrated scientific skills, enhance acquisition of conceptual knowledge and make the students enjoy while learning science. The intervention is described thoroughly and illustrated with examples from the real implementation of the theoretical IBSE sequence. At the beginning of the proposal, the students received a hypothetical letter from the astronaut Pedro Duque, in which they were asked for help to plan his trip to living on Mars, a cold planet, with only frozen and saltwater. After some introductory POE (predict, observe, and explain) experiences on the perception of temperature and activities with fresh and saline water, the students performed a piece of research: growing lettuce in four different conditions, combining two variables: temperature and the salinity of water. As the project developed, the students progressively gave better descriptions and justifications, and also showed great interest in performing more 'research experiments'. For the preservice teacher, the project provided an excellent opportunity to implement academic knowledge in school practice. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.

The cleaning or removal of manganese stains on Cultural Heritage has not been much tested or successful so far. The aim of this article was to assess a new green cleaning gel for Mn-rich black-blue stains on different substrates. The black-blue stains were characterized at optical and chemical level through colour-related data, optical microscope, FTIR, XRF and XPS. Mn-stained granite found on historical churches at Vila Real (North of Portugal) and glass jars of Leclanché cells, belonging to the ISEP’s Museum (Portugal) collection, were the ideal case studies to test the efficiency of chitosan: thiourea dioxide (TD) cleaning gel. TD proved to be the best candidate to reduce insoluble manganese oxides, over Hydroxylamine Hydrochloride and Hydroxymethanesulfinic Acid. Cleaning assays performed on stained granite samples collected at a historical quarry and in situ application on stained granite churches allowed removal of the stains to a satisfactory level. Similar results were obtained on stained glass jars. This work was supported by BIO4MURAL–Biotechnology innovative solutions for the removal of pigmentation and preventive conservation of cultural and historically relevant mural painting through FEDER–Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization [Grant Number POCI-01–0145-FEDER-029157] and National Funds from FCT–Foundation for Science and Technology [Grant Number PTDC/HAR-ARQ/29157/2017]; Alexandra Marco PhD research supported by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through POCH–Operational Human Capital Program, co-participated by the Social European Fund (FSE) and MCTES National Fund [Grant Number SFRH/BD/125596/2016]; and FCT through the Strategic Projects CITAR (UID/EAT/0622/2016) and CBQF [Grant Number UID/Multi/50016/2013]. Dr. David M. Freire-Lista is supported by FCT through Stimulus of Scientific Employment, Individual Support 2017 [Grant Number CEECIND/03568/2017].

A frequency downscaling technique for enhancing the accuracy of analog lock-in amplifier (LIA) architectures in giant magneto-impedance (GMI) sensor applications is presented in this paper. As a proof of concept, the proposed method is applied to two different LIA topologies using, respectively, analog and switching-based multiplication for phase-sensitive detection. Specifically, the operation frequency of both the input and the reference signals of the phase-sensitive detector (PSD) block of the LIA is reduced through a subsampling process using sample-and-hold (SH) circuits. A frequency downscaling from 200 kHz, which is the optimal operating frequency of the employed GMI sensor, to 1 kHz has been performed. In this way, the proposed technique exploits the inherent advantages of analog signal multiplication at low frequencies, while the principle of operation of the PSD remains unaltered. The circuits were assembled using discrete components, and the frequency downscaling proposal was experimentally validated by comparing the measurement accuracy with the equivalent conventional circuits. The experimental results revealed that the error in the signal magnitude measurements was reduced by a factor of 8 in the case of the analog multipliers and by a factor of 21 when a PSD based on switched multipliers was used. The error in-phase detection using a two-phase LIA was also reduced by more than 25%. This work has been supported by Grant PID2019-107258RB-C32 funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), and by the project PJUPNA2005 funded by the Public University of Navarre.

Soils store vast amounts of carbon (C) on land, and increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in already managed soils such as croplands may be one way to remove C from the atmosphere, thereby limiting subsequent warming. The main objective of this study was to estimate the amount of additional C input needed to annually increase SOC stocks by 4‰ at 16 long-term agricultural experiments in Europe, including exogenous organic matter (EOM) additions. We used an ensemble of six SOC models and ran them under two configurations: (1) with default parametrization and (2) with parameters calibrated site-by-site to fit the evolution of SOC stocks in the control treatments (without EOM). We compared model simulations and analysed the factors generating variability across models. The calibrated ensemble was able to reproduce the SOC stock evolution in the unfertilised control treatments. We found that, on average, the experimental sites needed an additional 1.5 ± 1.2 Mg C ha−1 year−1 to increase SOC stocks by 4‰ per year over 30 years, compared to the C input in the control treatments (multi-model median ± median standard deviation across sites). That is, a 119% increase compared to the control. While mean annual temperature, initial SOC stocks and initial C input had a significant effect on the variability of the predicted C input in the default configuration (i.e., the relative standard deviation of the predicted C input from the mean), only water-related variables (i.e., mean annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration) explained the divergence between models when calibrated. Our work highlights the challenge of increasing SOC stocks in agriculture and accentuates the need to increasingly lean on multi-model ensembles when predicting SOC stock trends and related processes. To increase the reliability of SOC models under future climate change, we suggest model developers to better constrain the effect of water-related variables on SOC decomposition. This work benefited from the French state aid managed by the ANR under the “Investissements d'avenir” programme with the reference ANR-16-CONV-0003 (CLAND project). EB, RZA and BG are supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101000289 (Holisoils project). RZA was also supported by the United States Department of Energy, Office of Science, and Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

The aim of this study is to optimize the adsorption of pentachlorophenol (PCP) using an organo-clay under the response surface methodology. The adsorbent was selected from a montmorillonite exchanged by various cations, such as Fe3+, Al3+, Zn2+, Mg2+, Na+ , and modified by bromide cetyltrimethylammonium (CTAB) as surfactant. The obtained organo-montmorillonite was characterized using several techniques, such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption, performed at −196 ◦C. The results showed an increase in basal space from 1.65 to 1.88 nm and a decrease in the specific surface and pore volume, with an increase in pore diameter, including the presence of characteristic bands of -CH2 - and -CH3 - groups at 2926 and 2854 cm−1 in the FTIR spectrum after the modification. The optimization of PCP removal by clay adsorbents is achieved using the response surface methodology (RSM) with a four-factor central composite model, including pH of solution, mass of adsorbent, contact time, and initial concentration. The results proved the validity of the regression model, wherein the adsorption capacity reaches its maximum value of 38 mg/g at a lower adsorbent mass of 20 mg, pH of 6, contact time (tc) of 5 h, and initial concentration of 8 mg/L. S.E.M. thanks the Universidad Pública de Navarra for a doctoral grant. A.G. also thanks Banco Santander for funding through the Research Intensification Program.

Soils store an important amount of carbon (C), mostly in the form of organic matter in different decomposing stages. Hence, understanding the factors that rule the rates at which decomposed organic matter is incorporated into the soil is paramount to better understand how C stocks will vary under changing atmospheric and land use conditions. We studied the interactions between vegetation cover, climate and soil factors using the Tea Bag Index in 16 different ecosystems (eight forests, eight grasslands) along two contrasting gradients in the Spanish province of Navarre (SW Europe). Such arrangement encompassed a range of four climate types, elevations from 80 to 1420 m.a.s.l., and precipitation (P) from 427 to 1881 mm year–1. After incubating tea bags during the spring of 2017, we identified strong interactions between vegetation cover type, soil C/N and precipitation affecting decomposition rates and stabilization factors. In both forests and grasslands, increasing precipitation increased decomposition rates (k) but also the litter stabilization factor (S). In forests, however, increasing the soil C/N ratio raised decomposition rates and the litter stabilization factor, while in grasslands higher C/N ratios caused the opposite effects. In addition, soil pH and N also affected decomposition rates positively, but for these factors no differences between ecosystem types were found. Our results demonstrate that soil C flows are altered by complex site-dependent and site-independent environmental factors, and that increased ecosystem lignification will significantly change C flows, likely increasing decomposition rates in the short term but also increasing the inhibiting factors that stabilize labile litter compounds. This work was supported by the Public University of Navarre; the Spanish Ministry of Science [grant numbers AGL2016-76035-C2, PID2020-116786RB-C32] and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [grant BES-2017-080326]. Open access funding provided by the Public University of Navarre.

The nonlinear giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect was explored as a highly sensitive sensing technology in 3D-printed magnetic encoded systems. Magnetic nanoparticles with low (magnetite, Fe3O4) and high (Co ferrite, Co0.7Fe2.3O4) magnetic remanence were embedded (10 wt%) in a polymeric matrix of Polylactic Acid (PLA) and Poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) and extruded in magnetic filaments to be 3D printed by the Fused Deposition Modelling technique (FDM). Two different geometries were constructed namely, individual magnetic strips and fixed barcoded pieces. The stray magnetic fields generated by the magnetic nanoparticles were detected through the non-linear (second harmonic) GMI voltage using a soft magnetic CoFeSiB wire as the nucleus sensor. The decoding response was analyzed as a function of the magnetization remanence of the nanoparticles, the distance between the individual magnetic strips, and the position (height) of the GMI decoding sensor. It has been shown that modification of the net magnetization direction of each individual fixed strip within the barcode geometry is possible through the application of local external magnetic fields. This possibility improves the versatility of the 3D binary encoding system by adding an additional state (0 without nanoparticles, 1 or −1 depending on the relative orientation of the net magnetization along the strips) during the codifying procedure. This work has been funded by the Gobierno de Navarra - Departamento de Desarrollo Económico within the framework of the Project: “Advanced Manufacturing of Electronics, AMELEC”. It has also been partially funded by the Spanish Government - Ministerio Ciencia - Innovación (PID2019-107258RB-C32 of MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and from the grant PID2021–122613OB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. Open access funding is provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra.

Boreal forests play a crucial role in the global carbon (C) cycle and in climate stabilization. To better predict global C budgets, it is important to accurately estimate the size of forest C pools, and to identify the factors affecting them. We used national forest inventory data for the Greater Khingan Mountains, northeast China from 1999 to 2018 and 149 additional field plots to estimate C storage and its changes in forest vegetation, excluding C stored in soils, and to calculate the total C density in forest ecosystems. From 1999 to 2018, the vegetation C storage and density increased by 92.22 Tg and 4.30 Mg C ha−1, respectively, while the mean C sink was 4.61 Tg C yr−1. Carbon storage and density showed the same pattern, with the largest stocks in trees, followed by herbs, shrubs, and then litter. Mean C density was higher in mature forests than in young forests. The maximum C density was recorded in Populus davidiana forests, and was 2.2-times larger than in Betula davurica forests (the minimum). The mean (± standard error) total C density of forest ecosystems was 111.3 ± 2.9 Mg C ha−1, including C stored in soils. Mean annual temperature (MAT) controlled total C density, as MAT had positive effects when it was lower than the temperature of the inflection point (-2.1 to -4.6 °C) and negative effects when it was above the inflection point. The rate of change in the total C density depended on the quantile points of the conditional distribution of total C density. Natural and anthropogenic disturbances had weaker effects on C density than temperature and precipitation. In conclusion, our results indicate that there might be a temperature-induced pervasive decrease in C storage and an increase in tree mortality across Eastern Asian boreal forests with future climate warming. This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32160363), the Natural Science Foundation of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2021MS03096), the Science and Technology Planning Program of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2020GG0067), the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) of Portugal through projects UIDB/04326/2020, UIDP/04326/2020, LA/ P/0101/2020, PTDC/BIA-CBI/6515/2020, and the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus 2022.00861. Open access funding provided by the Public University of Navarre.

Key Message The first bottleneck in Spanish black pine survival through afforestation is the lack of resistance to drought in their initial life stages. Abstract Spanish black pine (Pinus nigra Arn ssp. salzmannii) is the most widely distributed pine species in mountain areas of the Mediterranean Basin and is commonly used for afforestation in endangered and degraded areas. Despite its importance, little is known regarding the factors driving seedling survival for this species, which may hamper afforestation success in Mediterranean areas. In this study, we assessed the effects of seed origin and plantation site along a natural gradient with contrasting elevation and climatic conditions in a Mediterranean forest in Central-Eastern Spain. Our results showed: (1) higher seedling survival rates when seed origin differed from plantation site (25.3 ± 5.4%) compared to same origin and plantation site (5.3 ± 2.7%); (2) higher survival probability (~ 20%) for high and medium elevation seeds (colder and wetter locations) compared to the warmer and drier low elevation sites (15%); (3) higher seedling survival (~ 40%) at higher elevation sites compared to low-elevation sites (

In the present work, methane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and the binary mixtures 20 % CH4–80 % H2, 80 % CH4–20 % H2, 25 % CO–75 % H2 (by volume) were considered as fuels of a naturally aspirated port-fuel injection four-cylinder Volkswagen 1.4 L spark-ignition (SI) engine. The interest in these fuels lies in the fact that they can be obtained from renewable resources such as the fermentation or gasification of residual biomasses as well as the electrolysis of water with electricity of renewable origin in the case of hydrogen. In addition, they can be used upon relatively easy modifications of the engines, including the retrofitting of existing internal combustion engines. It has been found that the engine gives similar performance regardless the gaseous fuel nature if the air–fuel equivalence ratio (λ) is the same. Maximum brake torque and mean effective pressure values within 45–89 N⋅m and 4.0–8.0 bar, respectively, have been obtained at values of λ between 1 and 2 at full load, engine speed of 2000 rpm and optimum spark-advance. In contrast, the nature of the gaseous fuel had great influence upon the range of λ values at which a fuel (either pure or blend) could be used. Methane and methane-rich mixtures with hydrogen or carbon monoxide allowed operating the engine at close to stoichiometric conditions (i.e. 1 < λ < 1.5) yielding the highest brake torque and mean effective pressure values. On the contrary, hydrogen and hydrogen-rich mixtures with methane or carbon monoxide could be employed only in the very fuel-lean region (i.e. 1.5 < λ < 2). The behavior of carbon monoxide was intermediate between that of methane and hydrogen. The present study extends and complements previous works in which the aforementioned fuels were compared only under stoichiometric conditions in air (λ = 1). In addition, a simple zero-dimensional thermodynamic combustion model has been developed that allows describing qualitatively the trends set by the several fuels. Although the model is useful to understand the influence of the fuels properties on the engine performance, its predictive capability is limited by the simplifications made. Financial support from Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Agencia Estatal de Investigación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ and FEDER “Una manera de hacer Europa” (grant PID2021-127265OB-C21), as well as from Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia and NextGenerationEU (grants PLEC2022-009221 and TED2021-130846B-100) is gratefully acknowledged. L.M. Gandía also thanks Banco de Santander and Universidad Pública de Navarra for their financial support under “Programa de Intensificación de la Investigación 2018” initiative. Authors also acknowledge Open Access Funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra.

Over the last decades, a new generation of microscale models has been developed to simulate soil microbial activity. An earlier article (Pot et al., 2021) presented a detailed review of the description of soil architecture and microbial dynamics in these models. In the present article, we summarise the main results obtained by these models according to six model outputs: growth and spatial organisation of microbial colonies, soil hydraulic conductivity, coexistence and trophic interactions of microorganisms, temporal dynamics of the amount of solid and dissolved organic matter in soil and, microbial production of CO2. For each of these outputs, we draw particular attention to the respective roles of soil architecture and microbial dynamics, and we report how microscale models allow for disentangling and quantifying them. We finally discuss limitations and future directions of microscale models in combination with the on-going development of high-performance imaging tools revealing the spatial heterogeneity of the actors of soil microbial activity. Highlights: We review the insights on soil functions derived from microscale models of soil microbial processes. Microscale models disentangle the complex interactions between soil architecture and microbial dynamics. Spatial accessibility of resources to microbes, growth and ecological interactions are key factors in soil functions. Translation of knowledge of interactions at the microscopic scale into larger scales is still in its infancy. © 2022 British Society of Soil Science. The research reported on in this article was supported by a grant from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche to project Soil μ-3D (ANR-15-CE01-0006). Additionally, WO and XP received support from the National Environment Research Council (NE/P014208/1 and NE/S004920/1). XP is currently a María Zambrano Fellow at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA) and acknowledges funding from the European Union - NextGenerationEU through the Spanish program "Ayuda para la Recualificación del Sistema Universitario Español".

El objetivo último de esta tesis doctoral es formular catalizadores de Rh y Co y desarrollar, a partir de las mejores formulaciones, sistemas catalíticos estructurados para la producción de gas de síntesis mediante el reformado de biogás. Se han considerado como rutas de reformado las reacciones de reformado seco y su combinación con la oxidación parcial de metano, a través del reformado combinado de tipo ‘oxy‐CO2’. Financiación recibida del Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Proyecto ENE2015‐66975‐C3); Ayuda para Contratos Pre‐doctorales para la Formación de Doctores 2016 (BES‐2016‐077866). Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias y Tecnologías Industriales (RD 99/2011) Industria Zientzietako eta Teknologietako Doktoretza Programa (ED 99/2011)

Lignocellulosic residues have the potential for obtaining high value-added products that could be better valorized if biorefinery strategies are adopted. The debarking of short-rotation crops yields important amounts of residues that are currently underexploited as low-grade fuel and could be a renewable source of phenolic compounds and other important phytochemicals. The isolation of these compounds can be carried out by different methods, but for attaining an integral valorization of barks, a preliminary extraction step for phytochemicals should be included. Using optimized extraction methods based on Soxhlet extraction can be effective for the isolation of phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties. In this study, poplar bark (Populus Salicaceae) was used to obtain a series of extracts using five different solvents in a sequential extraction of 24 h each in a Soxhlet extractor. Selected solvents were put in contact with the bark sample raffinate following an increasing order of polarity: n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water. The oily residues of the extracts obtained after each extraction were further subjected to flash chromatography, and the fractions obtained were characterized by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using the Folin–Ciocalteu method, and the antioxidant activity (AOA) of the samples was evaluated in their reaction with the free radical 2,2-Diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH method). Polar solvents allowed for higher individual extraction yields, with overall extraction yields at around 23% (dry, ash-free basis). Different compounds were identified, including hydrolyzable tannins, phenolic monomers such as catechol and vanillin, pentoses and hexoses, and other organic compounds such as long-chain alkanes, alcohols, and carboxylic acids, among others. An excellent correlation was found between TPC and antioxidant activity for the samples analyzed. The fractions obtained using methanol showed the highest phenolic content (608 g of gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/mg) and the greatest antioxidant activity. This research was funded by the Gobierno de Navarra, grant number PC177-178 Reducenano 2.0 and Spanish Ministry of Science (AbFine, PID2020-114936RB-I00). The APC was funded by the Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA).

The development of materials that can exhibit thermal resistance at very high temperatures, thus allowing them to be applied as catalysts and thermal insulators, amongst other possible uses, is a research subject of great interest. This is the case for hexaaluminates, a class of hexagonal aluminate compounds with a unique structure that are stable at very high temperatures up to 1600°C and exhibit exceptional resistance to sintering and thermal shock, thus making them attractive catalysts for high-temperature applications. In this review, the structure of hexaaluminates is presented first. The most recent advances in synthetic methods (sol-gel, reverse microemulsion, hydrothermal synthesis, carbon-templating, solution combustion synthesis, and freeze-drying methods) are discussed subsequently, with the aim of maximizing textural properties and including in their structure metals known to be active in catalytic applications, such as combustion of CH4, partial oxidation, and dry reforming of CH4 to produce synthetic gas, and the decomposition of N2O. Finally, other applications, such as their function as a thermal barrier, are also addressed. The authors are grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness (AEI/MINECO), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through project MAT2016-78863-C2-R. JJTH thanks Universidad Pública de Navarra for a pre-doctoral grant. AG also thanks Santander Bank for funding via the Research Intensification Program.

This work describes the synthetic procedures developed to obtain zeolite X (NaX), zeolite A (LTA) and sodalite (SOD) using aluminum saline slag waste (AlSSW) as aluminum source in a two-step hydrothermal method involving alkaline extraction of Al, with separation of the residual waste, and hydrothermal treatment at low temperatures and long reaction times. Use of the mother liquor obtained after filtration and separation of the zeolite is also analyzed in the alkaline extraction of Al. The synthetic parameters that determine the type of zeolite, purity, crystallinity, specific surface area, pore size and pore volume include the Si/Al molar ratio, pH, nucleation temperature and time, and crystallization temperature and time. These critical parameters were studied and determined to synthesize NaX, LTA and SOD as individual phases. The materials obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and N2 adsorption/desorption measurements at −196 °C. The characteristics of the best zeolites obtained are similar to those of IZA references and the specific surface areas are in the range of commercial ones: NaX ranges from 450 to 500 m2/g and LTA from 250 to 300 m2/g. The results show that it is possible to synthesize zeolites from AlSSW, thus allowing these materials to be applied as promising adsorbents and catalysts. The authors are grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (AEI/MINECO), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Government of Navarra through projects MAT2016-78863-C2-1-R and PI017-PI039 CORRAL.

Debido a la falta de motivación e interés de los estudiantes por las ciencias y el bajo rendimiento académico español, la mayoría de las instituciones educativas utilizan metodologías activas, motivadoras y desaiantes para fomentar la transferencia de conocimientos y dar protagonismo al alumnado. Dentro de estas nuevas metodologías, se encuentran los juegos de rol, por lo que este trabajo tiene como objetivo principal diseñar, proponer y evaluar una metodología basada en juegos de rol que permita conjugar el estudio de los contenidos teóricos de la asignatura de Cultura Cientíica de Bachillerato con información útil sobre las oportunidades de trabajo cientíico. Para ello, se ha programado una unidad didáctica basada en la simulación teatral de profesiones cientíicas. Todas las actividades han sido enfocadas a experimentar en primera persona las principales tareas de un investigador, un revisor de artículos cientíicos y un miembro de un comité bioético. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron un aumento de la motivación, interés y conocimiento de los alumnos por el mundo cientíico. Los juegos de rol son una vía efectiva para introducir a los alumnos en el mundo cientíico, fomentar su interés por las ciencias y mejorar sus habilidades, rendimientos y conocimientos cientíicos. Due to the lack of motivation and interest of students in science along with the low academic performance in Spain, most educational institutions use active, motivating and challenging methodologies to encourage knowledge transfer and give students a leading role. Within these new methodologies, we ind role games, so this work aims to design, propose and evaluate a methodology based on role games that allows combining the study of the theoretical contents of the Scientific Culture subject in High School with useful information about scientific work opportunities. For this purpose, a didactic unit based on the theatrical simulation of scientific professions has been programmed. All activities were focused on experiencing first-hand the main tasks of a researcher, a reviewer of scientific articles and a member of a bioethics committee. he results obtained showed an increase in the students' motivation, interest and knowledge of the scientific world. Role-playing games are an efective way to introduce students to the scientific world, foster their interest in science and improve their scientific skills, performance and knowledge.

Tree age (AGE) and stocking degree (P) strongly influence tree shape, but their effects have been neglected in most tree profile equations. In addition, data used to build traditional tree profile equations usually do not meet the statistical requirements of independence and identical distribution of observations. The main objectives were to present a method to improve taper equations with measurements easily collected in tree inventories (age, stocking degree) and also improve the statistical accuracy of those equations by selecting parameters with a more rigorous way than that is traditionally being done. We evaluated the effects of incorporating age and stocking degree as regressors in tree profile equations selected among 30 candidate foundation equations and parameterized with data from 1,858 Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) trees growing in the northern China. We used nonlinear mixed-effects models to minimize statistical problems present when building traditional tree profile equations: lack of independence and identical distribution of observations, random effects related to individual trees. Equations incorporating age and stocking degree significantly improved their accuracy. When the equation parameters were estimated with mixed- effects models containing exponential variance functions and accounting for non-independence of observations from the same tree, diameters at any height along the tree bole were more accurately estimated. We demonstrate a new methodology to build more accurate tree profile equations that could support better economic valorization of timber and improve calculations of carbon flows in forests, not only for natural L. gmelinii forest but for other species growing in dense natural stands around the globe. This study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC0504003-2), National Natural Science Foundations of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2015BS0303) and Excellent Young Scientist Foundation of Inner Mongolia Agricultural University of China (No. 2014XYQ-6).

This study sheds light on the adsorption process for the removal of nitrate ions from synthetic aqueous solutions. This contaminant pose a potential risk to the environment and can cause health effects including cancers and methemoglobinemia in infants. When the adsorption process is carried out, the effect by the several operating parameters such as initial nitrate concentration, pH, mass of activated carbon, and contact time becomes apparent. The essential process variables are optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) experiments. For this purpose 31 experimental results are required to determine the optimum conditions. The optimum conditions for the removal of nitrates is found to be: initial nitrate concentration = 15 mg/L; initial pH 4.0; mass of activated carbon = 25 mg, and contact time = 70 min. At these optimized conditions, the maximum removal of nitrates is found to be 96.59%. The authors are grateful to the MOROCCAN MESRSFC. Financial Support from University Hassan II of Casablanca is also acknowledged. AG thanks Santander Bank for funding through the Research Intensification Program.

Thinning in forest management primarily reduces the density of trees and alters the patchiness and spatial complexity of environmental factors and individual interactions between plant recruits. At fine spatial scales, little is known about the relative weight of ecological processes affecting tree regeneration before and after thinning events. Here we studied the density and aggregation of tree recruits in fully-mapped plots located in mixed forests in Northern Iberian Peninsula (Southern Europe) for over four years, which comprises one year before and three years after a thinning event. We applied spatial point-pattern analyses to examine (a) the aggregation of recruits, and their association with trees and (b) the relative effect of both environmental (i.e., the patchiness of the local environment) and density-dependent factors (i.e., the aggregation of trees and/or recruits) to predict the density, aggregation, and survival of recruits. We found, in thinning plots, that recruits were less dense, their aggregation pattern was more heterogeneous, were distributed randomly in respect of trees and their survival was almost unaffected by the tree proximity. By contrast, recruits in control plots were denser, were only aggregated at distances lower than 1.0 m, were closer to trees, and such closer distance to trees affected negatively in their survival. Independently of the treatment, the aggregation of recruits was chiefly determined by the density-dependent factors at less than 1.0 m and environmental factors at distances beyond that proximity. Overall, our results suggest that thinning affected the aggregation of recruits at two spatial scales: (a) by favoring the tree-recruit and recruit-recruit facilitation at less than 1.0 m and (b) by modifying spatial heterogeneity of the environment at distances beyond that proximity. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AGL2006-08288 and AGL2009-11287). Javier Rodríguez-Pérez was funded from the ‘'la Caixa’ and 'Caja Navarra' Foundation, under agreement LCF/PR/PR13/51080004 in the framework of UPNA’s 'Captación de Talento' program.

The sound propagation speed measurement us is used for monitoring triglyceride ethanol-ysis in a broad range of reaction conditions (mainly, temperature: 23–50◦C; ethanol/oil: from 6 to 24 mol/mol). Experimentally, us slightly increased with the reaction time in all cases as a result of the contribution of its dynamic mixture components. Nomoto’s expression for homogeneous mixtures offered suitable us estimation but with values notably higher than the experimental ones due to the resistance to sound propagation offered by the ethanol/oil interphase (non-homogeneous medium). Our strategy was based on both the comparison of the experimental us values and the theoretical ones correlated by means of triglyceride conversion and on the estimation of the sound speed of oil/ethanol that could emulate the resistance offered by the interphase. The evolution of the reactions was predicted quite well for all the experiments carried out with very different reaction rates. Nev-ertheless, at the beginning of the reaction, the estimated conversion (outside of industrial interests) showed important deviations. The presence of the intermediate reaction products, diglycerides, and monoglycerides could be responsible for those deviations. Luis M. Gandía wishes to thank Banco de Santander and Universidad Pública de Navarra for their financial support under the ‘Programa de Intensificación de la Investigación 2018’ initiative.

Póster presentado al II Congreso Científico Internacional Universidad-Sociedad 2022, II Taller de Desarrollo Agrario Sostenible. Varadero (Cuba), 2022 Las evidencias científicas sugieren tres usos fundamentales del frijol caupí, con agro-ecológicas y beneficios productivos, sociales y ambientales en los sistemas agrícolas locales; sin embargo, su rendimiento a nivel mundial y en América no experimenta crecimiento en los últimos años. Los resultados obtenidos en Pinar del Río, Cuba, sugieren la posibilidad de emplearlo como alternativa para la producción de grano pero debe fomentarse, desde la ciencia, la innovación y las instituciones y órganos de decisión a nivel local, la cultura de producción y consumo de esta leguminosa para su aprovechamiento en la sostenibilidad agrícola de los agro-ecosistemas.

In this study, oriented nano-sheets generated during the growth of cobalt-rich Co–V and Co–Zn thin films induced a large anisotropy in the magnetic and transport properties. The regular nano-sheets were tilted 52–54 deg. with respect to the substrate plane, ≈ 3.0–4.0 nm thick, ≈ 30–100 nm wide, and ≈ 200–300 nm long, with an inter-sheet distance of ≈ 0.9–1.2 nm. In spite of the different microstructures of the two kinds of samples where the Co–V films were amorphous, whereas the Co–Zn films showed a growth of Zn nanocrystals, the oblique nano-sheet morphology conferred noticeable shape anisotropy to both specimens. This anisotropy resulted in an in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The changes in the nano-morphology caused by thermal treatments, and hence in their anisotropic properties, were studied. While the Co–V samples retained or increased their magnetic and transport anisotropies, this anisotropic behavior vanished for the annealed Co–Zn films. High resolution transmission electron microscopy, HRTEM, including chemical analysis at the nano-scale, and the dependence of the anisotropic resistance on temperature allowed to establish the nature and the activation energy spectra of the atomic relaxation processes during heating. These processes displayed a single peak at 1.63 eV for the Co–V and two peaks at 1.67 and 2.0 eV for the Co–Zn. These spectra and their singularities were associated to the changes induced in the nano-morphology of the films by thermal treatments. The Co–V films retained their nano-sheet morphology almost up to 500 ºC; the Co–Zn films lost their nano-sheets at 290 ºC. The thermal stability exhibited by the Co–V films makes them useful for applications in ultra high frequency, optical, magnetostrictive and magneto-electric devices., C. F., J. V., and V. M. acknowledge the financial support of the Public University of Navarre. C.M. and M.R.I. acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad in the project MAT2017–82970-C1 and C2-R and from the Aragón Regional project E26., Open access funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra.

A management process for saline slags, one of the wastes from Secondary Aluminum Production, is proposed. The process begins with a grinding step, followed by washing with water, which removed the fluxing salts but provoking the hydrolysis of AlN, yielding Al(OH)3 and ammonia. Sieving of the solid generated an intermediate and a fine fraction. The first one was rich in metallic aluminum, and can also be returned to the Secondary Aluminum Production. The fine fraction was submitted to a extraction process in acid (HCl or HNO3) or alkaline (NaOH, KOH or CsOH) conditions, under reflux at 90 ºC, obtaining an Al(III) solution that can be used in the synthesis of aluminum-based solids. HCl (1-8 mol/L) and NaOH (1-4 mol/L) were used as reference solutions, HNO3, NaOH and KOH were used under specific conditions; the slag fraction:extraction solution solid:liquid ratio was also varied. The optimum extraction conditions were: extraction time 2 h, solid:liquid ratio 3:10, concentration 3 mol/L for the NaOH medium and 4 mol/L for the HCl medium. More than 30% of the aluminum present in the fraction smaller than 0.4 mm was recovered (the remaining aluminum was present as insoluble phases, corundum and spinel). Acid or basic media can be selected depending on the final use of Al(III) solutions, the basic medium leading to an Al(III) solution with a lower amount of impurities. The hazardousness of the solid obtained after the extraction process was greatly decreased, making possible the use of this solid residue in sectors such as construction. This work was supported by 'Memoria de D. Samuel Solórzano Barruso' Foundation (FS/11-2020). AJ thanks Universidad de Salamanca and Banco Santander for a predoctoral contract. AG is grateful for financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) through project PID2020-112656RB-C21. AG also thanks Santander Bank for funding via the Research Intensification Program.

The reduction of the thermal hysteresis in first order magnetostructural transition is a determining factor to decrease energy losses and to improve the efficiency of magnetocaloric cooling based systems. In this work, a Cu doped NiMnInCo metamagnetic shape memory alloy (MMSMA) exhibiting a narrow thermal hysteresis (around 5 K) at room temperature has been designed. In this alloy, the induced L21 ordering process affects the phase stability in an unusual way compared to that observed in NiMnInCo and other NiMn based alloys. This ordering produces an increase in the Curie temperature of the austenite but hardly affects the mar tensitic transformation temperatures. As a consequence, the ordering increases the magnetization of the austenite without changing the transformation temperatures, doubles the sensitivity of the transformation to magnetic fields (the Claussius-Clapeyron slope goes from 2.1 to 3.9 K/T), improves the magnetocaloric effect, the reversibility and finally, enhances the refrigeration capacity. In addition, the magnetic hysteresis losses are among the lowest reported in the literature and the effective cooling capacity coefficient RCeff reaches 86 J/Kg for 2 T (15 % higher than those found in Ni-Mn based alloys) and 314 J/Kg for 6 T fields. Therefore, the ordered alloy possesses an excellent combination of low thermal hysteresis and high RCeff, not achieved previously in metamagnetic shape memory alloys near room temperature. This work has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish “Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades” (Projects number RTI2018–094683-B-C54 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE)), Navarra Government (Project number PC017–018 AMELEC). P. La Roca has received funding from “la Caixa” and "Caja Navarra" Foundations, under agreement LCF/PR/PR13/51080004.

Dense systems of magnetic nanoparticles may exhibit dipolar collective behavior. However, two fundamental questions remain unsolved: i) whether the transition temperature may be affected by the particle anisotropy or it is essentially determined by the intensity of the interparticle dipolar interactions, and ii) what is the minimum ratio of dipole–dipole interaction (Edd) to nanoparticle anisotropy (KefV, anisotropy⋅volume) energies necessary to crossover from individual to collective behavior. A series of particle assemblies with similarly intense dipolar interactions but widely varying anisotropy is studied. The Kef is tuned through different degrees of cobalt-doping in maghemite nanoparticles, resulting in a variation of nearly an order of magnitude. All the bare particle compacts display collective behavior, except the one made with the highest anisotropy particles, which presents “marginal” features. Thus, a threshold of KefV/Edd ≈ 130 to suppress collective behavior is derived, in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations. This translates into a crossover value of ≈1.7 for the easily accessible parameter TMAX(interacting)/TMAX(non-interacting) (ratio of the peak temperatures of the zero-field-cooled magnetization curves of interacting and dilute particle systems), which is successfully tested against the literature to predict the individual-like/collective behavior of any given interacting particle assembly comprising relatively uniform particles., The authors acknowledge financial support from grant No. MAT2015-65295-R funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”, grant No. PID2019-106229RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the Spanish MEC (through the contract No. BEAGAL18/00095). The authors also acknowledge funding from UCLM's Plan Propio, the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Universidad Pública de Navarra (grant No. PJUPNA2020) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (grant No. 2017-SGR-292). ICN2 is funded by the CERCA program/Generalitat de Catalunya and supported by SEV-2017-0706 grant funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. K.T., D.P., and M.V. acknowledge support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Programme: under gran agreement No. 731976 (MAGENTA) and partially the Horizon Europe EIC Pathfinder Programme: under grant agreement No. 101046909 (REMAP).

Ion implantation has been shown to improve adhesion strength of AlCrSiN coatings due to a synergic enhancement on fracture toughness and load bearing capability of the substrate that can potentially increase the in-service efficiency of coated cutting tools. In this work, AlCrSiN coatings deposited by PVD on WC-Co substrates implanted with Ti, Cr and N ion species have been processed. The mechanical properties and adhesion have been characterized by contact techniques and the residual stress of the coatings and substrates have been evaluated using FIB-DIC technique and Vickers indentation tests, respectively. An improvement of adhesion strength is obtained for treated substrates, especially for those implanted with titanium and chromium ions. This improvement is attributed to the introduction of residual stresses in the substrate, which increases its fracture toughness and enhances its load bearing capability. Work funded through The Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through grants PGC-2018-096855-B-C41, PGC-2018-096855-B-C42 and PGC-2018-096855-A-C44

In the last decade, targeting membrane lipids in cancer cells has been a promising approach that deserves attention in the field of anticancer drug development. To get a comprehensive understanding of the effect of the drug [Ru(¿5-Cp)(PPh3)2CN] (RuCN) on cell lipidic components, we combine complementary analytical approaches, matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS) and synchrotron radiation-based Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Techniques are used for screening the effect of potential metallodrug, RuCN, without and with drug carriers (carbon dots (CDs) and nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs)) on the lipids of the human ovarian cancer cell line A2780. MALDI TOF MS results revealed that the lysis of ovarian cancer membrane lipids is promoted by RuCN and not by drug carriers (CDs and N-CDs). Furthermore, SR-FTIR results strongly suggested that the phospholipids of cancer cells undergo oxidative stress after the treatment with RuCN that was accompanied by the disordering of the fatty acid chains. On the other hand, using (N-)CDs as RuCN nanocarriers prevented the oxidative stress caused by RuCN but did not prevent the disordering of the fatty acid chain packing. Finally, we demonstrated that RuCN and RuCN/(N-)CDs alter the hydration of the membrane surface in the membrane—water interface region. ALBA Synchrotron, MIRAS Beamline (experiment No. 2019093770). This work was also supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (grant 451-03-68/2020-14/200017); FCT(CQM Base Fund—UIDB/00674/2020, Programmatic Fund—UIDP/00674/2020); Madeira 14-20 Program (project Reforço do Investimentoem Equipamentos e Infrastructures Científcasna RAM (PROEQUIPRAM) M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000008); and Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI) through the ARDITI-CQM/2018/007-PDG (Fellowship Grant to M.G.), project M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000005-CQM+ (Madeira 14—20).

In this work, we demonstrate that the reduction of the local internal stress by a low-temperature solvent-mediated thermal treatment is an effective post-treatment tool for magnetic hardening of chemically synthesized nanoparticles. As a case study, we used nonstoichiometric cobalt ferrite particles of an average size of 32(8) nm synthesized by thermal decomposition, which were further subjected to solvent-mediated annealing at variable temperatures between 150 and 320 °C in an inert atmosphere. The postsynthesis treatment produces a 50% increase of the coercive field, without affecting neither the remanence ratio nor the spontaneous magnetization. As a consequence, the energy product and the magnetic energy storage capability, key features for applications as permanent magnets and magnetic hyperthermia, can be increased by ca. 70%. A deep structural, morphological, chemical, and magnetic characterization reveals that the mechanism governing the coercive field improvement is the reduction of the concomitant internal stresses induced by the low-temperature annealing postsynthesis treatment. Furthermore, we show that the medium where the mild annealing process occurs is essential to control the final properties of the nanoparticles because the classical annealing procedure (T > 350 °C) performed on a dried powder does not allow the release of the lattice stress, leading to the reduction of the initial coercive field. The strategy here proposed, therefore, constitutes a method to improve the magnetic properties of nanoparticles, which can be particularly appealing for those materials, as is the case of cobalt ferrite, currently investigated as building blocks for the development of rare-earth free permanent magnets. This work was supported by EU-H2020 AMPHIBIAN Project (Grant no. 720853). A.L.O. acknowledges support from the Universidad Pública de Navarra (Grant no. PJUPNA2020). Open access funding provided by Universidad Pública de Navarra.

Inorganic and organic fertilizers have been widely used to maintain crop yields. However, several studies have demonstrated that the dissolution of carbonates in agricultural soils by the acidification induced by N-fertilizers can result in their total or partial loss in the tilled layer of some agricultural soils. The effect of inorganic and organic fertilization on carbonates in calcareous semiarid Mediterranean soils has been less studied and is still unclear. Based on a 25-year field experiment, we investigated the effects of different fertilization strategies on the soil pH, inorganic C content, and in the proportion of pedogenic carbonates in the topsoil (0-30 cm) of a carbonate-rich soil in Navarre (N Spain). Five treatments were compared: no amendments as a control (SC), mineral fertilization (MF), and the application of sewage sludge at different doses (80 Mg ha-1 every year (80-1), 40 Mg ha-1 every year (40-1) and 40 Mg ha-1 every four years (40-4). Results showed a decrease in soil pH values by increasing the amount of sewage sludge and a small alteration in the calcite structure particularly in 40-4. However, no significant differences between treatments were found in the total content of carbonates nor in the proportion of pedogenic carbonates. The high concentration of total carbonates in the soil (16.09 ± 0.48%), and of the proportion of pedogenic carbonates (40.21 ± 1.29%, assuming a δ13C of primary carbonates = 0 ‰) seemed elevated enough to compensate for the observed acidification in the studied soil. In the case of MF, no changes were observed in the pH values, nor in the carbonate content (total and pedogenic). This suggests that the use of sewage sludge could induce changes in the future at a faster rate and of greater dimension than the use of mineral fertilizers such as the ones used in this field (46% urea, superphosphate and ClK). This project has received funding from the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA) through the RTA2017-00088-C03-01 project, from the Universidad Pública de Navarra through the PJUPNA1905 and PRO-UPNA (6164) projects and from the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the project ZA 1068/4-1.

Wheat grain quality characteristics have experienced increasing attention as a central factor affecting wheat end-use products quality and human health. Nonetheless, in the last decades a reduction in grain quality has been observed. Therefore, it is central to develop efficient quality-related phenotyping tools. In this sense, one of the most relevant wheat features related to grain quality traits is grain nitrogen content, which is directly linked to grain protein content and monitorable with remote sensing approaches. Moreover, the relation between nitrogen fertilization and grain nitrogen content (protein) plays a central role in the sustainability of agriculture. Both aiming to develop efficient phenotyping tools using remote sensing instruments and to advance towards a field-level efficient and sustainable monitoring of grain nitrogen status, this paper studies the efficacy of various sensors, multispectral and visible red–greenblue (RGB), at different scales, ground and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and phenological stages (anthesis and grain filling) to estimate grain nitrogen content. Linear models were calculated using vegetation indices at each sensing level, sensor type and phenological stage. Furthermore, this study explores the up-scalability of the best performing model to satellite level Sentinel-2 equivalent data. We found that models built at the phenological stage of anthesis with UAV-level multispectral cameras using red-edge bands outperformed grain nitrogen content estimation (R2 = 0.42, RMSE = 0.18%) in comparison with those models built with RGB imagery at ground and aerial level, as well as with those built with widely used ground-level multispectral sensors. We also demonstrated the possibility to use UAV-built multispectral linear models at the satellite scale to determine grain nitrogen content effectively (R2 = 0.40, RMSE = 0.29%) at actual wheat fields. This study was supported by the projects PID2019-106650RB-C21 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, MICINN, Spain) and 0011-1365-2018-000213/0011-1365-2018-000150 (Government of Navarre, Spain). J.S. is recipient of a FPI doctoral fellowship (Grant: PRE2020-091907) from MICINN, Spain. J.L.A. acknowledges support from ICREA Academia, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain. S.C.K. is supported by the Ramon y Cajal RYC-2019-027818-I research fellowship from MICINN, Spain. The processing of satellite images was supported by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology Action CA17134 SENSECO.

The effect of geometry on Giant Magnetoimpedance effect (GMI) in a meander structure composed of three amorphous magnetic ribbons ((Co0.94 Fe0.06)72,5 Si12.5 B15; 20 mm length) connected electrically in series is analyzed. The impedance behavior under the meander configuration is compared with the sum configuration, namely, the sum of the impedance of each ribbon measured individually. The geometry effect in GMI response is examined by changing the distance, = 0.5, 1 and 2 cm, between ribbons in the meander. The highest GMI ratio is found for = 0.5 cm, with a gradual decrease for increasing distances. The lowest ratio corresponds to the sum configuration. The analysis of the results shows that this behavior of the GMI ratio, dominated by inductance, is determined by the overall negative contribution of the mutual inductance established between ribbons, and not by any intrinsic modification of the GMI effect in the meander structure. The authors want to acknowledge the funding from the Spanish Government (grants MAT2017-83631-C3-2-R, PID2020-116321RB-C21 and PID2020-115704RB-C32 all funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). Besides, we want to acknowledge the funding of the Public University of Navarre (project PJUPNA2005) and the Basque Government (grants IT1245-19 and doctoral fellowship of N. L).