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Las especies de cedros nativos de las Yungas (Cedrela balansae, C.saltensis y C.an- gustifolia), presentan un gran potencial para el desarrollo de plantaciones forestales, dadas sus tasas de crecimiento, la calidad de su madera y su presencia en el mercado. La principal limitante está dada por la incidencia de Hypsipyla grandella (Lep. Pyra- lidae), una de las plagas forestales más severas conocidas en el trópico. El principal daño es causado por la larva que destruye el brote terminal principal y lateral, barrenando los ápices y haciendo túneles en los tallos jóvenes de árboles del genero Cedrela (cedros). Los rebrotes de las plantas afectadas por repetidos ataques del insecto, dan como resultado numerosas ramas laterales y, consecuentemente, árboles mal formados, indeseables para la producción de madera (Briceño Vergara, A., 1997). El objetivo fue estudiar la dinámica poblacional de adultos, el patrón de ataques sobre renovales, para determinar cuál es el momento oportuno de control y establecer una periodicidad de aplicación para la evaluación de productos potencialmente registrables para uso forestal, en el marco del Manejo Integrado de Plagas. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

"Published online 16 Sept. 2014", Increasing awareness of environmental pollution with heavy metals and its long-term and xenobiotic effects has instigated growing research and development efforts towards pollution abatement. The application of different biological materials in the removal and recovery of metals from wastewater has been reported in numerous studies.1–5 Usually, the mechanisms of biosorption are defined as being metabolic independent, but some authors2 have defined biosorption as the ability of biological materials to accumulate heavy metals from waste streams by either metabolic mediation or by purely physico-chemical uptake pathways. These different perspectives will be presented. It is important to identify and evaluate extensively the factors that affect the performance of biosorption systems in order to optimize their practical application. The main operational conditions that significantly influence the biosorption of heavy metals are the solution pH, the biomass and the metal concentrations, the temperature, age of the cells, contact time and the competitive presence of other metals in solution. All these points will be discussed, as well as some application perspectives that will be presented.

The removal and biodegradation of an organic toxic pollutant, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), has been investigated. Initially, a screening of different degrading bacteria has been developed and Pseudomonas putida showed the highest degradation ability. This bacterium was immobilised in an inert support, light expanded clay aggregate (LECA). After the biofilm formation on the LECA, the degradation of DEHP was evaluated operating in a fixed bed reactor. In addition, several studies of DEHP adsorption on LECA were carried out in order to determine the mechanism of the degradation process that takes place. The degradation studies demonstrated that the developed system can be applied to DEHP removal and the degradation is due to adsorption process and the activity of P. putida.

The novelty of this work lies in the development of an environmental-friendly technology to remove diethylketone and Ni (II) from aqueous solutions using the interaction between bacteria and clays. Concentrated biomass of Streptococcus equisimilis and vermiculite were used for the removal of both pollutants No published work on the usage of this combination to remove heavy metals and organic solvents from aqueous solutions was acknowledged. The developed work is original and its impact on society and on environment is evident due to the toxicological effects of those substances on the health of living beings.

Two morphologically different fungi (one green and one white) from contaminated bioreactors with an aqueous solution of diethylketone and Streptococcus equisimilis were isolated and characterized at molecular level by sequencing the amplified ITS region. The ITS region sequence showed 99% match with Alternaria genera for the green fungi and 99% match with the Penicillium genera for the white fungi. The performance of these two fungi to biodegrade different concentrations of diethylketone from aqueous solutions was evaluated. The biodegradation of diethylketone was studied for an initial diethylketone concentration ranging from 0.5 to 4g/L in a batch mode of operation. The biodegradation rate found for both fungi followed the pseudo-second order kinetics for initial concentrations higher than 0.5 g/L and the resulting kinetic parameters are reported. The removal percentages obtained were approximately 100%, for all the initial concentrations tested.

The knowledge and understanding of metal-biomass interactions is crucial to develop and maximize biosorption processes potential to the concentration, removal and recovery of heavy metals from dilute solutions, as well as to define strategies to regenerate and reuse biosorbent in multiple cycles (Ahluwalia and Goyal, 2007; Volesky, 2001). It also turns possible biosorption optimization at a molecular level, including biomass genetic modification to induce changes in morphologic and physiologic characteristics in order to increase metal uptake (Srinath et al., 2002; Volesky, 2001). To reach that purpose, and considering that several mechanisms may contribute to the overall metal uptake depending on the metal and the biosorbent used, environmental factors, and the cell metabolic activity (Dhankhar and Hooda, 2011), it is necessary to study in detail the interactions established in each biosorption system. Heavy metal biosorption involves a combination of several passive accumulation processes, that may include: i) physical adsorption; ii) chemisorption, including ion exchange, coordination, complexation and chelation; iii) and inorganic precipitation (Ahluwalia and Goyal, 2007; Wang and Chen, 2006). According to Gadd (2004), metal-microorganism interactions may be seen as natural strategies to remove, recover or diminish metal toxicity in organic or inorganic forms. Different organisms exhibit different responses to the exposure to toxic ions, varying from transport through cellular membrane, biosorption onto cell walls, entrapment in extracellular structures, precipitation, complexation and redox reactions.

The release of heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems is a matter of great concern due to their toxicity and accumulation in biota. Bottom sediments can act as sink of these pollutants. Several remediation technologies have been applied in order to treat wastewater and contaminated sediments. In this study, a permeable bio-barrier composed by low cost biomaterials was tested for water treatment and sediment protection against metal adsorption. The novelty of this work entails the combination of bacterial biosorption properties with the adsorption capacity of a natural clay. The results of preliminary continuous column experiments reveal the ability of vermiculite to entrap Cu ions, and highlight that metal adsorption can be enhanced by the presence of a Pseudomonas putida biofilm attached to the vermiculite surface.

The performance of two zeolites with different structures and acidity properties was evaluated on the biosorption of Cr(VI) and catalytic oxidation of ethyl acetate. The starting zeolites, HY and HZSM5, were modified by ion exchange treatments in order to obtain zeolites with different acidity and sodium content. Arthrobacter viscosus supported on the different zeolites was used for Cr(VI) recovery from solution. The best removal efficiencies and uptake of chromium were achieved for the Y zeolites due to their higher ion exchange capacity. The Y and ZSM5 zeolites were characterized by ICP-AES, SEM, NH3 chemisorption, XRD and N2 adsorption. Y and ZSM5 zeolites obtained after biosorption of chromium were successfully reused as catalysts in the oxidation of ethyl acetate. The chromium-loaded ZSM5 zeolites were considerably more active and selective towards CO2 than chromium-loaded Y zeolites, essentially due to its different framework structure, textural and acidity properties.

Contamination of soils due to the release of effluents or deposition of wastes containing hexavalent chromium has been arising serious environmental problems. Therefore, the development of cost effectiveness but also ecological cleaning techniques is a matter of great concern among the scientific community. Bioremediation is attracting more and more attention due to its efficiency, low impact in the ecosystems and low cost. In particular, this study approaches a bioleaching technique using an Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans DSM504 pure culture to clean a soil contaminated with hexavalent chromium. Eight batch tests were performed in order to evaluate the effect of combined parameters: operational temperature (26ºC and Troom), hexavalent chromium concentration (50 mg kg-1 and 100 mg kg-1) and pH of the contaminant solution (2 and pHfree). The bioleaching technique herein exposed presented removal values between 33.3% and 83.3%, undergoing higher deviations due to changes on the contamination pH. Generally, it was more efficient when applied to soils contaminated with acid solutions. The lowest and highest values were both observed for operational temperatures of 26ºC and hexavalent chromium concentrations of 50 mg kg-1. Moreover, the highest value was observed for the soil contaminated with a hexavalent chromium solution of pH 2.

In this work, the formation of permeable reactive biobarriers (PRBBs) using Trichoderma longibrachiatum over nylon sponge as bioreactive medium for removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was studied. Colony formation was pretested without PAH presence by inoculation of fungus into nylon sponge. The fungus formed a large quantity of strongly adhesive biofilm among nylon sponge. Afterwards, the ability of the developed bioreactive medium was tested to remediate phenanthrene in aqueous medium and in soil. In aqueous medium, a 90% of phenanthrene concentration reduction was observed after 14 d. However, the pollutant removal in soil requires previous fungus colonization and the attained level was around 70% after 28 d. Subsequently, the formed bioreactive material was used in a glass column reactor to evaluate its application as PRBBs. Mixtures of phenanthrene, benzo[a]anthracene and pyrene at several concentrations, from 100 to 400 μM, were treated. In all cases, the performance of the PRBB was satisfactory and total PAH removals were achieved. These results suggest that PRBBs of T. longibrachiatum supported on nylon sponge can be an effective method for the treatment of PAHs.

O crescimento das atividades industriais vem acarretando sérios problemas de poluição,devido a geração de grandes quantidades de resíduos potencialmente agressivos causando o desequilíbrio e destruição dos ecossistemas. As águas residuárias da indústria de curtume contêm metais pesados, com destaque para as substãncias contendo cromo, tais como: dicromato de potássio e dicromato de sódio, consideradas perigosas, podendo afetar diretamente os ambientes aquáticos. Desta forma, as contaminações ambientais por cromo são consideradas preocupantes para os recursos naturais, sem qualquer tipo de tratamento, sendo uma ameaça para a flora e fuúna. Em geral, o tratamento de efluente contaminado por metais pesados envolve processos fisicosquímicos complexos e onerosos, além de, ocasionalmente, contribuírem para a formação de novos contaminantes. Sendo assim, estudos foram dirigidos para a busca de alternativas que viabilizem o processo de remoção do cromo, através do processo de tratamento por biossorção, fuzendo uso das propriedades superficiais das biomassas microbianas. Neste estudo foi avaliada a remoção de Cr(VI) pela biomassa liofilizada de Cunninghamella elegans UCP 542, obtida a partir do meio milbocina, asparagina e sacarose. A reoção de diferentes concentrações de Cr(VI) foi realizada em Erlenmeyers de 250 mL contendo I OOmL das soluções de Cr(VI), com pH 6,6. Os frascos foram incubados a temperatura de 28"C, durante dez dias, sob agitação mbital de 150 1pm. Os resultados obtidos pelo método espectrofotométrico com difenilcarbazida indicaram que, as concentrações de 5 e 10 mg/L removeram totalmente o Cr(VI), em 4 dias. No periodo de dez dias, as concentrações de 25, 50 e 75 mg/L de Cr(VI) as biomassa apresentaram habilidade de remoção correspondentes a 65,92, 54,34 e 62,14%, respectivamente. Com a concentração mais elevada de Cr(VI) (100 mg/L) observou-se uma adsorção correspondente a 79,08%. A confirmação do processo de adsorção pela biomassa após remoção do cromo foi observado por microscopia eletrônica de varredura, evidenciando a acumulação do metal pesado pelo micélio do fungo. Os estudos realizados demonstraram o elevado potencial do micélio de C. elegans na remoção do Cr (Vl), sugerindo sua aplicação futura em processos de biorremediação de ambientes poluídos pelo metal pesado.

This work reports the application of a biosorbent, Arthrobacter viscosus, to a zeolitic support (FAU zeolites) as a method for the treatment of Cr(VI)-containing solutions that allows the recovery of the Cr-laden supports as catalysts for liquid-phase oxidation reactions.

The presence of dyes and heavy metals is usual in industrial processes like chrome tanning in tannery industry and their removal may be an environmental problem. Different techniques were developed and applied for the treatment of dyes and heavy metals in effluents. Among them, adsorption showed to be an economic, simple operation and an effective technique. Zeolites have a strong affinity for cations of transition metals, but only little affinity for anions and non-polar organic molecules. The application of a zeolite to heavy metal removal may be improved by the presence of microorganisms. The aim of this work is the treatment of an effluent containing dyes and toxic metals. Several operation parameters such as pH, concentration and kinetic behavior were studied. This innovative process for treating dyes and heavy metal effluents showed that the zeolite-biomass system is able to perform the removal of a combination of Azure B and chromium(VI). A mixture of dye and metal solutions was treated reaching a removal higher than 50% in the case of chromium (VI) and higher than 99% for dye, in 8 days.

Este resumo faz parte de: Book of abstracts of the Meeting of the Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2, Braga, Portugal, 2010. A versão completa do livro de atas está disponível em: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/10968

Illegal discharges are of great concern among industry activities, since they occur under uncontrolled conditions. In most cases, effluents are acidic and the concentrations of heavy metals are very high. With this in mind, the main goal of this study was to evaluate the sorption on a soil of two of the most toxic heavy metals, Cr(VI) and Pb(II), in those conditions. A loamy sand soil was collected in Oporto, Portugal. Batch equilibrium and sorption kinetics were evaluated using both metals solutions, with concentrations ranging from 50 mg L−1 to 200 mg L−1, at pH 2 and 5, between 2 h and 288 h. To evaluate the sorption equilibrium, eight isotherm models were fitted to experimental data. The best adjustments were observed for the Redlich–Peterson and Khan models for the adsorption of chromium (R2 = 0.99), and of lead (R2 = 0.99), respectively. The sorption kinetics was evaluated using three models – Elovich, pseudo first order and an empirical power function. The retention of lead was almost instantaneous and the empirical power function described better the sorption kinetics of chromium (0.89 < R2 < 0.99). In addition, flow experiments were performed with effluents of both metals (50 mg L−1) at pH 2 and 5, for about 90 h. Results revealed a high retention of chromium and a weak retention of lead, for low pH values. FTIR analyses to the column samples revealed that clay minerals have an important role in the retention of both metals., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Illegal discharges are of great concern among industry activities, since they occur under uncontrolled conditions. In most cases, effluents are acidic and the concentrations of heavy metals are very high. With this in mind, the main goal of this study was to evaluate the sorption of two of the most toxic heavy metals, Cr(VI) and Pb(II), in those conditions. A loamy sand soil was collected in Oporto, Portugal. Batch equilibrium and kinetic sorption experiments were performed using both metals solutions, with concentrations among 50 mg L-1 and 200 mg L-1, at pH 2 and 5, between 2 h and 288 h. To evaluate the sorption equilibrium, eight isotherm models were fitted. Better adjustments were observed for the Redlich-Peterson and Khan models for the adsorption of chromium (R2 = 0.99), and of lead (R2 = 0.99), respectively. The sorption kinetics was evaluated using three models – Elovich, Pseudo first order and an empirical power function. The retention of lead was almost instantaneous and the empirical power function described better the sorption kinetics of chromium (0.89 < R2 < 0.99). In addition, flow experiments were performed with effluents of both metals (50 mg L-1) at pH 2 and 5, for about 90 h. Results revealed a high retention of chromium, and a weak retention of lead, for low pH values. FTIR analyses to the columns samples revealed that clay minerals have an important role in the retention of both metals.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are emitted from many industrial processes and transport activities, constitute an important concern for the scientific community due to their role in atmospheric pollution and subsequent impact on human health. Among the various methods that can be applied to efficiently control VOCs emissions, catalytic oxidation over solid catalysts seems to be the most efficient and cost-effective technology. Catalysts used for the treatment of gas streams contaminated with VOCs are mostly based on noble metals. Using low cost transition metals such as chromium to replace the noble metal in the catalysts is quite desirable in terms of economical and practical consideration. The catalytic oxidation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene was investigated over NaY and NaX zeolites, loaded with chromium through the action of a robust biosorption system consisting of a bacterial biofilm supported on the zeolites. The results of biosorption showed that the maximum metal removal efficiency was 20%, in both systems based on NaYor NaX, starting from solutions with chromium(VI) concentrations ranging from 50 to 250 mgCr/L [1]. The bacterial biofilm, Arthrobacter viscosus, supported on the zeolite reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III). The Cr(III) is retained in the zeolite by ion exchange. The new catalysts were characterized by spectroscopic methods (FTIR and ICP-AES), surface analysis (XRD) and thermal analysis (TGA). These catalysts, Cr/FAU, prepared through this new procedure present good activity and selectivity for 1,2-dichlorobenzene oxidation in wet air at 350oC. The study was extended to the oxidation of ethyl acetate and to the oxidation of ethanol [2].

A actividade mineira em S. Domingos cessou há mais de quarenta anos, porém, ainda hoje, o antigo parque mineiro é fonte de dispersão de elementos vestigiais potencialmente contaminantes que se acumulam nos sedimentos e nos solos a juzante da zona de exploração. O presente trabalho teve como objectivo a avaliação da contaminação dos solos e sedimentos na área de confluência das ribeiras de S. Domingos e do Mosteirão. Para este estudo foram seleccionadas duas áreas de amostragem, uma de referência, que se prevê não contaminada (Tapada) e outra, a jusante da Mina de S. Domingos, afectada pela exploração mineira (Telheiro). Para a caracterização dos solos e sedimentos determinou-se na fracção, Revista de Ciências Agrárias, vol. 32 n.º 1 (2009)

This work reports the usage of a combined zeolite-biosorbent system for the removal and recovery of aqueous CrVI. The biosorption system consisted of a bacterium, Arthrobacter viscosus, supported on two mordenite (MOR) type zeolites with different Si/Al ratio, HMOR (Si/Al = 10) and NaMOR (Si/Al = 6.5). The results show that the biofilm of A. viscosus supported on MOR zeolite is able to recover chromium from dilute solutions. For both biosorption-MOR systems, the maximum removal was obtained for initial concentration of 20 mgCr/L. However, the best results were obtained for HMOR-system with a removal of 52.1 % for the diluted concentration and the best uptake, 3.3 mgCr VI/gzeolite, was achieved for the initial concentration of 100 mgCr/L. The Langmuir isotherm model was applied with good fitting to the experimental data., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Soil is a key element in human survival and can be described by various definitions according to its main utility. Nowadays, it is accepted that soil is a very complex heterogeneous medium which consists of solid phases containing minerals and organic matter and soil solution, defined as the fluid phase where soil reactions, transport and adsorption occurs (Alloway, 1995). Unfortunately, in the last decades, soils have been used as a deposit of residues. Therefore, the contamination and pollution of soils, sediments, surface and groundwater are of main concern. There are several ions and compounds of organic or inorganic nature that can contaminate soil and water. The inorganic contaminants include heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, cooper, lead and zinc, which are focused in this study. These metals are commonly present in industrial wastes (electroplating, textile and dyes, etc.), in fertilizers or in sewage sludge, but they can also contaminate soils through atmospheric deposition or runoff water (Serrano et al., 2005). Since adsorption is well recognized as the main process affecting the mobility of heavy metals through soils (Bradl, 2004), the aim of this work is the study the non competitive adsorption of these five metals, as well as the competitive adsorption in two different typical soils of the North of Portugal The soil samples were collected in Póvoa de Varzim, from O-horizon and A-horizon (0 cm -30 cm), one from a culture land and another from a beach land. To evaluate the adsorption equilibrium, batch tests were performed by adding to 2 g of air dried soil, 20 mL of 0.01 M CaCl2 solution, containing different initial concentrations of Pb [Pb(NO3)2], Cd [CdN2O6·4H2O], Cu [Cu(NO3)2·3H2O], Zn [Zn(NO3)2·6H2O] and Cr [K2Cr2O7], isolated (non-competitive system) and coupled (competitive system).To eliminate the mass effect, the multi-metal solutions were prepared in terms of molar concentrations (Echeverría et al., 1998). To avoid precipitation the pH of initial solution was adjusted to 2. Isotherm models like Freundlich and Langmuir equations were adjusted to experimental data. Batch tests are useful for the understanding of the adsorption process. However, advection and dispersion may occur in dynamic systems justifying the need of flow experiments (Miretzky et al., 2006). For continuous experiments, soil samples were packed in a column (25 cm × 3.2 cm) and a single – or multi – element solution of 50 mg/L was pass upwards during seven days. Then, using the CXTFIT code, the convection-dispersion equation was adjusted to the breakthrough curves in order to determine the retardation factor (R) and to compare the behavior of the different ions and soils.

Arthrobacter viscosus biomass was used for Cr(VI) biosorption. The effect of biomass concentration on Cr(VI) reduction and removal from aqueous solution was studied in the range of 1.2 to 5.3 g/L. The removal of Cr(VI) and total chromium increased linearly with the increase of biomass concentration. The best removal efficiencies of Cr(VI) and total chromium were reached for the highest biomass concentration, 72.2 % and 44.0 %, respectively. The increase in biomass concentration did not produce significant changes in the uptake values. The maximum uptake value, 8.2 mgCr/gbiomass, was obtained for a biomass concentration of 2.3 g/L., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

The present invention refers to a biosorption system composed of a bacterial biofilm supported in synthetic zeolites, for usage in various types of industry for the removal of hexavalent chromium, through the retention of metal ions in the biofilm, in solutions with concentrations between 50 and 250 mgCr/L, process for obtaining it and respective usages. This process consists in obtaining a bacterial biofilm of Arthrobacter viscosus, supported on a faujasite (FAU) zeolite. The biofilm promotes the reduction of Cr (VI) to Cr (III) and, subsequently, Cr (III) is fixed in the zeolite by ion exchange. Several characterization procedures, like spectroscopic techniques (FTIR and ICP-AES), surface analysis (XRD and SEM) and thermal analysis (TGA) reveal that the biosorption process does not modify the morphology or the structure of the FAU zeolite. The biosorption system, and respective fixation process of hexavalent chromium in faujasite (FAU) zeolites, may be applicable to the treatment of industrial, mining or agriculture wastewater, for hexavalent chromium removal.

The immobilization of transition metal complexes with redox catalytic activity in solid supports has attracted much interest due to their potential use as hete rogeneous catalysts in mild conditions. One of the most common strategies for the preparation of zeolites with metal transition complexes is the flexible ligand method. The incorporation of the cation requires the exchange with the charge-balancing cation from zeolite framework. Two different procedures for ion exchange are: the traditional ion exchange from aqueous solutions containing the metal and metal biosorption by microorganisms supported on the zeolite. In previous work, we reported the development of a biosorption system for Cr(IV) removal from industrial wastewater, by using bacterial biofilm supported on zeolites. The system has shown ability to remove chromium from aqueous solutions with concentrations ranging 10 – 250 mg/L. The biological activity of the employed bacteria, Arthrobacter viscosus, induces reduction of the Cr (VI) to Cr (III) species. The aim of this work is to evaluate the traditional ion exchange and the biosorption paths for the immobilization of chromium complexes in NaY zeolite. The bio-monomer under investigation, the 3-methoxy-6-chloropyridazine, is a bi-dentate ligand and can offer only nitrogen atoms as donors (Scheme 1). Complexes of chromium with pyridazine have the potential to act as catalysts for oxidation of phenols in mild conditions. The pyridazine derivative ligand and the new materials were characterized by chemical analysis, spectroscopic methods (NMR, FTIR and UV/Vis), XRD and thermal analysis (TGA). The data obtained from various techniques of characterization are compatible with the fact that the chromium complexes were effectively immobilized in NaY zeolite by two different procedures. The data indicate that all complexes achieved by both procedures are Cr(III) pyridazine derivative complexes inside the NaY structure.

Key to females of Cryptalyra 1. Body light chestnut brown; front weakly coriaceous, with sparse and small piliferous punctures; dorsum of propodeum with wide longitudinal depression............................ ......................................................................................................... C. depressa sp. nov. ­ Body mostly brown or black; sculpture of front coarser; dorsum of propodeum with at most narrow linear sulcus.............................................................................................. 2 2. Body mostly brown; head punctalate; antennae about 1.8 x as long as head.................. ......................................................................................................... C. plaumanni Shaw ­ Body mostly black; head deeply pitted with dense round foveae; antennae about 1.0x as long as head .................................................................................. C. colombia Shaw

Azevedo, C. O., Tavares, M. T. (2006): A new species of Cryptalyra (Hymenoptera, Megalyridae) from Brazil with a key to species of the genus. Zootaxa 1259: 55-59, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.173160

Cryptalyra Shaw, 1987 Type��species: C. plaumanni Shaw, 1987 by original designation and monotypy. Diagnosis Female. Antennae short and compact, not reaching propodeum; ocular orbital carina absent posterior to eyes; forewings without metacarpus, apical segment of Rs indicated by spectral venation; ovipositor shorter than metasoma length. Male. Unknown., Published as part of Azevedo, C. O. & Tavares, M. T., 2006, A new species of Cryptalyra (Hymenoptera, Megalyridae) from Brazil with a key to species of the genus, pp. 55-59 in Zootaxa 1259 on page 56, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.173160

Cryptalyra depressa Azevedo & Tavares, sp. nov. Diagnosis Body light chestnut brown; surface of head coriaceous with shallow punctures; ocular orbital carina absent; occipital carina conspicuous, curving ventrally towards mandibles; antennae almost reaching posterior margin of propodeum, 1.85 x as long as head length; dorsum of propodeum with wide median longitudinal depression. Description of female Length. Body 4.6 mm; forewings 3.0 mm; ovipositor 1.0 mm. Color. Body, antennae, mandibles, palpi, tegulae and legs light chestnut brown; distal two thirds of last flagellomeres and eyes infuscate; wing membranes subhyaline, wing venation light chestnut brown, except stigma darker. Head. Hypognathous; subglobular, about as high as wide in frontal view, and 0.68 x as long as high in lateral view, and 0.72 x as long as wide in dorsal view; frons convex, not excavated, 0.49 x as wide as head in frontal view and 0.78 x eye height; clypeus almost flat, apical margin with pair of median teeth; surface of head coriaceous with numerous shallow piliferous punctures, interspace 1.0��� 1.5 x as wide than diameter of punctures on frons and temporae, 1.0 ��� 2.0x around ocelli and on genae; punctures elongated and longitudinally oriented with setae on posterior to vertex; eyes large, 0.65 x as height as head height, elliptical, anterior margin more convex than posterior margin in lateral view, densely and obviously setose; ocular orbital carina absent; ocelli subtriangular, anterior ocellus preceded by anterior concavity, lateral ocelli followed by postero��lateral concavity, distance between lateral ocelli 1.31 x distance between eye and lateral ocellus, maximum diameter of lateral ocelli about 2.0x distance between eye and lateral ocellus; depression of malar space broad and deep, surface smooth without punctures bordered along dorsal, ventral and distal margins by conspicuous carina; occipital carina conspicuous, sharpened behind temporae, curving ventrally towards mandibles; post��occipital carina complete; hypostama triangular and slight concave, hypostomal carina complete and high; antennae 14 ��segmented, 1.85 x as long as head length, scapes depressed, 1.36 x longer than wide, flagellomeres cylindrical, longer than wide, except V ��� VIII about as long as wide; left mandible with three apical teeth; maxillary palpi 4 ��segmented; labial palpi 3 ��segmented, the last one very tiny. Mesosoma. Mesoscutum, axillae and scutellum coriaceous with sparse, shallow piliferous punctures, which are about 0.5 x narrower than those on vertex, interspace 3 x wider than the diameter of punctures; median mesosnotal sulcus evenly narrow an deep; mesoscutum 1.54 x larger than longer; axillae widely separated each other; scutellum entirely isolated of axilae by wide, foveolate groove, which is narrower anteriorly; pronotum and lower half of mesopleura with interspace nearly polished to weakly coriaceous, upper half of mesopleura with irregular piliferous punctures; pronotal spiracles elliptical; mesoscutum surrounded by carina, except at middle of anterior margin, where carina get into mesoscutum for short distance; notauli as stub joined to posterior margin of mesoscutum; dorsum of propodeum with wide longitudinal depression, evenly wider anteriorly, its inner surface smooth with transverse ridges in a polished background, depression bordered by sharp longitudinal carinae, otherwise disc weakly rugulose beside depression to areolate laterally and posteriorly, postero��lateral corners angularly produced; posterior surface of propodeum concave medially as continuation of depression. Legs. Fore and middle tibiae not rimmed with stout setae; basitarsus of all legs conspicuously longer than the other tarsomeres; ventral margin of fore and hind basitarsi with comb of stout setae; ventral margin of hind femora with inner carinae on anterior half and with outer stout tubercle on posterior third; claws simple. Metasoma. Cylindrical, first tergum polished with few setae laterally; second and following terga progressively more coriaceous and more densely setose laterally; ovipositor sheaths distinctly protruding beyond apex of metasoma, apex densely setose; ovipositor 0.48 x as long as metasoma. Material examined Holotype, female, BRAZIL, Par��, Paragominas, Faz[enda] Cachoeira do Rio Vermelho, [2 �� 58 ���S 47 �� 29 ���W], 18 ��� 21.I. 1991, armadilha suspensa 1.6m, B. Mascarenhas col. (MPEG)., Published as part of Azevedo, C. O. & Tavares, M. T., 2006, A new species of Cryptalyra (Hymenoptera, Megalyridae) from Brazil with a key to species of the genus, pp. 55-59 in Zootaxa 1259 on pages 56-57, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.173160

The increasing concern with environmental pollution significantly motivates the investigation and development of safe remediation technologies. The retention of contaminants by a biofilm supported on granular activated carbon is one of the promising technologies. This study aims the investigation and development of an innovative process for the removal of chromium (VI) from wastewater. The effect of the initial concentration of metal was tested, the polysaccharide and polymeric net of the E.Coli biofilm were quantified and the application of this system to a real effluent was made. The industrial effluent was provided by tannery factories. The support used for the biofilm formation was granular activated carbon (GAC) from MERCK with an average particle size of 2.5 mm, characterised by N2 adsorption (77K) with an ASAP Micromeritics 2001 which indicated a Langmuir area of 1270 m2g-1 and an average pore diameter of 2 nm. The use of activated carbon as a support is justified by the fact that this material is a versatile adsorbent due to its high surface area, porous structure, high adsorption capacity and surface chemical nature. The role of the biofilm was evaluated considering that microorganisms are quite adequate for heavy metals biosorption due to their ability to sorb metal ions, suitability for natural environments and low cost. Minicolumns (internal diameter = 2 cm, ht = 30 cm) were used for open systems studies, partially filled with GAC (15 g). The metal solutions were passed in upflow through the column with a flow rate of 5 ml/min (residence time of 19 min). Samples (5 ml) were taken, centrifuged and analyzed for metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometry, AAS. The results showed uptake values of 0.19 mg/gbiosorbent, 3.60 mg/gbiosorbent and 4.61 mg/gbiosorbent, respectively for the initial concentration of 10, 50 and 100 mg/l. The quantification of polysaccharides and polymeric net reveled a value of 4.77 mg/gbiosorbent for the polysaccharides and 142 mg/gbiosorbent, for the polymeric net. The polyssacharide and polymeric net give importante informations about the capacity of biofilm formation by the microrganism. The studies made with the industrial effluent showed values of Cr uptake of 0.093 mg/gbiosorbent, for an initial concentration of 4.2 mg/l. The value obtained for the removal percentage with the most diluted solution used (10 mg/l) was of 18% (after 10 hours of experiment) and the value of removal percentage obtained with the industrial effluent was of 9%, for the same period of time. This can be explainded by the fact that another compounds present in the industrial effluent than Cr(VI) can compete for the same active sites.

The removal of heavy metals linked to organic compounds like phenol, chlorophenol, and o- cresol, is one of the most important environmental problems yet to be solved. The retention of these contaminants by a biofilm supported on granular activated carbon is a promising technology for the treatment of diluted solutions, as the biofilm is able to retain the metallic ions and the support will help to fix them for further catalytic applications. The addition of three different organic compounds, i.e., phenol, o-cresol, and chlorophenol, to the metallic solution was studied to better describe the real industrial effluent. A modeling approach for an expanded bed biosorption system was presented using the ADR (Advection-Dispersion Reaction) equation as the basis of the mathematical description. Several biosorption studies were made using a bacterial biofilm of Arthrobacter viscous supported on pre-treated granular activated carbon in a mini-column arrangement and the obtained data were compared with the predicted by the model. The initial chromium (VI) and organic compound concentration ranged from 10 to 100 mg/L. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 7th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (Glasgow, Scotland 7/10-14/2005)., (undefined)

The catalytic oxidation of 1,2-dichlorobenzene at 350 oC was investigated over a robust biosorption system consisting of a bacterial biofilm supported on NaY or NaX zeolites. The batch method has been employed using chromium concentrations in solution ranging from 50 to 250 mgCr/L. The results showed that the maximum removal efficiency was 20% for Cr in both systems based in NaY or NaX. The bacterial biofilm, Arthrobacter viscosus, supported on the zeolite reduces Cr(VI) to Cr(III). The Cr(III) is retained in the zeolite by ion exchange. The new biosorvents catalysts were characterized by spectroscopic methods (FTIR and ICP-AES), surface analysis (DRX) and thermal analysis (TGA). The various techniques of characterization used show that this biosorption process does not modify the morphology and structure of the FAUzeolites. These catalysts, Cr/FAU, prepared through this new procedure present good activity and selectivity for dichlorobenzene oxidation in wet air. The Cr50-Y was selected as the most active, selective and stable catalyst for oxidation of 1,2 dichlorobenzene in wet air., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Departamento de Ciências da Terra of Universidade do Minho, Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie (ADEME) and the Région Poitou-Charentes

Two types of spent brewery grains were tested for Cr(III) uptake from aqueous solutions: not treated spent grains (NTSG), obtained by abundant washing of spent grain obtained from a Portuguese brewing industry with distilled water, and treated spent grain (TSG), prepared by treating NTSG with NaOH 0.5 M for four hours followed by washing with distilled water. Both materials were mixed with chromium solutions (50 and 100 mg Cr(III)/L), varying medium pH from 3 to 5. Maximum metal uptake occurred at pH 5. Langmuir isotherm model well describes Cr(III) biosorption by NTSG and TSG. The maximum uptake capacity obtained was 17.84 mg Cr(III)/g NTSG and 13.87 mg Cr(III)/g TSG. Considering that Langmuir constant, b, reflecting the affinity between the sorbent and the sorbate is lower for NTSG (0.0749 L/mg) it is possible to conclude that the alkalis treatment does not improve spent grain uptake capacity for Cr(III)., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - PRAXIS XXI/BD/15945/98.