Search

Oil absorbent particles made from surface-modified polypropylene can be used to facilitate the removal of oil from the environment. In this study, we investigated to what extent absorbed oil was biodegraded and how this compared to the biodegradation of oil in water. To do so, we incubated two bacterial communities originating from the Niger Delta, an area subject to frequent oil spills, in the presence and absence of polypropylene particles. One community evolved from untreated soil whereas the second evolved from soil pre-exposed to oil. We observed that the polypropylene particles stimulated the growth of biofilms and enriched species from genera Mycobacterium , Sphingomonas and Parvibaculum . Cultures with polypropylene particles degraded more crude oil than those where the oil was present in suspension regardless of whether they were pre-exposed or not. Moreover, the community pre-exposed to crude oil had a different community structure and degraded more oil than the one from untreated soil. We conclude that the biodegradation rate of crude oil was enhanced by the pre-exposure of the bacterial communities to crude oil and by the use of oil-absorbing polypropylene materials. The data show that bacterial communities in the biofilms growing on the particles have an enhanced degradation capacity for oil., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Vita, Iturbe-Espinoza, Bonte, Brandt, Braster, Brown and van Spanning.)

Objective: To know more about the emotional well-being of women held in prisons in Spain by analyzing the state of mental health they present and investigating the factors that affect them., Material and Methods: A sample of 434 inmates in Spanish penitentiary centers was studied. An ad hoc designed questionnaire was used and a logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the variables and to what extent they influence emotional well-being., Results: The existence of a statistically significant relationship between the well-being stages and the origin variables (region of origin of the women) and the history of substance addiction were confirmed. No significant relationship has been found for well-being levels from other variables (maternity, social or family support, gender violence or having or not having a partner)., Conclusions: Having a problematic history of drug use negatively affects the levels of emotional well-being of women detained in prisons. The low levels of substance use in women of Latin American origin is related to their more positive levels of emotional well-being.