•Strategies for the lignocellulose waste management.•Synthesis of high-value-added products from lignocellulose waste.•Lignocellulose waste in the circular economy concept.
Lignocellulose waste ...management involves economic, environmental and social costs that will increase in the future because, given the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by organic waste disposal, landfilling will be reduced and even forbidden in some places as a climate change mitigation measure. The Waste Framework Directive (WFD) aims to turn the EU into a recycling society by transforming linear economy processes into circular economy ones. Several methods have been studied to replace authorized landfill and/or incineration with environment friendly processes based on the fact that lignocellulose related waste can be transformed into high-value-added products, and is a source of energy and chemicals. These include recycling as a by-product by incorporating it into materials as a biocomposite, cement, asphalt, adsorbent or absorbent. It can also be recycled for land applications in agriculture and silviculture by composting, or used for energetic valorization by combustion, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, bioethanol, biomethane, hydrogen production or direct liquefaction. Hydrolysis to obtain glucose and other high-value-added products, and synthesis of biopolymers, biocomposites, nanofibers and nanoparticles from cellulose based waste, are other approaches that can also be considered. In this short review we present and analyze all these possibilities, taking into account the initial treatments that are required to be able to take advantage of cellulose related waste.
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The inflammatory response is critical to fight insults, such as pathogen invasion or tissue damage, but if not resolved often becomes detrimental to the host. A growing body of evidence places ...non-resolved inflammation at the core of various pathologies, from cancer to neurodegenerative diseases. It is therefore not surprising that the immune system has evolved several regulatory mechanisms to achieve maximum protection in the absence of pathology.
The production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 is one of the most important mechanisms evolved by many immune cells to counteract damage driven by excessive inflammation. Innate immune cells of the central nervous system, notably microglia, are no exception and produce IL-10 downstream of pattern recognition receptors activation. However, whereas the molecular mechanisms regulating IL-10 expression by innate and acquired immune cells of the periphery have been extensively addressed, our knowledge on the modulation of IL-10 expression by central nervous cells is much scattered. This review addresses the current understanding on the molecular mechanisms regulating IL-10 expression by innate immune cells of the brain and the implications of IL-10 modulation in neurodegenerative disorders.
The regulation of IL-10 production by central nervous cells remains a challenging field. Answering the many remaining outstanding questions will contribute to the design of targeted approaches aiming at controlling deleterious inflammation in the brain.
► Highest fluvial concentrations found for the carbamazepine and caffeine. ► Nine compounds were ubiquitous in river samples. ► Preliminary risk characterization anticipates high hazard for all ...sampling points. ► Caffeine, cotinine, carbamazepine, nicotine and venlafaxine were found in tap water.
Concentrations of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the order of ng
L
−1 to μg
L
−1 have been reported worldwide in waste, fluvial and even drinking water, raising concern about the efficacy of the currently employed waste water treatments in the elimination of this kind of compounds. Despite ranking 29th in terms of population, Spain is currently the 8th country on pharmaceutical prescription with an expense of 14
×
10
9 euros in 2008. In this context, the aim of this study was to determine the presence of 33 pharmaceutically active compounds in specific points of the main rivers of the Madrid Region (MR) as well as tap water samples from the metropolitan area of Madrid. Additionally, a screening level risk characterization by means of the Hazard Quotient (HQ) method was applied. A total of 25 pharmaceutical compounds and metabolites were detected in the 10 sampling points downstream the outlet of the major STPs of the MR. The highest concentrations were detected for the anticonvulsant carbamazepine and the stimulant caffeine. Concentrations for most of the analyzed compounds exceed levels previously reported in the literature. Moreover, we report the highest concentration of the cytostatic ifosfamide, detected for the first time in Spain in surface water. Preliminary risk characterization shows that a total of 16 compounds represent at least a low potential hazard based on their scored HQs, with five of them present in a concentration that exceeds the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC). Toxic Units calculation indicates that for all the selected sampling points high hazard is anticipated from the presence of the analyzed compounds in the measured concentrations (TUs
>
10). Caffeine and cotinine were detected in all (10) the analyzed tap water samples. Carbamazepine and nicotine were detected in six and venlafaxine in two samples. No studies venlafaxine in drinking water have been reported. These results clearly pinpoint the need for water quality monitoring and research in urban rivers, as well as the need for improved water treatment techniques able to eliminate this kind of compounds from the effluent waters as well as from drinking water sources.
•An insightful overview of energy usage in urban rail systems is given.•The principal measures to reduce urban rail energy consumption are appraised.•A methodology is proposed to help implement ...energy saving schemes in urban rail.•Regenerative braking is shown to offer the greatest energy saving potential.
There is increasing interest in the potential of urban rail to reduce the impact of metropolitan transportation due to its high capacity, reliability and absence of local emissions. However, in a context characterised by increasing capacity demands and rising energy costs, and where other transport modes are considerably improving their environmental performance, urban rail must minimise its energy use without affecting its service quality. Urban rail energy consumption is defined by a wide range of interdependent factors; therefore, a system wide perspective is required, rather than focusing on energy savings at subsystem level. This paper contributes to the current literature by proposing an holistic approach to reduce the overall energy consumption of urban rail. Firstly, a general description of this transport mode is given, which includes an assessment of its typical energy breakdown. Secondly, a comprehensive appraisal of the main practices, strategies and technologies currently available to minimise its energy use is provided. These comprise: regenerative braking, energy-efficient driving, traction losses reduction, comfort functions optimisation, energy metering, smart power management and renewable energy micro-generation. Finally, a clear, logical methodology is described to optimally define and implement energy saving schemes in urban rail systems. This includes general guidelines for a qualitative assessment and comparison of measures alongside a discussion on the principal interdependences between them. As a hypothetical example of application, the paper concludes that the energy consumption in existing urban rail systems could be reduced by approximately 25–35% through the implementation of energy-optimised timetables, energy-efficient driving strategies, improved control of comfort functions in vehicles and wayside energy storage devices.
Introduction
The various restrictions and physical distancing introduced inRussia in early months of COVID-19pandemic could have a particular impact on people who use alcohol and create new needs for ...prevention and treatment of associated disorders.
Objectives
The study was aimed at assessing changes in alcohol consumption among users of online social networks in Russia.
Methods
During June-September 2020,1518 adult users (18+) of the most popular social networks in Russia (Odnoklassniki, VKontakte,Facebook, Twitter), completed an anonymous online survey regarding alcohol use changes in the first months of COVID-19 pandemic. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate associations of increased alcohol consumption with socio-demographic and pandemic-related factors.
Results
35.4%of men and 25.6%of women increased their frequency of drinking; 24.9%of men and 17.7%of women increased their typical one-time volume of alcohol consumption,and 28.5% of men and 27.9% of women increased frequency of heavy episodic drinking in the early months of pandemic. After mutual adjustment of independent variables,age18-29 years(OR=1.710;95%CI 1.002-2.917), very strong restrictions of everyday life(3.127; 1.011-9.675)and severe negative consequences in relation to professional or financial situation due to spread ofSARS-CoV-2 (2.247; 1.131-4.465) were positively associated with increase in frequency of drinking. The odds of increase in frequency of heavy episodic drinking were more than twice higher(2.329; 1.001-5.428) among those who experienced severe negative consequences to their professional/financial situation.Higher typical frequency,larger one-time volume of alcohol use,and higher frequency of heavy episodic drinking before pandemic were positively associated with increase of alcohol consumption in early months of pandemic.
Conclusions
Timely monitoring of changes in alcohol consumption during pandemic can allow prevention of alcohol-related disorders, including mental disorders, among users of online social networks.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
Solid-state room-temperature lasing with tunability in a wide range of wavelengths is desirable for many applications. To achieve this, besides an efficient gain material with a tunable emission ...wavelength, a high quality-factor optical cavity is essential. Here, we combine a film of colloidal CdSe/CdZnS core–shell nanoplatelets with square arrays of nanocylinders made of titanium dioxide to achieve optically pumped lasing at visible wavelengths and room temperature. The all-dielectric arrays support bound states in the continuum (BICs), which result from lattice-mediated Mie resonances and boast infinite quality factors in theory. In particular, we demonstrate lasing from a BIC that originates from out-of-plane magnetic dipoles oscillating in phase. By adjusting the diameter of the cylinders, we tune the lasing wavelength across the gain bandwidth of the nanoplatelets. The spectral tunability of both the cavity resonance and nanoplatelet gain, together with efficient light confinement in BICs, promises low-threshold lasing with wide selectivity in wavelengths.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) emerge throughout physics as leaky/resonant modes that remain, however, highly localized. They have attracted much attention in optics and photonics, and ...especially in metasurfaces, that is, planar arrays of sub‐wavelength meta‐atoms. One of their most outstanding features is the arbitrarily large Q‐factors they induce upon approaching the BIC condition, which is exploited here to achieve a narrow transparency band. It is first shown how to shift a canonical BIC in an all‐dielectric metasurface, consisting of high‐refractive disks exhibiting in‐ and out‐of‐plane magnetic dipole (MD) resonances, by tuning the periodicity of the array. By means of the coupled electric/magnetic dipole formulation, it is shown analytically that when the quasi‐BIC overlaps with the broad (in‐plane MD) resonance, a full transparency band emerges with diverging Q‐factor upon approaching the BIC condition in parameter space. Finally, the experimental measurements in the microwave regime with a large array of high‐refractive‐index disks confirm the theoretical predictions. The results reveal a simple mechanism to engineer an ultra‐narrow BIC‐induced transparency band that can be exploited throughout the electromagnetic spectrum with obvious applications in filtering and sensing.
The interplay between a symmetry‐protected bound state in the continuum (BIC) and a broad orthogonal dipolar resonant band is explored theoretically and experimentally in an all‐dielectric metasurface. A classical analogue of electromagnetic‐induced transparency with a diverging Q factor emerges upon tuning the spectral position of such BIC to make it overlap with the broad background.
Free radicals generated within subcellular compartments damage macromolecules which lead to severe structural changes and functional alterations of cellular organelles. A manifestation of free ...radical injury to biological membranes is the process of lipid peroxidation, an autooxidative chain reaction in which polyunsaturated fatty acids in the membrane are the substrate. There is considerable evidence that damage to polyunsaturated fatty acids tends to reduce membrane fluidity. However, adequate levels of fluidity are essential for the proper functioning of biological membranes. Thus, there is considerable interest in antioxidant molecules which are able to stabilize membranes because of their protective effects against lipid peroxidation. Melatonin is an indoleamine that modulates a wide variety of endocrine, neural and immune functions. Over the last two decades, intensive research has proven this molecule, as well as its metabolites, to possess substantial antioxidant activity. In addition to their ability to scavenge several reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, melatonin increases the activity of the glutathione redox enzymes, that is, glutathione peroxidase and reductase, as well as other antioxidant enzymes. These beneficial effects of melatonin are more significant because of its small molecular size and its amphipathic behaviour, which facilitates ease of melatonin penetration into every subcellular compartment. In the present work, we review the current information related to the beneficial effects of melatonin in maintaining the fluidity of biological membranes against free radical attack, and further, we discuss its implications for ageing and disease.
We demonstrate a strong, 5-fold enhancement of the radiative decay rate from highly efficient fluorescent dye molecules around resonant optical nanoantennas. The plasmonic modes of individual gold ...dimer antennas are tuned by the particle length and the antenna gap, providing control over both the spectral resonance position and the near-field mode profile of the nanoantenna. Resonant enhancement of the radiative and nonradiative decay rates of a fluorescent dye is observed, resulting in an increase of the internal quantum efficiency from 40% up to 53% for single antennas, and up to 59% for antenna clusters. This improvement of the already high quantum efficiency of the dye molecules is in agreement with electrodynamic model calculations that predict a maximum attainable efficiency around 80% due to nonradiative losses in the metal.
Accurate crown characterization of large isolated olive trees is vital for adjusting spray doses in three-dimensional crop agriculture. Among the many methodologies available, laser sensors have ...proved to be the most reliable and accurate. However, their operation is time consuming and requires specialist knowledge and so a simpler crown characterization method is required. To this end, three methods were evaluated and compared with LiDAR measurements to determine their accuracy: Vertical Crown Projected Area method (VCPA), Ellipsoid Volume method (VE) and Tree Silhouette Volume method (VTS). Trials were performed in three different kinds of olive tree plantations: intensive, adapted one-trunked traditional and traditional. In total, 55 trees were characterized. Results show that all three methods are appropriate to estimate the crown volume, reaching high coefficients of determination: R2 = 0.783, 0.843 and 0.824 for VCPA, VE and VTS, respectively. However, discrepancies arise when evaluating tree plantations separately, especially for traditional trees. Here, correlations between LiDAR volume and other parameters showed that the Mean Vector calculated for VCPA method showed the highest correlation for traditional trees, thus its use in traditional plantations is highly recommended.
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