Biophysical effects of a natural peloid on normal skin.

A protocol study was designed to examine cutaneous behavior after continuous application of a peloid in the dry mineral residue of Lanjarón-Capuchina natural mineral water. This study aims to analyze the biomechanical behavior of normal skin using various non-invasive bioengineering techniques after the application of this peloid. We determine the effects of its application for 3 months on 38 healthy volunteers (41.

The photocatalytic reduction of NO to N with ilmenite (FeTiO3): Effects of groundwater matrix.

This work analyzes the role of natural groundwater, as well as the effect of HCO, Ca, Mg, K, SO and Cl concentrations, upon the photocatalytic nitrate reduction using ilmenite as catalyst and oxalic acid as hole scavenger. The nitrate removal and the selectivity towards N are significantly limited compared to previous experiments using ultrapure water matrix. Calcium (Ca), bicarbonate (HCO) as well as pH are claimed as the major controlling factors related to the process yield.

Diclofenac photodegradation with the Perovskites BaFeTiO as catalysts.

Perovskite oxides BaFeTiO, with y = 0, 0.6, 0.8 and 1, were prepared by ceramic (CM) and complex polymerization methods (CPM) and utilized in UV-LED (365 nm) photocatalytic degradation assays of 25 mg L diclofenac (DIC) model solutions.

Use of Non-Linear Ultrasonic Techniques to Detect Cracks Due to Steel Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete Structures.

In this work, non-linear ultrasonic wave techniques have been used to detect the onset of micro-cracking due to steel corrosion in model reinforced concrete elements. The specimens were of prismatic shape with a single steel rebar. The corrosion was forced by admixing an appropriate amount of sodium chloride at the moment of preparing the concrete mix, and by the application of an electric field, using a constant current density power source, and making the steel rebar work as the anode, and an external counter-electrode as the cathode.

Salt water and skin interactions: new lines of evidence.

In Health Resort Medicine, both balneotherapy and thalassotherapy, salt waters and their peloids, or mud products are mainly used to treat rheumatic and skin disorders. These therapeutic agents act jointly via numerous mechanical, thermal, and chemical mechanisms. In this review, we examine a new mechanism of action specific to saline waters.

Modification of Bacterial Cellulose Biofilms with Xylan Polyelectrolytes.

The effect of the addition of two [4-butyltrimethylammonium]-xylan chloride polyelectrolytes (BTMAXs) on bacterial cellulose (BC) was evaluated. The first strategy was to add the polyelectrolytes to the culture medium together with a cell suspension of the bacterium. After one week of cultivation, the films were collected and purified.

Sulphurous Mineral Waters: New Applications for Health.

Sulphurous mineral waters have been traditionally used in medical hydrology as treatment for skin, respiratory, and musculoskeletal disorders. However, driven by recent intense research efforts, topical treatments are starting to show benefits for pulmonary hypertension, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, ischemia-reperfusion injury, heart failure, peptic ulcer, and acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. The beneficial effects of sulphurous mineral waters, sulphurous mud, or peloids made from sulphurous mineral water have been attributed to the presence of sulphur mainly in the form of hydrogen sulphide.

Solar-assisted photodegradation of isoproturon over easily recoverable titania catalysts.

An easily recoverable homemade TiO catalyst (GICA-1) has been evaluated during the overall photodegradation process, understood as photocatalytic efficiency and catalyst recovery step, in the solar light-assisted photodegradation of isoproturon and its reuse in two consecutive cycles. The global feasibility has been compared to the commercial TiO P25. The homemade GICA-1 catalyst presented better sedimentation efficiency than TiO P25 at all studied pHs, which could be explained by its higher average hydrodynamic particle size (3 μm) and other physicochemical surface properties.

Open ISEmeter: An open hardware high-impedance interface for potentiometric detection.

In this work, a new open hardware interface based on Arduino to read electromotive force (emf) from potentiometric detectors is presented. The interface has been fully designed with the open code philosophy and all documentation will be accessible on web. The paper describes a comprehensive project including the electronic design, the firmware loaded on Arduino, and the Java-coded graphical user interface to load data in a computer (PC or Mac) for processing.

Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR) Applied to Study the Distribution of Ink Components in Printed Newspapers.

A new method was developed to study how the oil and cyan pigments of cold-set ink are distributed in newspaper thickness. The methodology involved laboratory printing followed by delamination of the printed paper. The unprinted side, printed side, and resulting layers were analyzed using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR).

Continuous ozonation treatment of ofloxacin: transformation products, water matrix effect and aquatic toxicity.

The continuous ozonation of the antibiotic ofloxacin (OFX) has been performed using a synthetic water matrix and in a sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent. The aim was to study the effect of the water matrix on the ozonation with particular emphasis on the aquatic toxicity of treated water. OFX was completely removed in both water matrices, although the amount of ozone consumed for its depletion was strongly matrix-dependent.

Personal care product preservatives: risk assessment and mixture toxicities with an industrial wastewater.

The aquatic toxicity of eight preservatives frequently used in personal care products (PCPs) (iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, bronopol, diazolidinyl urea, benzalkonium chloride, zinc pyrithione, propylparaben, triclosan and a mixture of methylchloroisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone) was assessed by means of two different approaches: a battery of bioassays composed of single species tests of bacteria (Vibrio fischeri and Pseudomonas putida) and protozoa (Tetrahymena thermophila), and a whole biological community resazurin-based assay using activated sludge. The tested preservatives showed considerable toxicity in the studied bioassays, but with a marked difference in potency. In fact, all biocides except propylparaben and diazolidinyl urea had EC50 values lower than 1 mg L(-1) in at least one assay.

Characterization of purified bacterial cellulose focused on its use on paper restoration.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) synthesized by Gluconacetobacter sucrofermentans CECT 7291 seems to be a good option for the restoration of degraded paper. In this work BC layers are cultivated and purified by two different methods: an alkaline treatment when the culture media contains ethanol and a thermal treatment if the media is free from ethanol. The main goal of these tests was the characterization of BC layers measured in terms of tear and burst indexes, optical properties, SEM, X-ray diffraction, FTIR, degree of polymerization, static and dynamic contact angles, and mercury intrusion porosimetry.

Effect of water composition on the photocatalytic removal of pesticides with different TiO2 catalysts.

The objective of this work is double-firstly to explore the photocatalytic efficiency of five different commercial TiO2 catalysts in the photodegradation of a mixture of pesticides classified by the EU as priority pollutants and secondly to analyze the correlation between their physicochemical properties and the inhibition of the studied photocatalytic process when natural water was employed. Photocatalytic efficiencies when ultrapure water was used seem to point out that surface area was not a prerequisite for the photodegradation of the selected mixture of pesticides. On the other hand, significant differences in total organic carbon (TOC) conversions were obtained with the two studied water compositions.

Environmental optimization of continuous flow ozonation for urban wastewater reclamation.

Wastewater samples from the secondary clarifier of two treatment plants were spiked in the microgram-to-tens-of-microgram per liter range with diuron (herbicide), ibuprofen and diclofenac (anti-inflammatory drugs), sulfamethoxazole and erythromycin (antibiotics), bezafibrate and gemfibrozil (lipid regulators), atenolol (β-blocker), carbamazepine (anti-epileptic), hydrochlorothiazide (diuretic), caffeine (stimulant) and N-acetyl-4-amino-antipiryne, a metabolite of the antipyretic drug dypirone. They were subsequently ozonated in continuous flow using 1.2L lab-scale bubble columns.

Photogenerated defects in shape-controlled TiO2 anatase nanocrystals: a probe to evaluate the role of crystal facets in photocatalytic processes.

The promising properties of anatase TiO(2) nanocrystals exposing specific surfaces have been investigated in depth both theoretically and experimentally. However, a clear assessment of the role of the crystal faces in photocatalytic processes is still under debate. In order to clarify this issue, we have comprehensively explored the properties of the photogenerated defects and in particular their dependence on the exposed crystal faces in shape-controlled anatase.

The use of digital simulation to improve the cyclic voltammetric determination of rate constants for homogeneous chemical reactions following charge transfers.

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is a very useful electrochemical tool used to study reaction systems that include chemical steps that are coupled to electron transfers. This type of system generally involves the chemical reaction of an electrochemically generated free radical. Published methods exist that are used to determine the kinetics of electrochemically initiated chemical reactions from the measurements of the peak current ratio (i(pa)/i(pc)) of a cyclic voltammogram.

Combination of steam explosion and laccase-mediator treatments prior to Eucalyptus globulus kraft pulping.

The effect of a pretreatment consisting of steam explosion (SE) followed by a laccase mediator system (LMS) stage on Eucalyptus globulus kraft pulping has been evaluated and compared with fungal pretreatments. Pretreatment with SE and LMS was more efficient than pretreatments using Pycnoporus sanguineus and Trametes sp. I-62.

Coagulation-Fenton coupled treatment for ecotoxicity reduction in highly polluted industrial wastewater.

A coupled coagulation-Fenton process was applied for the treatment of cosmetic industry effluents. In a first step, FeSO(4) was used as coagulant and the non-precipitated Fe(2+) remaining in dissolution was used as catalyst in the further Fenton process. In the coagulation process a huge decrease in total organic carbon (TOC) was achieved, but the high concentration of phenol derivatives was not diminished.

Treatment of phenol in an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AFBR): continuous and batch regime.

Results of this study describe the feasibility of anaerobic treatment of highly concentrated phenol synthetic wastewater using an anaerobic fluidized bed reactor (AFBR) in both continuous and batch modes. Wastewater with a maximum load of 2,100 mg C.l(-1) was prepared using phenol (maximum concentration of 1,600 mg C.

Kraft pulp biobleaching using an extracellular enzymatic fluid produced by Pycnoporus sanguineus.

The aim of this work was to obtain a LMS pre-treatment applicable to industrial TCF bleaching. Kraft pulp from Eucalyptus globulus was treated at 40 degrees C/pH 3 and 60 degrees C/pH 5 for 1h using an extracellular fluid enriched in laccase produced by Pycnoporus sanguineus and acetosyringone as mediator (HBT was used as a control mediator) (L). Alkaline extraction (E) and hydrogen peroxide (P) stages were then assayed.

Laccase production by Pycnoporus sanguineus under different culture conditions.

Pycnoporus sanguineus is a white-rot fungus that produces ligninolytic enzymes such as laccases. These enzymes can endure temperatures as high as 60 degrees C and are useful for pulp bleaching, dye decolorization and phenolic degradation.Laccase production by fungi depends not only on the carbon and nitrogen sources but also on the nitrogen concentration of the culture medium.

Evaluation of the irritant capacity of decyl polyglucoside.

The irritant capacity of several anionic, amphoteric and non-ionic surfactants has been studied by non-invasive techniques, specifically by evaporimetry, laser Doppler flowmetry and one-dimensional cutaneous ecography. Some of the surfactants most frequently used in shampoos and shower/foam gels were selected for testing. A series of aqueous solutions containing 5% of the active material in these products was patched onto normal skin; controls for comparison were set up with water and with sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), a recognized irritant standard substance.

Melanoidin-containing wastewaters induce selective laccase gene expression in the white-rot fungus Trametes sp. I-62.

Wastewaters generated from the production of ethanol from sugar cane molasses may have detrimental effects on the environment due to their high chemical oxygen demand and dark brown color. The color is mainly associated with the presence of melanoidins, which are highly recalcitrant to biodegradation. We report here the induction of laccases by molasses wastewaters and molasses melanoidins in the basidiomycetous fungus Trametes sp.