High Performance of MnO Electrodes for Hydrogen Evolution Using Natural Bischofite Salt from Atacama Desert: A Novel Application for Solar Saline Water Splitting.

Solar saline water splitting is a promising approach to sustainable hydrogen production, harnessing abundant solar energy and the availability of brine resources, especially in the Atacama Desert. Bischofite salt (MgCl·6HO) has garnered significant attention due to its wide range of industrial applications. Efficient hydrogen production in arid or hyper arid locations using bischofite solutions is a novel and revolutionary idea.

Green Corrosion Inhibitors for Metal and Alloys Protection in Contact with Aqueous Saline.

Corrosion is an inevitable and persistent issue that affects various metallic infrastructures, leading to significant economic losses and safety concerns, particularly in areas near or in contact with saline solutions such as seawater. Green corrosion inhibitors are compounds derived from natural sources that are biodegradable in various environments, offering a promising alternative to their conventional counterparts. Despite their potential, green corrosion inhibitors still face several limitations and challenges when exposed to NaCl environments.

Advancing high-throughput combinatorial aging studies of hybrid perovskite thin films precise automated characterization methods and machine learning assisted analysis.

To optimize material stability, automated high-throughput workflows are of increasing interest. However, many of those workflows either employ synthesis techniques not suitable for large-area depositions or are carried out in ambient conditions, which limits the transferability of the results. While combinatorial approaches based on vapour-based depositions are inherently scalable, their potential for controlled stability assessments has yet to be exploited.

An In Situ Evaluation of Different CAM Plants as Plant Microbial Fuel Cells for Energy Recovery in the Atacama Desert.

Excess energy derived from photosynthesis can be used in plant microbial fuel cell (PMFC) systems as a sustainable alternative for the generation of electricity. In this study, the in situ performance of CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) plants in Calama, in the Atacama Desert, was evaluated for energy recovery using PMFCs with stainless steel AISI 316L and Cu as electrodes. The plant species evaluated included , , , , , and .

Metal Recovery from Natural Saline Brines with an Electrochemical Ion Pumping Method Using Hexacyanoferrate Materials as Electrodes.

The electrochemical ion pumping device is a promising alternative for the development of the industry of recovering metals from natural sources-such as seawater, geothermal water, well brine, or reverse osmosis brine-using electrochemical systems, which is considered a non-evaporative process. This technology is potentially used for metals like Li, Cu, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Sr, and others that are mostly obtained from natural brine sources through a combination of pumping, solar evaporation, and solvent extraction steps. As the future demand for metals for the electronic industry increases, new forms of marine mining processing alternatives are being implemented.

Corrosion of Reinforced A630-420H Steel in Direct Contact with NaCl Solution.

The deterioration of reinforced concrete structures in marine environments presents multiple problems due to the premature degradation of reinforced steel. This work aimed to study the corrosion of reinforced A630-420H steel when exposed to a 0.5 M NaCl solution.

Corrosion of Titanium Electrode Used for Solar Saline Electroflotation.

The solar electroflotation (EF) processes using saline electrolytes are today one of the great challenges for the development of electrochemical devices, due to the corrosion problems that are generated during the operation by being in permanent contact with Cl ions. This manuscript discloses the corrosion behavior of titanium electrodes using a superposition model based on mixed potential theory and the evaluation of the superficial performance of the Ti electrodes operated to 4 V/SHE solar electroflotation in contact with a solution of 0.5 M NaCl.

Ultrafine Kaolinite Removal in Recycled Water from the Overflow of Thickener Using Electroflotation: A Novel Application of Saline Water Splitting in Mineral Processing.

The presence of ultrafine clay particles that are difficult to remove by conventional filtration creates many operational problems in mining processing systems. In this work, the removal of clay suspensions has been investigated using an electroflotation (EF) process with titanium electrodes. The results show that EF is a viable and novel alternative for removing ultrafine particles of kaolinite-type clay present in sedimentation tank overflows with low salt concentrations (<0.

Rare earth elements as statistical sentinels of pollution and paleoenvironments?: Application to a highly polluted estuary in southwestern Spain.

Multivariate analyses have been applied to the REE contents of three cores collected in the Tinto estuary, SW Spain, an extremely polluted area. Results indicate an extremely correlation between all REE, which behave as a single variable. A slight natural pollution peak and three anthropogenic pollution peaks are identified, related with the first mining activities, the Roman period and a recent intensive mining accompanied by a heavy industrial pollution.

Aurochs roamed along the SW coast of Andalusia (Spain) during Late Pleistocene.

In the Iberian Peninsula the fossil record of artiodactyls spans over 53 million years. During the Pleistocene, wild cattle species such as Bison and especially Bos became common. In Late Pleistocene, the aurochs (Bos primigenius) was widespread and the only bovine living along the large river valleys of southern Iberia.

First tracks of newborn straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus).

Tracks and trackways of newborns, calves and juveniles attributed to straight-tusked elephants were found in the MIS 5 site (Upper Pleistocene) known as the Matalascañas Trampled Surface (MTS) at Huelva, SW Spain. Evidence of a snapshot of social behaviour, especially parental care, can be determined from the concentration of elephant tracks and trackways, and especially from apparently contemporaneous converging trackways, of small juvenile and larger, presumably young adult female tracks. The size frequency of the tracks enabled us to infer body mass and age distribution of the animals that crossed the MTS.

Sarcoidosis: An FP's primer on an enigmatic disease.

Management includes ruling out alternate diagnoses, identifying occult/overt organ involvement, determining treatment, and recognizing worrisome features.

The burden of hypertension in Ecuador: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Hypertension is a major risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, which occurrence has increased consistently worldwide. With this in mind, this review was designed to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension in Ecuador. We systematically searched publications in Medline, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Cochrane Database, and Ibero-America electronic databases for articles published through September 2019 and reporting the prevalence of hypertension in Ecuador.

Prevalence of stunting and obesity in Ecuador: a systematic review.

Objective: In low- and middle-income countries, undernutrition remains a major risk factor for child growth retardation. In addition, the emergence of obesity in recent years is adding another public health concern in that both stunting and obesity are associated with serious adverse health consequences. This review was designed to evaluate the prevalence of stunting and obesity in Ecuador.

Silver and copper as pollution tracers in Neogene to Holocene estuarine sediments from southwestern Spain.

Estuaries are very sensitive ecosystems to human activities and the natural evolution of their drainage basins located upstream. Pollution derived from human activities, such as historical mining or recent industrial wastes, can significantly affect their environmental quality. This paper analyzes the silver and copper contents of four cores extracted in two estuaries of SW Spain.

Host plant defenses of black (Solanum nigrum L.) and red nightshade ( Solanum villosum Mill.) against specialist Solanaceae herbivore Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say).

Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum, S. nigrum L.) and red nightshade ( Solanum villosum, S.

Corrosion of bare carbon steel as a passive sensor to assess moisture availability for biological activity in Atacama Desert soils.

Here we consider that the corrosion of polished bared metal coupons can be used as a passive sensor to detect or identify the lower limit of water availability suitable for biological activity in Atacama Desert soils or solid substrates. For this purpose, carbon steel coupons were deposited at selected sites along a west-east transect and removed at predetermined times for morphological inspection. The advantage of this procedure is that the attributes of the oxide layer (corrosion extent, morphology and oxide phases) can be considered as a fingerprint of the atmospheric moisture history at a given time interval.

Transitory microbial habitat in the hyperarid Atacama Desert.

Traces of life are nearly ubiquitous on Earth. However, a central unresolved question is whether these traces always indicate an active microbial community or whether, in extreme environments, such as hyperarid deserts, they instead reflect just dormant or dead cells. Although microbial biomass and diversity decrease with increasing aridity in the Atacama Desert, we provide multiple lines of evidence for the presence of an at times metabolically active, microbial community in one of the driest places on Earth.

Mind the gap between high school and university! A field qualitative survey at the National University of Caaguazú (Paraguay).

Paraguay has eight public universities and 45 private universities. The National University of Caaguazú (Universidad Nacional de Caaguazú or UNCA), with its main campus located in Coronel Oviedo, is one of the most recently founded public universities, being established in 2007. The UNCA has launched a project aiming at exploring the potentiality of its educational system, as well as its gaps.

Inhibition of insect glutathione S-transferase (GST) by conifer extracts.

Insecticide synergists biochemically inhibit insect metabolic enzyme activity and are used both to increase the effectiveness of insecticides and as a diagnostic tool for resistance mechanisms. Considerable attention has been focused on identifying new synergists from phytochemicals with recognized biological activities, specifically enzyme inhibition. Jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.

A rock engraving made by Neanderthals in Gibraltar.

The production of purposely made painted or engraved designs on cave walls--a means of recording and transmitting symbolic codes in a durable manner--is recognized as a major cognitive step in human evolution. Considered exclusive to modern humans, this behavior has been used to argue in favor of significant cognitive differences between our direct ancestors and contemporary archaic hominins, including the Neanderthals. Here we present the first known example of an abstract pattern engraved by Neanderthals, from Gorham's Cave in Gibraltar.

Heeding clues to giant cell arteritis. Prompt response can prevent vision loss.

To return to the case vignette, the new onset of headache in a 74-year-old woman with anemia and a markedly elevated ESR should alert the physician to the strong possibility of giant cell arteritis. Vision loss is the most significant potential early complication. Temporal artery biopsy is indicated, and treatment with corticosteroids should be started immediately.

Mars-like soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the dry limit of microbial life.

The Viking missions showed the martian soil to be lifeless and depleted in organic material and indicated the presence of one or more reactive oxidants. Here we report the presence of Mars-like soils in the extreme arid region of the Atacama Desert. Samples from this region had organic species only at trace levels and extremely low levels of culturable bacteria.