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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20220113T113000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20220113T133000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162409Z
CREATED:20220113T054459Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162409Z
UID:13833-1642073400-1642080600@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD Thesis Defence by Marco Capodiferro
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Marco Capodiferro\, from the Geochemistry and Pollution research group\, will defend his thesis next 13th January at 11:30h.  \nTitle: Dietary exposure to neurotoxic and endocrine disruptive effects: The mercury case \nDirector: Joan Grimalt \nThesis Committee: Marta Schuhmacher\, Barend L. Van Drooge\, Lluis Cardona \n 
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-marco-capodiferro/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://idaea.csic.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/thesis_marco_capodiferro.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20220113T113000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20220113T133000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162404Z
CREATED:20220110T144908Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162404Z
UID:13832-1642073400-1642080600@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD Thesis Defence by Pedro Trechera
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Pedro Trechera\, from the EGAR research group\, will defend his thesis next 13th January at 11:30h.  \nIf you want to attend online\, please click on this link at least 10 minutes in advance. No one will be allowed to enter after 11:30h. \nTitle: Environmental and occupational characterisation of coals and dust from coal mining \nDirectors: Teresa Moreno and Xavier Querol \nThesis Committee: Jesús D. de la Rosa\, José Manuel López Sebastián and Xavier de las Heras \n  \n 
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-pedro-trechera/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210930T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210930T130000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162307Z
CREATED:20210910T125751Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162307Z
UID:13814-1632999600-1633006800@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:Defensa de Tesis de Cristina Carnerero
DESCRIPTION:La estudiante de doctorado Cristina Carnerero\, del grupo de investigación EGAR\, defenderá su tesis el próximo 30 de septiembre a las 11:00h. Si quieres asistir\, por favor\, clica en este enlace. \nTítulo: Dynamics of Ultrafine particles and tropospheric ozone episodes \nDirectores: Xavier Querol y Andrés Alastuey \nTribunal: Begoña Aríñano\, Jorge Pey y María Piñeiro. \nResumen: \n\nLos aerosoles atmosféricos\, en particular las partículas ultrafinas (UFPs por sus siglas en inglés; partículas de menos de 100 nanómetros de diámetro)\, y el ozono troposférico (O3) son contaminantes atmosféricos muy influenciados por reacciones fotoquímicas\, i.e.\, procesos iniciados por la absorción de radiación solar. Concentraciones elevadas de UFPs y O3 en el ambiente tienen importantes efectos adversos en la salud humana e impactos en el clima. \nEn áreas con una alta insolación y dinámicas atmosféricas que favorecen la acumulación de contaminantes debido a recirculaciones verticales de masas de aire\, como en el Mediterráneo occidental y otras regiones del sur de Europa\, a menudo se registran episodios de altas concentraciones de UFPs y O3\, especialmente en primavera y verano. Los episodios de UFPs pueden estar causados por la emisión y acumulación de partículas o por la formación fotoquímica de partículas a partir de precursores gaseosos (formación de nuevas partículas; NPF por sus siglas en inglés). \nEl objetivo de esta tesis es caracterizar la relación entre UFPs y O3 en áreas y períodos con una actividad fotoquímica importante. Concretamente\, esta tesis tiene como objetivos identificar los patrones atmosféricos que causan los episodios\, determinando si estos contaminantes están regidos por los mismos procesos o bien ocurren en paralelo\, así como describir la evolución de las concentraciones de UFPs en los últimos años. \nBasándonos en estos objetivos\, se han analizado datos recopilados durante campañas de medidas intensivas simultáneas a nivel de superficie y en altura\, así como series de datos de medidas continuas a largo plazo. Mediante la combinación de estos datos\, se ha evaluado la estacionalidad y la simultaneidad de los episodios de UFPs y O3\, identificando los factores que contribuyen a ellos y aportando información sobre la influencia de la NPF en las concentraciones de UFPs. \nHemos encontrado que hay dos escenarios que controlan la formación y el transporte de UFPs y O3: la recirculación vertical de masas de aire y la ventilación. El acontecimiento de uno u otro escenario viene determinado por las condiciones meteorológicas a escala sinóptica\, mientras que la magnitud de las concentraciones viene dada por la disponibilidad de precursores y las condiciones atmosféricas y orográficas locales. Nuestros resultados indican que los episodios agudos de UFPs están indudablemente vinculados con los episodios de O3. Aun así\, los episodios pueden ser simultáneos en el mismo día o no serlo. Un episodio de O3 parece ser siempre simultáneo con un episodio de UFPs causado por acumulación de partículas primarias y secundarias durante períodos de recirculación. Sin embargo\, altas concentraciones de UFPs causadas por NPF tienen lugar principalmente con concentraciones relativamente bajas (pero altas en valor absoluto) de O3 durante períodos de ventilación. \nCuando se considera el promedio de las concentraciones anuales de UFPs en áreas urbanas\, las emisiones primarias del tráfico tienen una mayor contribución al número total de partículas que la NPF. No obstante\, en días con episodios de NPF\, la contribución de NPF al número total de UFPs puede ser mayor que la de las emisiones primarias. \nAunque en la mayoría de días no se detectan episodios de NPF\, el número de días con NPF está incrementando\, probablemente debido a una tendencia a la baja en los últimos años de las emisiones atmosféricas antrópicas\, que han causado una disminución en los sumideros de condensación y coagulación. En consecuencia\, la contribución de la NPF al número de UFPs también va en aumento. La concentración total de UFPs puede aumentar o disminuir\, dependiendo de las condiciones locales y las emisiones de precursores. En áreas urbanas\, la disminución de emisiones antrópicas causa una disminución directa de la concentración de UFPs. En cambio\, en ambientes rurales\, la NPF se hace más favorable\, hasta el punto de aumentar las concentraciones de UFPs. Esto puede ser debido a un incremento de las emisiones biogénicas locales de precursores debido al aumento de temperaturas\, así como a una reducción de los sumideros de partículas debido a una disminución del transporte de emisiones antrópicas. \nLas políticas implementadas en los últimos años con el objetivo de reducir las emisiones antrópicas de contaminantes atmosféricos han tenido un gran impacto en las concentraciones del número de UFPs en ambientes urbanos. Por el contrario\, estas políticas no han tenido un impacto significativo en el fondo regional\, donde la concentración de UFPs ha aumentado. \n 
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/defensa-de-tesis-de-cristina-carnerero/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210916T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210916T170000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162312Z
CREATED:20210913T063917Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162312Z
UID:13815-1631804400-1631811600@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD Thesis Defence by Andrea Palacios
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Andrea Palacios\, from the Groundwater and Hydrogeochemistry research group\, will defend her thesis next 16th September at 15:00h. If you want to attend\, please click on this link. \nTitle: Geologically-constrained joint inversion of heads\, tracer and ERT data for process visualization. \nDirectors: Jesús Carrera Ramírez and Juanjo Ledo. \nThesis Committee: Sebastián Olivella\, Frédéric Nguyen\, Majken Looms\, Kamini Singha and Daniel Fernández García \nAbstract \nSeawater intrusion (SWI) consists in the movement of seawater (SW) into freshwater (FW) aquifers\, contaminating drinking water resources. SWI\, along with the parallel reduction of Submarine Groundwater Discharge may lead to ecological impacts beyond the reduction of FW resources. Water salinity is the critical physical property to identify SWI. The salinity contrast between FW () and SW (35g/L) is high enough for salinity and\, therefore\, water electrical conductivity (ECw)\, to be indirectly measured using geophysical techniques such as geophysical logs (e.g. induction) or electrical and electromagnetic methods (e.g. electrical resistivity tomography\, ERT). Although the context of SWI sounds ideal for the use of geophysics\, ERT displays poor resolution in depth.\nWe propose using cross-hole ERT (CHERT) to enhance resolution\, placing the electrodes in depth along the boreholes. We tested it for the first time in a SWI context\, at the Argentona experimental site\, some 40 km NE of Barcelona. Results of the 2-years time-lapse CHERT monitoring showed that the use of CHERT and surface ERT increased the model resolution\, and the bulk EC (ECb) values from CHERT were validated with induction logs from the site. We were able to image the seasonal fluctuations of groundwater flux that cause the SW-FW interface to move seawards during periods of high flux or landwards during periods of low flux; as well as the salinization of the aquifer due to an intense drought in the study area during the monitoring period. Two short-term events were also imaged: a decrease in ECb related to a heavy rain event\, and an increase in ECb in the beach area related to storm surges.\nWe built a hydrogeophysical model to characterize the Argentona site using all available data types. The model couples a density-dependent flow and transport simulator with a geoelectrical solver through a petrophysical relation. This model was calibrated by minimizing the misfit between observed and simulated hydraulic heads\, salt concentrations and apparent ECb. The calibration was done on four time stages: a pseudo steady-state period\, a model warm-up period for the introduction of time-varying boundary conditions\, a calibration period covering the first year of the Argentona site monitoring\, and a validation period covering the second year. The latter was used to assess the prediction capability of the models. The procedure allowed us to update the original conceptual model and demonstrate the importance of even the finest silt-rich layers. Then\, three inverse problems were performed on the updated conceptual model: a) using the traditional point measurements of heads and salinity; b) adding the time variations of heads and the spatial differences of salinity to address common issues of using heads and salinity measurements taken from boreholes in coastal aquifers; and c) adding the apparent ECb from the time-lapse CHERT. We discuss the value of using time variations of heads\, instead of only head absolute values; as well as on the use of spatial differences of salt concentrations. The model calibrated using all types of data (heads\, salinity and ECb) had the best prediction capability and the model was able to reproduce the main events observed during the two years of monitoring of the Argentona site.\nNumerical dispersion prevents the model from simulating FW (0-1 g/L)\, which affects calibration. To tackle this issue\, we propose to use an alternative conversion from water salinity to ECw that corrects for numerical dispersion when computing ECb. The methodology consists in applying and calibrating the error function to reduce salinity in the FW zone\, and increase it in the SW zone. The error function calibration can also change the width of the FW-SW interface. This conversion improved the model prediction capability and led to a set of parameters less affected by numerical dispersion (e.g. estimated petrophysical parameters are within the expected range).
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-andrea-palacios/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210723T150000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210723T170000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162225Z
CREATED:20210719T053116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162225Z
UID:13803-1627052400-1627059600@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD Thesis Defence by Jingjing Wang
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Jingjing Wang\, from the Groundwater and Hydrogeochemistry group\, will defend her thesis next 23rd July at 15:00h. If you want to attend\, please click on this link. \nTitle: Multirate mass transfer and biofilm growth modeling in porous media. \nDirectors: Jesús Carrera\, Cristina Valhondo and  Maarten Saaltink. \nThesis Comittee: Jaime Gómez Hernández\, Marco Dentz\, Verónica Morales\, Jean-Raynald de Dreuzy and Paula Felicidad Rodríguez Escales. \nAbstract  \nReactive transport modeling is a methodological tool to study the coupled physical\, chemical and biological processes in Earth system. It is complex not only because of the nature of the equations\, but also because of the effects of the porous medium heterogeneity on reactive transport. This thesis aims to deepen the understanding of reactive transport processes in order to explain the biochemical degradation process in porous media\, with special emphasis on the role of biofilm and its growth.First\, we propose a general and efficient numerical solution of reactive transport in multicontinuum media using Multirate Mass Transfer (MRMT) approach. To overcome the non-linearity of the problem\, induced by non-linear kinetics\, we use the Newton-Raphson method to get the global solution. We solve the system of equations in block form\, which allow us to reduce the unknowns to those of mobile zones and to\, thus improving efficiency. The solution is validated by comparison with analytical solution for linear kinetics. The code is developed in Object-oriented way\, which enables the code reusability and data polymorphism. Second\, we investigate the conditions for chemical localization (i.e.\, the occurrence of reactions that would not be possible in single continuum media). To this end\, we write the multicontinuum transport equations in dimensionless form to find that reactive transport in multicontinuum media is governed by three characteristic times: the distribution of residence times in immobile zones\, and the characteristic reaction and transport times. To study the interplay between these three characteristic times\, we simulate three chemical systems: conservative\, single reaction and sequential reaction. Results demonstrate that reactions driven by species that result from previous reactions will localize in immobile zones whose residence time is comparable to reaction times. Furthermore\, immobile zones with residence times much smaller than those for transport can be lumped together (assuming that very fast reactions are assumed in equilibrium)\, which greatly reduces computations.Third\, we perform simulations of reactive transport incorporating biochemical reactions that not only oxidize organic carbon\, but also produce biomass\, thus causing biofilm growth. Biofilm growth is known to cause clogging (i.e.\, reduction of permeability)\, which has concentrated most research on the topic. But it also causes a significant change in the pore space geometry and connectivity\, which leads to not only an overall increase in mean residence time in immobile regions\, but also on its distribution. As discussed above\, this is critical to (bio)chemical localization\, especially considering that microbial mediated reactions tend to concentrate in biofilms. We propose a model for the evolution of residence time distribution in immobile zones in response to biofilm growth. We test this model by comparison with laboratory experiments extracted from the literature\, where tracer tests have been performed at various stages of growth. Results show that the dynamic MRMT model is capable of reproducing the salient features of these experiments.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-jingjing-wang/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210719T130000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210719T150000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162218Z
CREATED:20210707T054005Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162218Z
UID:13801-1626699600-1626706800@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD Thesis Defence by Tybaud Goyetche
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Tybaud Goyetche from the Groundwater and Hydrogeochemistry group\, will defend his thesis next 19th July at 13:00h. If you want to attend\, please click on this link. \nTitle: Seawater intrusion\, Transition zone dynamics and reactive mixing \nDirectors: Jesús Carrera\, Linda Luquot \nThesis Comittee: Mohsen M. Sherif\, Anna Jurado Elices\, Luis Guarracino\, Gudrun Massmann and Daniel Fernandez Garcia \nAbstract \nFreshwater quality and availability in coastal areas are affected by seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers. While coastal water quality and coastal ecosystems can be significantly affected by pollutants discharged into the sea. \nIn this thesis we investigate: (i) the use of sea level periodic fluctuations (e.g. tides) to characterize coastal aquifers hydrodynamic parameters; (ii) the chemical reactions that occur in the mixing zone between freshwater and seawater; and (iii) the impact of high-frequency fluctuations (e.g. storms) on the mixing zone and chemical reactions. Thus\, the Argentona experimental site allowed us to apply and validate the investigated methods. \nThe results show that thanks to the tidal method we have been able to clarify the technique and make its application easier. In addition\, we make one of the first applications to a real aquifer where we detail the entire process from the acquisition and filtering of head data to finally obtain the hydrodynamic parameters by numerical modeling. This allowed refining the conceptual model and observing the pronounced impact of aquitard on the propagation of inland tidal fluctuations. \nIn addition\, we have investigated the chemical reactions that occur by the mixing between freshwater and saltwater. The results show that coastal aquifers are a fairly complex system with many chemical reactions. We observe the predominance of cationic exchange reactions\, but also quite a few redox reactions using organic matter as electron donors and molecules such as dissolved oxygen\, nitrates\, iron\, or manganese oxides as electron acceptors. We have observed that quite a few reactions associated with the rocks that form the reservoir also occur. But we go beyond identifying them\, we present a method to quantify these reactions\, which allows us to observe the spatial distribution of the reactions. Furthermore\, by quantifying them\, it is possible to estimate the chemical composition of the water that is discharged into the sea. As a result\, nutrients discharge to the sea can be estimated through the quantification of their degradation. \nFinally\, we investigated the impact of an intense rain event over a coastal aquifer and its mixing zone. We acknowledge a freshwater displacement occurs in the direction of the sea caused by the aquifer recharge. But we also observed how the interface is pushed inland during the recovery. These unique conditions can have a significant impact on the annual nutrients balance released to the sea. In fact\, by moving the interface\, the chemical conditions are modified and a significant impact on the chemical reactions is observed.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-tybaud-goyetche/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210309T113000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210309T143000
DTSTAMP:20261018T162032Z
CREATED:20210303T130821Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T162032Z
UID:13770-1615289400-1615300200@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD thesis defence by Inmaculada Fuertes Rodríguez
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Inmaculada Fuertes Rodríguez\, from the Environmental Toxicology group\, will defend her thesis online next 9th March at 11:30h. Those who want to attend the PhD defence will have to send an email to vd.quimica.recerca@ub.edu. \nTitle: Application of omic approaches on the characterization of novel toxicity mechanisms of pollutants using Daphnia magna as model species \nDirectors: Dr. Carlos Barata\, Dr. Demetrio Rauldúa and Dr. Encarnación Moyano Morcillo \nThesis Comittee: Dra. Gemma Fabriàs Domingo\, Dr. Juan Carlos Navarro Tárrega\, Dr. John Kenneth Colbourne \nAbstract: \nEnvironmental toxicology is undergoing a paradigm shift due to the new concerning environmental reality. Nowadays\, there is a need to manage more subtle and chronic effects of single and mixture of chemicals at lower and environmental relevant concentrations and to deal with emerging contaminants (ECs)\, whose harmful effects in ecosystems and toxicity mechanisms are still unknown. In order to address this problem\, and develop strategies for evaluating the toxicity of pollutants with greater environmental relevance\, it is necessary to apply integrative approaches combining tools from different disciplines. Omic technologies\, which allow the holistic measure of effects at low levels of biological organization in high throughput platforms\, have the potential to contribute to the development and application of mechanistic data in designing more efficient and effective testing strategies. Overall\, this thesis aimed to prove the importance of integrating omic and conventional toxicological approaches in order to provide significant information to unravel new toxicity mechanism triggered by ECs on the aquatic environment using Daphnia. magna as model species. The ECs studied included suspected lipid disruptors (i.e. EDCs) and ECs that affect the central nervous system (i.e. neuroactive pharmaceuticals and other chemicals). Different integrative approaches have been developed to assess the toxicity of these compounds by linking effects on reproduction and behavior (individual organism responses)\, gene expression and its subsequent metabolomic (and thus lipidomic) disruption in the aquatic model organisms D. magna. The ability of metabolic disruptive to alter lipid homeostasis and reproductive effects\, as well as the molecular signaling pathways that modulate this disruption have been addressed in chapter 2. Lipidomic effects of neuiro-active drugs at environmental concentrations and the driven molecular mechanisms behind them was studied in Chapter 3. Finally the study of transcriptomic and neurological related metabolites (neurotransmitters) in neuro active pharmaceuticals that affected cognitive behavior in Daphnis were addressed in chapter 4.. The results obtained allowed to link transcriptomic signaling pathways with metabolomics (lipidomic and neurotransmitter profiles) and apical responses (reproduction and behavior)
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-inmaculada-fuertes-rodriguez/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210212T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210212T140000
DTSTAMP:20261018T161950Z
CREATED:20210211T091833Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T161950Z
UID:13760-1613127600-1613138400@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD thesis defence by Pere Colomer Vidal
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Pere Colomer Vidal from the Chemometrics group\, will defend his thesis next 12th February at 11:00h. If you want to attend the online defence\, please click on this link: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/e49c25f212c646dba84b84ecc7444efd \nTitle: Distribution of perfluoroalkyl substances in the environment \nDirectors: Sílvia Lacorte Bruguera\, Anna Rigol Parera and Chunling Luo \nThesis Comittee: Josep María Bayona\, Kevin C Jones and Francisco Javier Santos Vicente \nAbstract: \nPerfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a large group of man-made chemicals that are widely used throughout society and found in the environment. These compounds are characterized by perfluorinated carbon chains of varying lengths with hydrophobic properties and containing an external polar and hydrophilic head. In general\, the characteristics of PFASs are based on the length of the perfluorinated carbon chain that they contain. As the number of perfluorinated carbons increases in the molecule\, the water solubility decreases and the better the surfactant properties\, but will be more toxic for the environment due to their bioaccumulation in the organisms. \nThe main purpose of this Doctoral Thesis is to study the distribution and behavior of PFASs in different environmental compartments and to elucidate the interactions among them. In the first study of this Thesis\, seventeen PFASs have been analyzed in the water-sediment-plant system along the Dongzhulong and Xiaoqing Rivers in China. The study area is affected by a fluoropolymer facility that belongs to the Dongyue group and is currently one of the major facilities of polytetrafluorethylene production in China. The second study is aimed to evaluate the environmental occurrence of PFASs in sediments\, soils\, and wildlife in the marine environment surrounding the Chafarinas Islands (South Spain) and the impact on gulls. The third study that composes this Thesis is aimed to evaluate the occurrence and 10-year temporal trend of seventeen PFAS in eggs of two gull species (Larus michahellis and Larus audouinii). These species are used as bioindicators of environmental pollution of Spain. \nThe results of this thesis show that the fate of the PFASs in the environment is explained by their physicochemical properties and the characteristics of the different study matrices. In freshwater systems\, high amounts of PFASs in water and sediments close to the industrial discharge were detected\, and concentrations decreased along the river due to dilution. In the water-sediment system\, the results suggest that long-chain PFASs accumulated in sediment whereas short-chain PFASs remained in water all along the river. When including plants in the system\, PFASs were taken up by plants and remobilized in the different plant compartments\, and the uptake mechanisms differed among plant species. In the marine environment of the Chafarinas Islands\, low levels of PFASs detected in soils\, sediments\, fish\, and mussels reflected that the area is not directly impacted by PFASs. In this Thesis we also have estimated the bioaccumulation potential of PFASs\, using gulls. We have estimated the intake based on fish-diet in gulls from Chafarinas. We observe that the release of PFAOS to the egg is 4.5% of the intake and we provide the basis for using gull eggs as biomonitors. In a final study of this Thesis\, we evaluated the presence of PFASs in four main gull colonies in Spain. When comparing gull colonies\, eggs from the Ebro Delta and Medes Islands\, both located in the North-Eastern Mediterranean Sea\, had a similar distribution of PFASs\, while in Chafarinas and Atlantic Islands these PFASs were present at lower concentration levels and variability. In the Ebro Delta colonies\, concentrations in eggs from L. audouinni were significantly higher than those found in L. michahellis\, suggesting that fish diet influences PFAS bioaccumulation. Overall\, ∑PFAS decreased in the 10-year study period but for individual compounds\, trends were colony-species dependant. \nThis thesis permits to increase the knowledge about the processes that rule the behavior of PFASs in water\, sediment\, soil\, and biota. Also\, this thesis demonstrates the advantage of performing systematic monitoring schemes to determine the presence and fate of PFASs in the environment.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-pere-colomer-vidal/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210128T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210128T140000
DTSTAMP:20261018T161940Z
CREATED:20210126T085605Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T161940Z
UID:13756-1611831600-1611842400@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD thesis defence by Maria Vittoria Barbieri
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Maria Vittoria Barbieri from Water\, Enviromental and Food Chemistry group (ENFOCHEM)\, will defend her thesis next 28th January at 11:00h. If you want to attend to the online defence\, send an email to vd.quimica.recerca@ub.edu. \nTitle: Pesticides in environment: analysis\, occurrence\, impact and recommendations for their attenuation. \nDirectors: Miren López de Alda\, Cristina Postigo Rebollo and Francisco Javier Santos Vicente. \nThesis Comittee: Ana Maria García Campaña\, Isaac Rodríguez Pereiro and Mercè Granados Juan. \nAbstract: \nThe assessment of pesticide occurrence in different environmental compartments has become a matter of outstanding importance since its effects on exposed organisms may be considered a warning on the potential risk these substances may pose to human health. In this context\, and in the framework of this doctoral thesis\, the presence and fate of 52 pesticides and transformation products were evaluated in surface water\, groundwater\, and sediments from four river basins\, and the associated environmental risk was assessed. In addition\, the performance of a fungi-based bioremediation technique for the removal of pesticides was evaluated. The methods developed are based on the use of advanced extraction techniques such as on-line solid-phase extraction\, pressurized liquid extraction\, and QuEChERS extraction\, and analyte determination with liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The use of an isotope-dilution approach ensured the reliability of the results and the satisfactory performance of the methodologies in terms of accuracy\, precision\, linearity\, sensitivity and matrix effect. The most relevant pesticides detected in agricultural areas (Ebro River Delta\, Ter River) were the herbicides widely used in rice cultivation bentazone\, MCPA and propanil\, while in urban and industrial areas like the lower Llobregat River basin\, the most relevant pesticides were bromoxynil\, diuron\, linuron and terbutryn\, used for both agricultural and non-agricultural purposes. In the sediments of the Llobregat River and the fish samples collected from the Adige River\, most of the pesticides found are currently banned\, which suggests their persistence in the environment. The assessment of the environmental risk highlighted the role of pesticides as relevant stressors in the aquatic environment. The degradation of selected pesticides by the fungus T. versicolor point at this organism as an efficient\, green and economic alternative for pesticide removal during water treatment. Further pesticide pollution attenuation was attempted by contributing to the design of participatory multi-actor events to increase the awareness of farmers and stakeholders on the issue of environmental pollution by pesticides\, involving them in the decision-making processes for the implementation of mitigation measures and best management practices aimed at reducing pesticide release into the environment.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-maria-vittoria-barbieri/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210122T110000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20210122T140000
DTSTAMP:20261018T161929Z
CREATED:20210114T143141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T161929Z
UID:13751-1611313200-1611324000@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD thesis defense by Rui You
DESCRIPTION:The PhD student Rui You from the Environmental Pollution in Agriculture group (EPA)\, will defend his thesis next 22nd January 2021 at 11:00h. The thesis will be broadcasted livestream through Microsoft Teams on this link. \nTitle: The occurrence of contaminants in crops grown under organic soil amendments and peri-urban soils: phytotoxicity and human health implications \nDirector: Dr. Sergi Díez \nThesis committee: Dr. Ignasi Queralt\, from IDAEA-CSIC (president)\, Dra. Cristina Palet\, from the UAB (secretary) and Dr. Juan Carlos Novoa\, from the University of Vigo (spokesperson) \nAbstract: \nModern agriculture has been continually searching for effective methods to meet the exponentially increasing food demand. Amending soil with fertilizers has been widely adopted\, as it could efficiently and fast supply nutrients to vegetables. Since 2015\, the European Commission has proposed a circular economy plan which encourages the soil amendment with biosolids. Nevertheless\, the presence of a wide range of contaminants\, such as trace elements (TEs)\, organic pollutants\, and emerging pollutants such as antibiotics (ABs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)\, has been widely reported in many organic fertilizers. Vegetables can absorb the contaminants from the amended soil\, and further threaten human health. For this reason\, risk assessment of organic fertilizer applications is necessary. \nThe most commonly used organic fertilizers are animal-based waste (manure)\, compost (plant sources or food waste)\, and urban waste (sewage sludge and household waste). Currently\, no study evaluates the plant uptake of TEs and ABs under these three organic fertilizers\, nor research evaluates the impact of repeated organic fertilization. Additionally\, multiple application of sewage sludge might result in the accumulation of Zn and Cu in amended soil\, and their presence would influence uptake of other contaminants. \nTherefore\, in this doctoral thesis\, three aspects related to the contaminants in vegetable under different agriculture activities are addressed: (1) amending soils with different doses of different organic fertilizers\, which aims to assess the impact of organic fertilizers on the occurrence of TEs and ABs in vegetables\, (2) repeated amending soil with organic fertilizers and monitoring the variation of TEs concentrations in vegetables of different productive cycles\, which aims to assess the impact of long-term organic fertilization\, and (3) amending soils with sludge and different amounts of Zn and Cu\, which aims to assess the effect of Zn and Cu on the accumulation of TEs\, ABs\, and ARGs in vegetables. Furthermore\, in every case the risk to human health associated with the consumption of vegetables was evaluated. \nIn peri-urban area\, the agricultural soil may receive the potential pollution from fertilizer\, but also from potential contaminants due to urban activities. Those pollutants would influence the growth and development of vegetables. In this thesis\, a simple and rapid method to assess soil pollution was also developed. Here\, we use two plant growth indexes (seed germination rate and root elongation at the initial stage) for three vegetable seeds to assess soil chemical contamination on proximity agriculture.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defense-by-rui-you/
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20200925T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20200925T190000
DTSTAMP:20261018T161739Z
CREATED:20200914T141143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T161739Z
UID:13714-1601049600-1601060400@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD thesis defence by Rubén Francisco Martínez López
DESCRIPTION:The PhD researcher Rubén Francisco Martínez López from the Environmental Toxicology group\, will defend his thesis next 25th September 2020 at 16:00h. \nThesis will be live streamed on this link: https://meet.lync.com/ubarcelona-ub/ncarbo/TM2H4VI6 \nTitle: Integrative analysis of endocrine disruption in zebrafish (Danio rerio) \nDirector: Dr. Benjamin Cayetano Piña Capó and Laia Navarro Martín \nAbstract: \nUnderstanding the mode of action of different pollutants and xenobiotics in human and wildlife is a key step in environmental risk assessment. Omic technologies allow the study of the global status at different biological levels (transcriptome\, metabolome\, lipidome…) from a holistic and integrative point of view. The omic data fusion and integration of the effects at these different levels is an extremely useful method to elucidate the mode of action (MoA) of the pollutants and to propose adverse outcome pathways (AOPs). \nIn this way\, the aim of this thesis is to determine molecular and phenotypical signatures of exposure of several endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on zebrafish (Danio rerio) eleutheroembryos\, which constitutes an excellent model for endocrine disruption. \nMorphometric and transcriptomic (RNA-Sequencing) studies were carried out in individuals exposed to bisphenol A (BPA)\, perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and tributyltin (TBT). Further metabolic\, epigenetic (DNA methylation and miRNAs) and lipidomic (thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry) studies were performed only in BPA-exposed individuals. Main effects of BPA included lipid metabolism disruption\, yolk sac malabsorption syndrome and lipid retention (obesogenicity)\, visual system alteration\, and estrogenicity. Some of its effects were long-term persistent and could be mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. PFOS had immunosuppressive and anorexic-like properties\, it disrupted the transcription of genes related to cell adhesion molecules (CAMs)\, and the exposed eleutheroembryos presented muscle-skeletal alterations (scoliosis and kyphosis). Finally\, TBT disrupted the transcription of genes related to steroid and cell cycle metabolism\, and elicited a general developmental delay (diapause-arrest effect) in the exposed individuals. \nPhenotypic observations were related to their transcriptomic alterations and their proposed molecular initiation event (MIE)\, allowing the design of an AOP for each of the studied EDCs. Overall\, this thesis shows the usefulness of transcriptomics and of data integration at different biological levels to discern AOPs and MIE\, therefore contributing to a deeper comprehension of the toxicity and the mode of action of BPA\, PFOS and TBT. We consider that these results can be extrapolated to understand the toxic effects of these compounds in other animals\, including humans.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-ruben-francisco-martinez-lopez/
LOCATION:Sala de Graus (edifici Aulari)\, Facultat de Biologia UB
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20200921T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Madrid:20200921T150000
DTSTAMP:20261018T161739Z
CREATED:20200910T141413Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261018T161739Z
UID:13713-1600689600-1600700400@idaea.csic.es
SUMMARY:PhD thesis defence by Anna Marqueño Bassols
DESCRIPTION:The PhD researcher Anna Marqueño Bassols from the Environmental Toxicology group\, will defend her thesis next 21st September 2020 at 12:00h. \nTitle: New tools for the detection of lipid disruptors and environmental obesogens \nDirector: Dr. Cinta Porte Visa \nAbstract: \nLipidomics is one of the newest omics sciences\, which has proven their utility in medical research for the discovery of biomarkers and altered metabolic pathways related to disease. Its application in environmental sciences is becoming relevant due to the important role of lipids in development\, maintenance\, and reproduction of metazoans. At the cellular level\, lipids are involved in energy storage\, signaling\, and exhibit structural functions. Organisms contain thousands of different lipid species with rather similar structures. The latest advances in mass spectrometry have prompted the field of lipidomics\, allowing a better annotation of the lipid species of different biological matrices (cells\, biofluids\, tissues)\, but also the detection of alterations as a response to chemical pollution exposure. \nThree analytical techniques based on high-resolution mass spectrometry have been used for the characterization of the lipid profile of different biological models. The first method\, flow injection analysis coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry represents a powerful tool since\, just in two minutes\, it provides a quick screening of the lipid profile of cellular lipids. The other two methods\, which incorporate ultra-high performance liquid chromatography for the previous separation of the lipids\, have allowed the detection of minority species\, and the application of tandem mass spectrometry together with an untargeted approach for data processing provided a more comprehensive lipid profile\, together with the confirmation of lipid identities. \nThese analytical techniques have been used for the study of the impact of several widespread environmental pollutants on the lipid metabolism of both human and fish cell models\, comprising plastic additives (BPA\, BPF\, BADGE\, BADGE·H2O\, BADGE·2HCl)\, the obesogenic compound tributyltin\, all-trans retinoic acid\, the synthetic progestin drospirenone and a complex mixture of environmental pollutants (field study). Lipidomics\, together with some toxicological assays and the use of real-time polymerase chain reaction have allowed drawing a more complete scenario of the toxicological effects of the chemicals under study. Overall\, this thesis aims to contribute to the use of lipidomics in environmental research by proposing useful biological models and workflows for the characterization of the mode of action of environmental pollutants with the capability to act as lipid disruptors.
URL:https://idaea.csic.es/event/phd-thesis-defence-by-anna-marqueno-bassols/
LOCATION:Aula Eduard Fontserè\, Facultat de Física i Química (UB)
CATEGORIES:Thesis Defence
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