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El modelo de producción actual, basado en una economía lineal de “Extraer, Fabricar, Consumir, Desechar”, hace que la cantidad de residuos que se generan sea cada vez mayor. Según la Organización de las Naciones Unidas, cada año se recolectan en el mundo una cantidad estimada de 11.200 millones de toneladas de residuos sólidos y, según el Banco Mundial, los desechos a nivel global crecerán un 70 % para 2050, a menos que se adopten medidas urgentes [1, 2]. Solo por poner algunos ejemplos, cada minuto se compran en el mundo 1.000.000 de botellas plásticas, y al año se usan en el planeta 5 billones de bolsas de plástico de usar y tirar [1]. Además, de todo el plástico producido en la historia, solo se ha reciclado el 9 %, y aproximadamente un 12 % se ha incinerado. Por lo tanto, el 79 % restante se ha acumulado en vertederos, basureros o en el medio ambiente. Afortunadamente, la conciencia sobre el tratamiento de los residuos plásticos está aumentando, debido en parte a visibilidad de éstos en zonas como mares, playas y ríos.

Saint John's wort ( L., HP) is commonly registered in Europe under the THR scheme (Traditional Herbal Registration) or licensed as a medicine. Nonetheless unregulated medical products and food supplements are accessible through the internet which are often of poor quality. The species' natural distribution stretches through large regions of Europe to China and four subspecies have been distinguished. When compared to the European Pharmacopoeia reference, the presence of additional compounds was linked to so-called Chinese HP. In order to obtain an integrated picture of the entire chemoprofile, the chemical composition of HP was studied using a combination of techniques well-established in the relevant industries. The impact of phytogeographic factors on the can shed light on whether the variability of the final products is strongly influenced by these factors of whether they relate to poor processing, adulteration, or other factors linked to the processing of the material. Eighty-six samples (77 . ) were collected from 14 countries. Most were authenticated and harvested in the wild; others came as roughly ground material from commercial cultivations, markets and pharmacies. The samples were analyzed using HPTLC and H-NMR-based principal component analysis (PCA). Limited chemical variability was found. Nonetheless, the typical fingerprint of Chinese HP was observed in each specimen from China. Additional compounds were also detected in some samples collected in Spain. Rutin is not necessarily present in the crude material. The variability previously found in the marketed products can be ascribed only partially to the geographical origin of harvested material, but mainly to the plant part harvested, closely related to harvesting techniques, processing and probably time of harvest. HP can be sourced in a consistent composition (and thus quality) from different geographical sources. However, chemical variability needs to be accounted for when evaluating what is considered authentic good material. Therefore, the processing and good practice are all stages of primary importance, calling for a better (self-)regulation and quality assurance along the value chain of an herbal medical product or botanical.

Biofuels are a new priority in efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels; nevertheless, the rapid increase in production of biofuel feedstock may threaten biodiversity. There are general principles that should be used in developing guidelines for certifying biodiversity-friendly biofuels. First, biofuel feedstocks should be grown with environmentally safe and biodiversity-friendly agricultural practices. The sustainability of any biofuel feedstock depends on good growing practices and sound environmental practices throughout the fuel-production life cycle. Second, the ecological footprint of a biofuel, in terms of the land area needed to grow sufficient quantities of the feedstock, should be minimized. The best alternatives appear to be fuels of the future, especially fuels derived from microalgae. Third, biofuels that can sequester carbon or that have a negative or zero carbon balance when viewed over the entire production life cycle should be given high priority. Corn-based ethanol is the worst among the alternatives that are available at present, although this is the biofuel that is most advanced for commercial production in the United States. We urge aggressive pursuit of alternatives to corn as a biofuel feedstock. Conservation biologists can significantly broaden and deepen efforts to develop sustainable fuels by playing active roles in pursuing research on biodiversity-friendly biofuel production practices and by helping define biodiversity-friendly biofuel certification standards.

Widely considered a hermetic text of avant-garde modernism for its inaccessibility to the “common reader,” James Joyce’s magnum opus Ulysses is literally esoteric with allusions to Kabbalistic concepts, terms of Hindu cosmology, Trinitarian heresies, and Continental mystics; quasi-ironic references to Dublin Theosophists; the protagonist Leopold Bloom’s Freemasonry; and structural use of Platonic/Aristotelian metaphysics. However, the esotericism of Ulysses is not confined to the text’s cavalier allusiveness. Nor is the religious origin of Joyce’s art merely part of the personal mythology of the author, a relapsed Catholic, whose Eucharistic aesthetic endeavors to “transmut[e] the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everliving life.” This article argues that esotericism is a fundamental principle underlying the composition of Ulysses, its envisaged relationship with the “implied reader,” and its larger socio-cultural ramifications. It explores the literary esotericism of Ulysses as analogous to religious esotericism with reference to: the idea of the book as cosmos with the chaotic “word” as its prima materia; its archetypal/symbolic consciousness; the idea of infinity as a hermeneutic principle; manifestation of the ideas of initiation and secrecy as hermeneutic challenges; the self-imposed antithetical character of avant-garde modernism vis-à-vis the mainstream; and the possibility of deciphering a Joycean “vision.”

Las fuentes textuales grecolatinas nos transmiten la especial consideración del lino para los antiguos egipcios y la prohibición de la lana en contextos religiosos. Este artículo pretende hacer evaluar estas informaciones, proponiendo un marco temporal en el que el lino se convirtió en la materia prima textil hegemónica de la esfera religiosa del valle del Nilo.

This book is a study of the fourth-century sophist Libanius, a major intellectual figure who ran one of the most prestigious schools of rhetoric in the later Roman Empire. He was a tenacious adherent of pagan religion and a friend of the emperor Julian, but also taught leaders of the early Christian church like St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. Raffaella Cribiore examines Libanius's training and personality, showing him to be a vibrant educator, though somewhat gloomy and anxious by nature. She traces how he cultivated a wide network of friends and former pupils and courted powerful officials to recruit top students. Cribiore describes his school in Antioch--how students applied, how they were evaluated and trained, and how Libanius reported progress to their families. She details the professional opportunities that a thorough training in rhetoric opened up for young men of the day. Also included here are translations of 200 of Libanius's most important letters on education, almost none of which have appeared in English before. Cribiore casts into striking relief the importance of rhetoric in late antiquity and its influence not only on pagan intellectuals but also on prominent Christian figures. She gives a balanced view of Libanius and his circle against the far-flung panorama of the Greek East.

From the first third of the 15th century onwards, panel paintings with marbled reverses increasingly appeared in Flemish art. The fronts of these panels primarily depicted religious narrative scenes or portraits. The backs were decorated with an abstract pattern, referred to as marbling. These painted marble facsimiles often differed in terms of design from other examples of stone imitations such as those used on the frame decorations of other panels. Unlike these frames, which suggest a greater illusionistic intention, the marbled reverses appear to function as abstract ornamentation. However, this article proposes that the painted backs are thematically linked to the pictorial narratives of the fronts. The marbled backs of Rogier van der Weyden’s Crucifixion and the Portrait of Margareta van Eyck will be considered in the context of a profane and a theological iconography. Both panels feature a reverse that can be identified as both an imitation of red porphyry and a representation of liquid paint. Metaphysical, material–semantic, and theological references will be revealed in the pictorial examples.

The aim of the present study was to determine fungal genera, Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium species and aflatoxin B1 contamination from raw materials and finished feed intended for fish farm localized in Piaui, Brazil. Aspergillus flavus and P. citrinum were isolated with a high relative density from all samples. In general, a high percent of samples exceeded the levels proposed as feed hygienic quality limits (CFU g-1) according to Good Manufacture Practice. Aflatoxin B1 was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. All raw materials and finished feed showed aflatoxin B1 levels. Although in this study AFB1 levels below recommended limits (20 µg kg-1) were found, it is important to emphasize the feed intake with toxin in low concentrations along time, since it produce chronic deleterious effects in animal production. This fact requires periodic monitoring to prevent the occurrence of chronic aflatoxicosis in aquaculture, to reduce the economic losses and to minimize hazards to animal health.

This title includes a number of Open Access chapters.As the world's energy hunger grows ever larger, fossil fuel reserves are diminishing-and concerns about climate change remind us that our love affair with fossil fuels cannot continue much longer. This has inspired intense research into sustainable energy sources. Biofuels seemed initially promising, but the world soon realized that food-based biofuel has its own dangers. Second-generation biofuels, however, use biomass from crops' inedible parts-such as the stalks and leaves of sugarcane-offering a far more viable solution. In this book, researchers from around the world review some of the most important and timely topics related to using sugarcane feedstock for biofuel.

El rápido incremento en la obesidad, la hipertensión y otras enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles, debido al consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados como grasas y azúcares, y a la situación de inseguridad alimentaria en muchos países de América Latina, ha promovido el desarrollo de alimentos mínimamente procesados, seguros y saludables de fuentes no tradicionales, como los frutos amazónicos, que además de nutrir, tienen un efecto benéfico en la salud. El objetivo de esta revisión bibliográfica fue analizar los principales compuestos biológicos de interés, para evaluar las oportunidades actuales del camu-camu en el desarrollo de alimentos funcionales, teniendo en cuenta la producción científica anual. Entre los frutos amazónicos estudiados en los últimos años, se destaca el camu-camu, un fruto amazónico pequeño, que se caracteriza por su alto valor nutricional, especialmente por su contenido de vitamina C, carotenoides, polifenoles (flavonoides, taninos, antocianinas, etc.) y otros compuestos reconocidos como antioxidantes, cuyo consumo está asociado a la disminución del envejecimiento celular y el estrés oxidativo. Debido a que tiene una vida útil relativamente corta, se han desarrollado diversos productos para garantizar su conservación por más tiempo, además de asegurar sus propiedades nutricionales y funcionales. Este fruto se aprovecha para obtener jugos, yogures, helados, mermeladas y refrescos, entre otros productos. Sin embargo, uno de los mayores potenciales actuales es el uso como ingrediente y/o materia prima en la producción de alimentos convencionales, para otorgarles características de “alimentos funcionales”, para generar un beneficio a la salud, más allá de suplir las necesidades nutricionales.