548 research outputs found
PUMA Survey 5.1. Insights in societal changes in Austria
No full textFull edition for scientific use. PUMA Surveys consist of separate modules designed and prepared by different principle investigators. This PUMA Survey consists of three modules: MODUL 1 "Sexismus und Rechtfertigung ungleicher politischer Repräsentation", MODULE 2 "Political Gender Stereotypes in Austria: Existence, Sources and Consequences for Preferential Votes", MODULE 3 "Values dilemma or democratic compromise? The case of welfare entitlements for native citizens and immigrants". Fieldwork was conducted by Statistics Austria. MODUL 1: Sexismus und Rechtfertigung ungleicher politischer Repräsentation (Julian Aichholzer, Martina Zandonella) Frauen sind in politischen Ämtern, auch in Österreich, immer noch unterrepräsentiert. Normative Ansätze der Demokratietheorie etwa fordern jedoch eine weitgehende „deskriptive“ Repräsentation ein, d.h. die möglichst nahe Abbildung des Elektorats durch seine Repräsentantinnen und Repräsentanten. Ein weiteres Argument ist, dass ein höherer Frauenanteil (Anpassung der deskriptiven Repräsentation) die „substantielle“ Repräsentation, d.h. Politik-Outputs zu Gunsten spezifischer Interessen und Bedürfnisse von Frauen, stärken könnte (vgl. Wängnerud, 2009). Gegenstand des vorliegenden Beitrags ist der Versuch der Erklärung der genannten Geschlechterungleichheit im österreichischen Parlament durch Einstellungen in der Bevölkerung, d.h. Demand-Side-Faktoren. Im Folgenden sprechen wir von einem „politischen Sexismus“ in Hinblick auf die politische Repräsentation durch Frauen, d.h. „kategoriegestützte Kognitionen (Stereotype), Affekte (Vorurteile) und Verhaltensweisen (Diskriminierung) …, die auf einen ungleichen sozialen Status von Frauen und Männern hinwirken“ (Eckes, 2008, S. 176), der sich u.a. in mangelnder Repräsentation in politischen Funktionen äußert. Die Studie hat das Ziel, mittels der repräsentativen PUMA-Befragung (1.) diese Art des Sexismus in der öffentlichen Meinung abzubilden; (2.) sollen die möglichen Modi der Repräsentation – konkret im österreichischen Parlament – untersucht werden. Wir beschreiben diese als: a.) Akzeptanz der bestehenden Ungleichverteilung (d.h. Status-Quo), b.) Wunsch nach Gender-Parität (exakte Gleichverteilung) oder c.) ein meritokratisches bzw. Leistungsargument, d.h. Repräsentation sollte sich nach Fähigkeiten richten.Die Studie soll dazu beitragen, jene Faktoren zu verstehen, die eine demokratische Repräsentation von Frauen auf Seiten der Bevölkerung behindern. Darüber hinaus können die Ergebnisse praktische Implikationen für Sensibilisierungskampagnen zum Thema Sexismus haben. MODULE 2: Political Gender Stereotypes in Austria: Existence, Sources and Consequences for Preferential Votes (Zoe Lefkofridi, Nathalie Giger, Anne Maria Holli) Stereotyped views of female politicians constitute one reason for the sluggish advancement of women’s political representation in many countries. Austria is a very interesting case with regard to gender equality because it exhibits one the highest gender pay gaps in Europe, combined with strong horizontal and vertical segregation in occupation; crucially, Austria does not score high on female parliamentary representation comparatively. These facts beg the following questions: Do political gender stereotypes exist in Austria today? Who is most likely to hold political gender stereotypes? How do stereotypes they affect candidate evaluation? To what extent do they matter for Austrian citizens’ political behaviour? In pursuit of these research questions, a module that allows studying the role of gender stereotypes in Austrian politics was fielded by PUMA in June 2018. This novel data enables a pioneering analysis of: the extent to which Austrian citizens’ perceptions of political candidates are structured by gender stereotypes; the sources of gender stereotypes as well as their effects on political behaviour. MODULE 3: Values dilemma or democratic compromise? The case of welfare entitlements for native citizens and immigrants (Carolina Plescia) The data collection carried out within PUMA had the aim to investigate citizens’ support of and willingness to compromise on specific welfare programmes. This project advances and tests a novel theoretical argument that links citizens’ moral attitudes to the justice principle that underpins welfare programmes and examine the extent to which moral attitudes moderate citizens’ support of and willingness to compromise on welfare entitlements for native citizens and immigrants. Due to space concerns, this report discusses only the findings related to support for welfare programmes while findings related to compromise are available from the author upon request
Photocatalytic mineralization and degradation kinetics of sulphamethoxazole and reactive red 194 over silver-zirconium co-doped titanium dioxide: Reaction mechanisms and phytotoxicity assessment
No full textThe photodegradation and phytotoxicity of the pharmaceutical antibiotic, sulphamethoxazole (SMX) and the azo-dye reactive-red-194 (RR194) under visible-light irradiation of TiO2 nanoparticles modified by silver and zirconium was investigated. The results indicated that sulphamethoxazole and its toxic degradation by product, 3-amino-5-methylisoxazole and RR-194 could be degraded efficiently by the co-doped Zr/Ag-TiO2 catalyst. PL studies and ROS generation results suggested that the effective charge separation was carried out while irradiation of the modified TiO2 nanoparticles. Phytotoxicity tests demonstrated lower percentage of germination in P. vulgaris (40%), V. radiata (30%) and P. lunatus (30%) of the seeds treated with 50 ppm of SMX, compared to the seeds treated with the degradation products (100%). The results with 50 ppm of RR-194 also showed lower percentage of germination in P. vulgaris (40%), V. radiata (50%) and P. lunatus (30%) compared to the degradation products (100%). Furthermore, significant increase in root and shoot development was observed in the seeds treated with the degraded products when compared with SMX and RR-194. Overall, this study contributes to further understanding the photodegradation mechanisms, degradation products and environmental fate of SMX and RR-194 in water which helps in the evaluation and mitigation of the environmental risk of SMX and RR-194 for water reuse and crop irrigation
Intensification of ozonation processes in a novel, compact, multi-orifice oscillatory baffled column
No full textA novel approach for the intensification of ozonation of water and wastewater is presented using a highly efficient and compact Multi-Orifice Oscillatory Baffled Column (MOBC) ozonation contactor. The MOBC uniquely yielded full (i.e. 100%) use of the ozone supplied with a very short (2.25 min) liquid contact time under continuous operation and reducing the need of further gas-liquid contacting equipment downstream from the MOBC. The increased performance of the MOBC ozonation reactor was benchmarked against a bubble column (BC) design and resulted in 20% increase on the rate of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (p-HBA) degradation, 75% increase in the rate of mineralization of p-HBA per mole of ozone consumed, and 3.2-fold increase in the rate of mineralization of p-HBA per mole of ozone supplied. This results from the very small size of bubbles (few hundreds of microns) and enhanced gas-liquid mass transfer and hold-up generated in the presence of small fluid pulsations and orifice baffles
Efficient conversion of bicarbonate (HCO3−) to acetate and simultaneous heavy metal Cr(VI) removal in photo-assisted microbial electrosynthesis systems combining WO3/MoO3/g-C3N4 heterojunctions and Serratia marcescens electrotroph
No full textThe removal of the hazardous heavy metal Cr(VI) in water and the simultaneous production of acetate from the reduction of inorganic carbon (HCO3−) is demonstrated in a photo-assisted microbial electrosynthesis (MES) system incorporating WO3/MoO3/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunctions and Serratia marcescens Q1 electrotroph cathode. The rates of acetate production (6.1 ± 0.3 mg/L/h) and Cr(VI) removal (4.5 ± 0.1 mg/L/h) recorded at a circuital current of 2.8 ± 0.1 A/m2 were 2.4-fold (acetate production), 1.7-time (Cr(VI) removal) and 1.6-fold (circuital current) of those in the controls recorded in the absence of WO3/MoO3/g-C3N4, and 1.6-fold (acetate production) and 1.8-time (circuital current) of those in the absence of both Cr(VI) and WO3/MoO3/g-C3N4. Photogenerated WO3/MoO3/g-C3N4 conduction bands electrons favored both direct or indirect (via S. marcescens) reductions of Cr(VI) and H+, with the latter producing H2 which was further metabolized by S. marcescens with HCO3− to yield acetate. The higher circuital current drawn under photoirradiation conditions refilled the photo-generated valence band holes in the semiconductor and provided the driving force for the reduction reactions. This study provides an alternative and feasible approach for achieving complete removal of toxic heavy metal from water and industrial waters with simultaneous conversion of inorganic carbon to key block chemicals
Staphylococcus aureus resists UVA at low irradiance but succumbs in the presence of TiO2 photocatalytic coatings
No full textThe aim of this study was to evaluate the bactericidal effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated upon irradiation of photocatalytic TiO 2 surface coatings using low levels of UVA and the consequent killing of Staphylococcus aureus. The role of intracellular enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase in protecting the bacteria was investigated using mutant strains. Differences were observed in the intracellular oxidative stress response and viability of S. aureus upon exposure to UVA; these were found to be dependent on the level of irradiance and not the total UVA dose. The wild type bacteria were able to survive almost indefinitely in the absence of the coatings at low UVA irradiance (LI, 1 mW/cm 2 ), whereas in the presence of TiO 2 coatings, no viable bacteria were measurable after 24 h of exposure. At LI, the lethality of the photocatalytic effect due to the TiO 2 surface coatings was correlated with high intracellular oxidative stress levels. The wild type strain was found to be more resistant to UVA at HI compared with an identical dose at LI in the presence of the TiO 2 coatings. The UVA-irradiated titania operates by a “stealth” mechanism at low UVA irradiance, generating low levels of extracellular lethal ROS against which the bacteria are defenceless because the low light level fails to induce the oxidative stress defence mechanism of the bacteria. These results are encouraging for the deployment of antibacterial titania surface coatings wherever it is desirable to reduce the environmental bacterial burden under typical indoor lighting conditions
Synergistic induced charge transfer switch by oxygen vacancy and pyrrolic nitrogen in MnFe2O4/g-C3N4 heterojunctions for efficient transformation of bicarbonate to acetate in photo-assisted MES
No full textInorganic carbon (HCO3-) was efficiently converted into acetate (204.4 ± 0.5 mM with a coulombic efficiency of 96 ± 3% over 24 days operation) in a photo-assisted microbial electrosynthesis system (MES) using a urea-treated MnFe2O4/g-C3N4 cathode and the nonphotosynthetic bacteria Serratia marcescens Q1. The remarkable photocatalytic performance of MnFe2O4/g-C3N4 heterojunction was resulted from the charge transfer mechanism switch (from type II to Z-scheme) induced by the synergistic effect of oxygen vacancies and pyrrolic N after urea treatment. The increased pyrrolic N was conductive to photoinduced electron transfer while the oxygen vacancies provided a higher fraction of surface-active sites for H2 evolution, which was metabolized in-situ with bicarbonate by S. marcescens Q1 to yield acetate via the Wood–Ljungdahl pathway. This study provides a simple and feasible strategy for switching the photocatalytic charge transfer in a spinel-based heterojunction and offers new insights for ingeniously synthesizing photocatalysts with high CO2 conversion in MES
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PuMA: A papillomavirus genome annotation tool
No full textHigh-throughput sequencing technologies provide unprecedented power to identify novel viruses from a wide variety of (environmental) samples. The field of 'viral metagenomics' has dramatically expanded our understanding of viral diversity. Viral metagenomic approaches imply that many novel viruses will not be described by researchers who are experts on (the genomic organization of) that virus family. We have developed the papillomavirus annotation tool (PuMA) to provide researchers with a convenient and reproducible method to annotate and report novel papillomaviruses. PuMA currently correctly annotates 99% of the papillomavirus genes when benchmarked against the 655 reference genomes in the papillomavirus episteme. Compared to another viral annotation pipeline, PuMA annotates more viral features while being more accurate. To demonstrate its general applicability, we also developed a preliminary version of PuMA that can annotate polyomaviruses. PuMA is available on GitHub (https://github.com/KVD-lab/puma) and through the iMicrobe online environment (https://www.imicrobe.us/#/apps/puma). © The Author(s) 2020.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
Mixotrophic bacteria for environmental detoxification of contaminated waste and wastewater
No full textMixotrophic bacteria provide a desirable alternative to the use of classical heterotrophic or chemolithoautotrophic bacteria in environmental technology, particularly under limiting nutrients conditions. Their bi-modal ability of adapting to inorganic or organic carbon feed and sulfur, nitrogen, or even heavy metal stress conditions are attractive features to achieve efficient bacterial activity and favorable operation conditions for the environmental detoxification or remediation of contaminated waste and wastewater. This review provides an overview on the state of the art and summarizes the metabolic traits of the most promising and emerging non-model mixotrophic bacteria for the environmental detoxification of contaminated wastewater and waste containing excess amounts of limiting nutrients. Although mixotrophic bacteria usually function with low organic carbon sources, the unusual capabilities of mixotrophic electroactive exoelectrogens and electrotrophs in bioelectrochemical systems and in microbial electrosynthesis for accelerating simultaneous metabolism of inorganic or organic C and N, S or heavy metals are reviewed. The identification of the mixotrophic properties of electroactive bacteria and their capability to drive mono- or bidirectional electron transfer processes are highly exciting and promising aspects. These aspects provide an appealing potential for unearthing new mixotrophic exoelectrogens and electrotrophs, and thus inspire the next generation of microbial electrochemical technology and mixotrophic bacterial metabolic engineering
Complete removal of heavy metals with simultaneous efficient treatment of etching terminal wastewater using scaled-up microbial electrolysis cells
No full textThe treatment of actual low and high strengths etching terminal wastewater (ETW) from plating and electronic industry meeting national discharge standards is demonstrated in laboratory scale (1 L) and in scaled-up (40 L) microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). Both cylindrical single-chamber MECs achieved complete removal of heavy metals and efficient treatment of organics using either low strength ETW at an hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 5 d, or high strength wastewater at HRTs of 7 d (1 L) or 9 d (40 L). The removal rate of organics and heavy metals increased by 36-fold and scaled almost with the reactor volume ratio of 40. Electrode potentials in the scaled-up MECs (40 L) were resilient to the wastewater strength. Bacterial communities on both anodes and cathodes of the 1 L and the 40 L reactors experienced a selective shock and a significant community change after switching from low to high strengths wastewater, although reactor performance was effectively maintained. This study demonstrates complete removal of multiple heavy metals with simultaneous efficient wastewater treatment in MECs of different scales meeting China national discharge standards and provides a plausible approach for simultaneous removal of value-added products (e.g., heavy metals) and efficient treatment of practical etching terminal wastewater
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