University of Córdoba (Spain)

About: University of Córdoba (Spain) is a education organization based out in Cordova, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 12006 authors who have published 22998 publications receiving 537842 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Córdoba (Spain) & Universidad de Córdoba.

The need for clean air: the way air pollution and climate change affect allergic rhinitis and asthma

Abstract: Air pollution and climate change have a significant impact on human health and well-being and contribute to the onset and aggravation of allergic rhinitis and asthma among other chronic respiratory diseases. In Westernized countries, households have experienced a process of increasing insulation and individuals tend to spend most of their time indoors. These sequelae implicate a high exposure to indoor allergens (house dust mites, pets, molds, etc), tobacco smoke, and other pollutants, which have an impact on respiratory health. Outdoor air pollution derived from traffic and other human activities not only has a direct negative effect on human health but also enhances the allergenicity of some plants and contributes to global warming. Climate change modifies the availability and distribution of plant- and fungal-derived allergens and increases the frequency of extreme climate events. This review summarizes the effects of indoor air pollution, outdoor air pollution, and subsequent climate change on asthma and allergic rhinitis in children and adults and addresses the policy adjustments and lifestyle changes required to mitigate their deleterious effects.

Advances on waste valorization: new horizons for a more sustainable society

Abstract: Increasingly tighter regulations regarding organic waste, and the demand for renewable chemicals and fuels, are pushing the manufacturing industry toward higher sustainability to improve cost-effectiveness and meet customers’ demand. Food waste valorization is one of the current research areas that has attracted a great deal of attention over the past few years as a potential alternative to the disposal of a wide range of residues in landfill sites. In particular, the development of environmentally sound and innovative strategies to process such waste is an area of increasing importance in our current society. Landfill, incineration and composting are common, mature technologies for waste disposal. However, they are not satisfactory to treating organic waste due to the generation of toxic methane gas and bad odor, high energy consumption and slow reaction kinetics. In fact, research efforts have also been oriented on novel technologies to decompose organic waste. However, no valuable product is generated from the decomposition process. Instead of disposing and decomposing food waste, recent research has focused on its utilization as energy source (e.g., for bioethanol and biodiesel production). Organic waste is also useful to generate useful organic chemicals via biorefinery or white biotechnology (e.g., succinic acid and/or bio-plastics). This article is aimed to summarize recent development of waste valorization strategies for the sustainable production of chemicals, materials, and fuels through the development of green production strategies. It will also provide key insights into recent legislation on management of waste worldwide as well as two relevant case studies (the transformation of corncob residues into functionalized biomass-derived carbonaceous solid acids and their utilization in the production of biodiesel-like biofuels from waste oils in Philippines, as well as the development of a bakery waste based biorefinery for succinic acid and bioplastic production in Hong Kong) to illustrate the enormous potential of biowaste valorization for a more sustainable society. Future research directions and possible sustainable approaches will also be discussed with their respective proofs of concept.

Graphene quantum dots in analytical science

Abstract: Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are small fluorescent nanoparticles with unique properties that make them attractive tools for research in various fields. We review their state of the art in analytical chemistry and summarize their analytical applications. Also, we deal with GQDs as target analytes, a scarcely explored aspect in analytical nanoscience and nanotechnology, and suggest potential future directions for GQD-based analytical research.