Desde mediados de la década de los noventa la tasa de homicidios en Bogotá ha descendido continuamente y ha llegado a niveles relativamente bajos dentro del contexto urbano nacional. Aún así, la intensidad de la violencia en el distrito sigue siendo considerable bajo cualquier parámetro internacional y en algunos sectores de la ciudad se registran tasas de homicidio verdaderamente altas. En este artículo se hace una aproximación a la incidencia de estructuras criminales en los niveles de homicidio de la ciudad, a partir de un análisis de las distintas manifestaciones de la violencia y del patrón espacial y de difusión de los homicidios en Bogotá. Tres conclusiones centrales se desprenden de la evidencia sobre violencia homicida en Bogotá para el período 1997-1999: 1) las muertes violentas están altamente concentradas en unos pocos focos y este patrón geográfico es persistente en el tiempo, 2) la violencia de tipo instrumental (los homicidios producto de ajustes de cuentas y de atracos) aporta un mayor número de muertes que la impulsiva (los homicidios resultado de agresiones en el hogar y de riñas callejeras que al calor de los tragos culminan fatalmente), y 3) existe una importante convergencia geográfica entre focos de intensa violencia y presencia de estructuras criminales asociadas a mercados ilegales y a actividades ilícitas y del "bajo mundo". Estas conclusiones controvierten el diagnóstico preponderante en Colombia que le da un mayor peso a los fenómenos urbanos de violencia producto de problemas generalizados de convivencia ciudadana, en particular la intolerancia, y que minimizan o ignoran aquellos que resultan del progresivo aumento de la delincuencia organizada.
The capacity of electroactive bacteria to exchange electrons with electroconductive materials has been explored during the last two decades as part of a new field called electromicrobiology. Such microbial metabolism has been validated to enhance the bioremediation of wastewater pollutants. In contrast with standard materials like rods, plates, or felts made of graphite, we have explored the use of an alternative strategy using a fluid-like electrode as part of a microbial electrochemical fluidized bed reactor (ME-FBR). After verifying the low adsorption capacity of the pharmaceutical pollutants on the fluid-bed electrode [7.92 ± 0.05% carbamazepine (CBZ) and 9.42 ± 0.09% sulfamethoxazole (SMX)], our system showed a remarkable capacity to outperform classical solutions for removing pollutants (more than 80%) from the pharmaceutical industry like CBZ and SMX. Moreover, the ME-FBR performance revealed the impact of selecting an anode potential by efficiently removing both pollutants at + 200 mV. The high TOC removal efficiency also demonstrated that electrostimulation of electroactive bacteria in ME-FBR could overcome the expected microbial inhibition due to the presence of CBZ and SMX. Cyclic voltammograms revealed the successful electron transfer between microbial biofilm and the fluid-like electrode bed throughout the polarization tests. Finally, Vibrio fischeri-based ecotoxicity showed a 70% reduction after treating wastewater with a fluid-like anode (+ 400 mV), revealing the promising performance of this bioelectrochemical approach.
Purple phototrophic bacteria are one of the main actors in chemolithotrophic carbon fixation and, therefore, fundamental in the biogeochemical cycle. These microbes are capable of using insoluble electron donors such as ferrous minerals or even carbon-based electrodes. Carbon fixation through extracellular electron uptake places purple phototrophic bacteria in the field of microbial electrosynthesis as key carbon capturing microorganisms. In this work we demonstrate biomass production dominated by purple phototrophic bacteria with a cathode (−0.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl) as electron donor. In addition, we compared the growth and microbial population structure with ferrous iron as the electron donor. We detect interaction between the cathode and the consortium showing a midpoint potential of 0.05 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Microbial community analyses revealed different microbial communities depending on the electron donor, indicating different metabolic interactions. Electrochemical measurements together with population analyses point to Rhodopseudomonas genus as the key genus in the extracellular electron uptake. Furthermore, the genera Azospira and Azospirillum could play a role in the photoelectrotrophic consortium.
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