Effects of overstorey canopy, plant-plant interactions and soil properties on Mediterranean maritime pine seedling dynamics

Seedling emergence, survival and early growth of the Mediterranean conifer P. pinaster were studied under closed canopy and open canopy (gaps) cover conditions in a Mediterranean forest of central Spain during two consecutive years (March 2008 to January 2010). Our main objective was to understand how overstorey structure, shrubs and soil properties influence recruitment in this species. Natural emergence and seedling survival were significantly better under closed canopy cover than under open canopy during the two consecutive years of the study; survival increased as radiation decreased. Proximity to shrubs under closed canopy cover was associated with lower mortality rates as well as a positive and apparently transitive effect on early growth. Amelioration of microclimatic conditions is hypothesized as the primary facilitation agent of those observed. Younger seedlings established during the spring of 2008 experienced higher mortality rates than older seedlings established before 2008, and soil properties affected seedling survival significantly. Water stress during summer appeared to be the main cause of seedling mortality in both years. Our study suggests that seedlings of shade-intolerant species may require overstorey cover to establish successfully, and that positive plant-plant interactions in forest communities may be more important than expected in the milder conditions provided by overstorey canopy cover.Instituto Universitario de Gestión Forestal Sostenibl

Fresh-Cut Fruit and Vegetables: Emerging Eco-friendly Techniques for Sanitation and Preserving Safety

The current high demand of minimally processed or fresh-cut fruit and vegetables results from the consumer’s desire for healthy, convenient, fresh, and ready-to-eat plant food-derived commodities. Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables are usually packaged under active- or passive-modified atmosphere packaging, while its shelf life must be under refrigerated conditions. The most important goal to preserve quality and safety focuses on releasing the microbial spoilage flora, since every unit operation involved will influence the final load. Sanitation in the washing step is the only unit operation able to reduce microbial load throughout the production chain. Chlorine is widely used as an efficient sanitation agent, but some disadvantages force to find eco-friendly emerging alternatives. It is necessary to deal with aspects related to sustainability because it could positively contribute to the net carbon balance besides reducing its use. Several innovative techniques seem to reach that target. However, industrial changes for replacing conventional techniques request a fine knowledge of the benefits and restrictions as well as a practical outlook. This chapter reviews the principles of emerging eco-friendly techniques for preserving quality and safety of fresh-cut products in order to meet the expected market’s demand

Opinión de los estudiantes de farmacia sobre la calidad de las prácticas en el ámbito de la tecnología farmacéutica.

Se presentan aquí los avances de una investigación, todavía en curso, que recoge las aportaciones de los primeros graduados sobre las competencias alcanzadas,así como la relación entre la consecución de dichas competencias y los procesos de evaluación y metodológicos seguidos. Las competencias son referentes básicos de los grados, y la mirada del graduado es especialmente interesante porque complementa la del docente, al tiempo que aporta relevantes aspectos para la mejora de la docencia

Propuesta de la aplicación de la clase inversa (flipped class) al aprendizaje de la calidad farmacéutica

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524No obstante los esfuerzos del profesor para interactuar y hacer clases prácticas, las normativas de calidad explicadas en detalle son difíciles de asimilar y poco atrayentes para los alumnos. Los casos prácticos y actividades propuestas hasta ahora al acabar la clase casi nunca son realizados hasta finales de curso o justo antes del examen. Por ello se propone una metodología diferente en el curso 2015/16: la clase inversa para el aprendizaje del bloque teórico de garantía de calidad de la asignatura Farmacia Galènica III i Gestió de la Qualitat, complementada desde 2012 con una sección práctica y visita a laboratorios farmacéuticos, con muy buena acogida por los alumnos. El fin es aumentar la comprensión normativa con el método del caso. Comporta trabajar en clase y no solo leer diapositivas que también se encuentran en el campus virtual. La metodología propuesta sería: - Comunicación de la impartición de la parte de la asignatura correspondiente a garantía de calidad mediante la clase inversa, consistente en realizar en clase los casos prácticos, habiéndo ellos de preparar el temario con los apuntes bibliográficos facilitados por el profesor previamente. Se colgará el material docente de una semana, comprendiendo apuntes, presentación, material de ampliación y actividades. Además, los cuestionarios on-line ayudarán a concretar y retener conceptos. - Resolución de actividades durante la clase. En los últimos 15 minutos se hará un resumen de los principales puntos del tema. - Valoración de las calificaciones finales, entre alumnos con clase inversa respecto a los de clase clásica. Realización de comparativas con las calificaciones del curso previo

Revalidación del proceso e instrumentos de evaluación de la competencia de aprendizaje y responsabilidad (nivel novel) en el ámbito de la formación práctica

Podeu consultar la Vuitena trobada de professorat de Ciències de la Salut completa a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/66524El Grado de Farmacia-UB desarrolla el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje relacionado con la materia Farmacia Galénica en un conjunto de asignaturas impartidas secuencialmente en 1º, 3º, 4º y 5º curso del grado. Por ello, y dado el actual contexto GIDTF, se propuso desarrollar gradualmente la competencia transversal Capacidad de aprendizaje y responsabilidad asociándola a las actividades prácticas de las mencionadas asignaturas. Como instrumento de evaluación se seleccionó la rúbrica y en cuanto a la metodología de evaluación se optó, una vez consensuados los criterios de evaluación y la escala de calificación, por una modalidad de evaluación compartida (coevaluación) combinando la autoevaluación de los estudiantes con la evaluación de los profesores. Tras un proceso de armonización de 3 años se realizaron una serie de modificaciones en las rúbricas diseñadas. En el presente trabajo se..

Direct determination of free Zn concentration in samples of biological interest

The speciation of essential metal ions in biological fluids, such as blood plasma and serum, is of fundamental importance to understand the homeostasis of these elements. The activity of metal ions such as Zn2+ in extracellular media is thought to affect their interaction with membrane-bound transporters, and thus is critical for their cellular uptake. Previous approaches to determine “free” Zn2+ (i.e. the hexa-aquo ion) are based on separation by either chromatography or ultrafiltration, or on metallochromic dyes. However, both types of approach are prone to affect the relevant equilibria. These drawbacks can be circumvented with the electroanalytical technique AGNES (Absence of Gradients and Nernstian Equilibrium Stripping), since it can measure free zinc concentration without perturbing the sample speciation. Here, a Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) + Zn synthetic mixture and Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) are analyzed as proof of concept. Adsorption of BSA on the surface of the Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode (HMDE), despite the advantage of its renewal, is so intense that it blocks appropriate attainment of the required equilibrium, and only estimations of [Zn2+] can be derived. In contrast, a rotating disc electrode with a thin mercury film deposited on it (TMF-RDE) is advantageous because of its small volume and enhanced mass transfer. Protein adsorption can be prevented by covering the TMF-RDE with Nafion. A free Zn concentration [Zn2+] = 2.7 nmol L−1 was found at pH 7.0, total Zn 20 μμmol L−1 and BSA 600 μμmol L−1. A sample of FBS with fixed pH 7.2 (MOPS 0.08 mol L−1) yielded [Zn2+] = 0.25 nmol L−1. This methodology opens the way to free metal concentration determinations in biological fluids

Phylogenetically Diverse Mesorhizobium Strains: Effect in the Root Colonization and Development of Tomato Seedlings.

Mesorhizobium contains species widely known as nitrogen-fixing bacteria with legumes, but their ability to promote the growth of non-legumes has been poorly studied. Here, we analyzed the production of indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophores and the solubilization of phosphate and potassium in a collection of 24 strains belonging to different Mesorhizobium species. All these strains produce IAA, 46% solubilized potassium, 33% solubilize phosphate and 17% produce siderophores. The highest production of IAA was found in the strains Mesorhizobium ciceri CCANP14 and Mesorhizobium tamadayense CCANP122, which were also able to solubilize potassium. Moreover, the strain CCANP14 showed the maximum phosphate solubilization index, and the strain CCANP122 was able to produce siderophores. These two strains were able to produce cellulases and cellulose and to originate biofilms in abiotic surfaces and tomato root surface. Tomato seedlings responded positively to the inoculation with these two strains, showing significantly higher plant growth traits than uninoculated seedlings. This is the first report about the potential of different Mesorhizobium species to promote the growth of a vegetable. Considering their use as safe for humans, animals and plants, they are an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical fertilizers for non-legume crops in the framework of sustainable agricultur

Detection of exon skipping events in BRCA1 RNA using MLPA kit P002

A rapid and easy method to screen for aberrant cDNA would be a very useful diagnostic tool in genetics since a fraction of the DNA variants found affect RNA splicing. The currently used RT-PCR methods require new primer combinations to study each variant that might affect splicing. Since MLPA is routinely used to detect large genomic deletions and successfully detected exon skipping events in Duchenne muscular dystrophy in cDNA, we performed a pilot study to evaluate its value for BRCA1 cDNA. The effect of puromycin, DNase I and two different DNA cleaning protocols were tested in the RNA analysis of lymphocyte cultures. We used two samples from unrelated families with two different BRCA1 exon deletion events, two healthy unrelated controls and six samples from hereditary breast/ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC) patients without BRCA1/2 mutations. Using RNA treated with DNase I and cleaned in a column system from puromycin-treated fractions, we were able to identify the two BRCA1 deletions. Additional HBOC patients did not show additional splice events. However, we were not able to get reproducible results. Therefore, the cDNA-MLPA technique using kit BRCA1 P002 is in our hands currently not reliable enough for routine RNA analysis and needs further optimization

Bioethical Concerns During the COVID-19 Pandemic: What Did Healthcare Ethics Committees and Institutions State in Spain?.

Objectives: Each new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic invites the possible obligation to prioritize individuals’ access to vital resources, and thereby leads to unresolved and important bioethical concerns. Governments have to make decisions to protect access to the health system with equity. The prioritization criteria during a pandemic are both a clinical and legal-administrative decision with ethical repercussion.We aim to analyse the prioritization protocols used in Spain during the pandemic which, in many cases, have not been updated. Method: We carried out a narrative review of 27 protocols of prioritization proposed by healthcare ethics committees, scientific societies and institutions in Spain for this study. The review evaluated shared aspects and unique differences and proffered a bioethical reflection. Results: The research questions explored patient prioritization, the criteria applied and the relative weight assigned to each criterion. There was a need to use several indicators, being morbidity and mortality scales the most commonly used, followed by facets pertaining to disease severity and functional status. Although age was initially considered in some protocols, it cannot be the sole criterion used when assigning care resources. Conclusions: In COVID-19 pandemic there is a need for a unified set of criteria that guarantees equity and transparency in decision-making processes. Establishing treatment indications is not the aim of such criteria, but instead prioritizing access to care resources. In protocols of prioritization, the principle of efficiency must vary according to the principle of equity and the criteria used to guarantee such equity.post-print204 K

Development of cationic solid lipid nanoparticles incorporating cholesteryl-9-carboxynonanoate (9CCN) for delivery of antagomiRsto macrophages

Lipid-based nanoparticles are a useful tool for nucleic acids delivery and have been regarded as a promising approach for diverse diseases. However, off-targets effects are a matter of concern and some strategies to improve selectivity of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were reported. The goal of this study was to test formulations of SLNs incorporating lipid cholesteryl-9-carboxynonanoate (9CCN) as “eat-me” signal to target antagomiR oligonucleotides to macrophages. We formulate four SLNs, and those with a mean diameter of 200 nm and a Z-potential values between 25 and 40 mV, which allowed the antagomiR binding, were selected for in vitro studies. Cell viability, transfection efficiency and cellular uptake assays were performed within in vitro macrophages using flow cytometry and confocal imaging and the SLNs incorporating 25 mg of 9CCN proved to be the best formulation. Subsequently, we used a labeled antagomiR to study tissue distribution in in-vivo ApoE-/- model of atherosclerosis. Using the ApoE-/- model we demonstrated that SLNs with phagocytic signal 9-CCN target macrophages and release the antagomiR cargo in a selective way