Recent, independent and anthropogenic origins of Trypanosoma cruzi hybrids.

The single celled eukaryote Trypanosoma cruzi, a parasite transmitted by numerous species of triatomine bug in the Americas, causes Chagas disease in humans. T. cruzi generally reproduces asexually and appears to have a clonal population structure. However, two of the six major circulating genetic lineages, TcV and TcVI, are TcII-TcIII inter-lineage hybrids that are frequently isolated from humans in regions where chronic Chagas disease is particularly severe. Nevertheless, a prevalent view is that hybridisation events in T. cruzi were evolutionarily ancient and that active recombination is of little epidemiological importance. We analysed genotypes of hybrid and non-hybrid T. cruzi strains for markers representing three distinct evolutionary rates: nuclear GPI sequences (n = 88), mitochondrial COII-ND1 sequences (n = 107) and 28 polymorphic microsatellite loci (n = 35). Using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic approaches we dated key evolutionary events in the T. cruzi clade including the emergence of hybrid lineages TcV and TcVI, which we estimated to have occurred within the last 60,000 years. We also found evidence for recent genetic exchange between TcIII and TcIV and between TcI and TcIV. These findings show that evolution of novel recombinants remains a potential epidemiological risk. The clearly distinguishable microsatellite genotypes of TcV and TcVI were highly heterozygous and displayed minimal intra-lineage diversity indicative of even earlier origins than sequence-based estimates. Natural hybrid genotypes resembled typical meiotic F1 progeny, however, evidence for mitochondrial introgression, absence of haploid forms and previous experimental crosses indicate that sexual reproduction in T. cruzi may involve alternatives to canonical meiosis. Overall, the data support two independent hybridisation events between TcII and TcIII and a recent, rapid spread of the hybrid progeny in domestic transmission cycles concomitant with, or as a result of, disruption of natural transmission cycles by human activities

Genetic characterisation of the murciano-granadina goat with microsatellites

It have been studied 92 animals of the Murciano-Granadina caprine breed with 22 microsatellites in order to get the genetic characterisation of this Spanish breed. Ovine and bovine microsatellites recommended by FAO, ISAG and other authors in the bibliography have been used. These markers were amplified by mean of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique and to get the size separation of the obtained fragments we have developed electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel in an automatic sequencer ABI377XL. In future studies the genetic relationships between this breed an others Spanish and Latin-American caprine breeds will be established. The paternity and maternity have been checked with these microsatellites and this has been used to make a paternity panel with 10-12 markers and an a priori exclusion probability higher than 99,9 percent. This panel is useful to check paternity in this emblematic caprine breed from the South of Spain.Se estudian 92 animales pertenecientes a la raza caprina Murciano-Granadina, mediante 22 marcadores microsatélites con objeto de caracterizar esta raza peninsular española. Se han empleado microsatélites recomendados por la FAO, por la ISAG (International Society of Animal Genetics) y por la bibliografía para este tipo de estudios. Los microsatélites se han amplificado mediante la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR) y los fragmentos amplificados se han separado mediante electroforesis en un secuenciador automático ABI 377XL. En próximos estudios se establecerán las relaciones genéticas de esta raza con otras razas caprinas españolas e iberoamericanas. Se ha llevado a cabo también la comprobación de paternidades y maternidades con estos microsatélites, lo que ha servido para establecer una batería de 10-12 microsatélites con una probabilidad de exclusión a priori superior al 99,9 p.100 que puede resultar muy útil para realizar controles de filiación en esta raza caprina emblemática del sur de España

Leather: a contribution to sustainable goat production

Brazilian Northeast is a potentially good skin producer region due to its livestock farming activities which include more than 90% national goat cense. This exceptional situation with plenty raw material at hand, enables the development of familiar exploitations of goat skin tannery, thus recovering an activity linked to ancestral culture. Misevaluation of leather both by producers and industry, added to unstructured production and lack of research aimed to improve the quality of the final product could be key factors to the poor development of goat leather manufacture up to now in Northeast Brazil. Nevertheless, once transformed this product is reaching high values in international and Brazilian national markets, thus permitting it to became an important income source in the disfavoured Brazilian northeastern arid regions. If producers become aware of the value of their leather and if they are duly remunerated, industry will be offered better products and society will improve employment and performance. The main objective of the present paper is to contribute to point out the possibilities of leather production in the development of goat farming communities form disfavoured regions as a tool to improve the dignity and the quality of life of the producers. Moreover, the development of tannery in rural regions could help to the conservation of animal genetic resources (AGR) of local goat breeds thus contributing to sustainable development in arid or degraded regions.O Nordeste brasileiro, pela sua condição de região agropecuária, é potencialmente bom produtor de peles, superando 90% da população caprina nacional. Esta situação privilegiada, com a matéria-prima ao alcance da indústria coureira, pode permitir o desenvolvimento do curtume de peles de caprino de exploração familiar. Isto representaria a recuperação dessa atividade vinculada a uma cultura tradicional e a garantia de empregos numa região carente. A desvalorização da pele, como produto, pelo produtor e pela indústria, associada à desestruturação da produção, inexistência de cadeia produtiva e carência de pesquisa que contribua para obtenção de um produto de qualidade, são pontos críticos do freio no desenvolvimento da indústria de transformação da pele caprina. Porém, esta matéria-prima alcança alto valor no mercado internacional e nacional brasileiro, como produto transformado, sendo importante fonte de renda. Por isso, enquanto não houver consciência por parte do produtor e não houver remuneração justa da sua atividade, perde a indústria, pela oferta de matéria-prima de menor qualidade e, indiretamente, perde a sociedade, pela falta de geração de emprego e renda. O objetivo principal deste trabalho é contribuir para discussão das possibilidades sobre a produção do couro no desenvolvimento das comunidades caprinocultoras de zonas desfavoráveis do semi-árido nordestino, como ferramenta na melhoria da dignidade e qualidade de vida dos produtores. Além de tudo, o desenvolvimento do curtume em zonas rurais permitiria a conservação dos recursos genéticos animais de caprinos autóctones, contribuindo na direção da pesquisa para o desenvolvimento sustentável

The deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap for autologous reconstruction of large partial mastectomy defects

BACKGROUND:: Breast conservation surgery in the treatment of early stage breast cancer has become increasingly utilized as a means to avoiding mastectomy. While partial mastectomy defects (PMDs) may often be cosmetically acceptable, some cases warrant consideration of reconstructive options, and while several reconstructive options have been described in this role, a series of deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flaps has not been reported to date. METHODS:: A cohort of 18 patients undergoing PMD reconstruction with a DIEP flap were included. Patient-specific data, operation details, cosmetic results, and complication rates were assessed. Oncologic outcomes, in particular recurrence rates, were also evaluated. RESULTS:: In our series there were no cases of partial or total flap necrosis, and overall complications were low. There were two cases of wound infection (both had undergone radiotherapy), managed conservatively, and one case of reoperation due to hematoma. There were no cancer recurrences or effect on oncologic management. Cosmetic outcome was rated as high by both patients and surgeon. The results were thus comparable with other reconstructive options. CONCLUSION:: Although autologous reconstruction has an established complication rate, our results suggest that the DIEP flap may be of considerable value for delayed reconstruction of selected larger partial mastectomy defects. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2010

Genetic characterisation of the majorera goat from Fuerteventura with microsatellites

The economy of the Fuerteventura Island (Canary Islands, Spain) is based in the caprine exploitation, fundamentally the Majorera goat. There are two different ways of management: 1) an intensive or semiextensive production system and 2) an extensive production where the animals have not owner. The last one is a feral goat denominated Guanil or de Costa goat. The Majorera goat is very important due to its high productivity associated to rusticity and adaptability to the dessert environment characteristic of the Fuerteventura Island. In this work the main goal is to do the genetic characterisation of the Majorera goat existing in Fuerteventura Island, including the Guanil goat. It have been studied 96 animals with 22 microsatellites. Ovine and bovine microsatellites recommended by FAO, ISAG and other authors in the bibliography have been used. These markers were amplified by mean of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique and to get the size separation of the obtained fragments we have developed electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel in an automatic sequencer ABI 377XL (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA).Fuerteventura es una isla, por su pasado, presente y tendencias de futuro, fundamentada en la explotación caprina. Básicamente hay dos tipos de gestión: 1) dirigido a una producción económica y 2) basado en perpetuar el uso tradicional de una cabra salvaje por medio de su manejo en batidas por zonas en lo que denominan los ganaderos: apañadas, para ser posteriormente liberadas. Esta dinámica de gestión ha generado la existencia de un tipo de cabra de intensivo o semiextensivo y la denominada de costa o guanil en caso de no tener propietario. La cabra majorera, que puebla esta isla, es de elevada relevancia debido a su alta productividad asociada a la rusticidad y adaptabilidad a un medio tan desértico. En el presente trabajo se aborda la caracterización genética de la población caprina de la isla de Fuerteventura incluyendo de forma inédita la caracterización de la cabra de costa. Se han estudiado 96 animales de la raza majorera, mediante 22 marcadores microsatélites. Se han empleado microsatélites de ovino y de bovino recomendados por la FAO, por la ISAG (International Society of Animal Genetics) y por otros autores en la bibliografía para este tipo de estudios. Los microsatélites se han amplificado mediante la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa (PCR) y los fragmentos amplificados se han separado mediante electroforesis en un secuenciador automático ABI 377XL

Análisis molecular de la cabra blanca andaluza

Se estudian 50 animales pertenecientes a la raza caprina Blanca Andaluza, mediante 27 marcadores microsatélites con objeto de caracterizar esta raza autóctona andaluza. Todos los marcadores resultan polimórficos, habiéndose obtenido entre 3 alelos para los marcadores INRA5, ETH10 y MAF209 y 17 para el BM6526, con un número medio de alelos de 8,2. La Heterocigosidad media esperada ha sido 0,71 y la observada 0,66. Se calculan los valores de Fis para cada microsatélite y se realiza una prueba de equilibrio Hardy-Weinberg mediante la cual se ve que 18 de ellos están en equilibrio

Comfort constraints evaluation in predictive controller for energy efficiency

[EN] This work reflects the results obtained, through simulation, from the study of the comfort constraints of a Model Predictive Controller (MPC), for the energy management of the centralized air conditioning system of a hotel installation. In order to achieve economic efficiency, the proposed controller is based on a prediction model of the behaviour of the energy consumption of the rooms from the hotel historical records. To satisfy the thermal comfort required by the occupants, a more complete comfort zone model is considered than the one used by (Acosta et al., 2016), in one of the constraints of the optimization problem. This allowed greater energy savings, this being the main contribution of this research. The simulations of the presented scenarios were performed with MATLAB®.[ES] En este trabajo se reflejan los resultados obtenidos, vía simulación, del estudio de las restricciones de confort de un controlador predictivo basado en modelo (MPC) no lineal, para la gestión energética del sistema centralizado de climatización de una instalación hotelera. Con el objetivo de lograr eficiencia económica, el controlador empleado utiliza un modelo de predicción del comportamiento del consumo energético de las habitaciones a partir de los registros históricos del hotel. Para satisfacer el confort térmico requerido por los ocupantes, se considera un modelo de zona de confort más completo, que el modelo utilizado por (Acosta et al., 2016), en una de las restricciones del problema de optimización. Esto permitió un mayor ahorro energético, siendo esta la principal contribución de esta investigación. Las simulaciones de los escenarios presentados fueron realizadas con MATLAB®.Este trabajo ha sido realizado gracias al apoyo del personal de la instalación hotelera que facilitó tanto las mediciones en las habitaciones como los registros históricos de consumo energético. El cuarto autor agradece el apoyo del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/FEDER a través del proyecto PGC2018-099312-B-C31; asimismo el apoyo de la Junta de Castilla y León y EU-FEDER (CLU 2017-09).Marchante, G.; Acosta, A.; González, A.; Zamarreño, J.; Álvarez, V. (2021). Evaluación de restricciones de confort en controlador predictivo para la eficiencia energética. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 18(2):150-163. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2020.13937OJS150163182Acosta C. A., González A. I., Zamarreño J.M. and Castelló V., 2008. "A model for energy predictions of a hotel room" 20th European Modeling & Simulation Symposium, (Simulation in Industry). EMSS 2008. Briatico, Italy.Acosta C. A., González A. I., Zamarreño J.M. and Castelló V., 2011. "Modelo para la predicción energética de una instalación hotelera". Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática 8, 309-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2011.09.001Acosta C. A., 2015. "Control Predictivo No Lineal aplicado a la Gestión Energética del Sistema de Climatización Centralizada de las habitaciones de un Inmueble Hotelero", Tesis Doctoral. Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, Cuba.Acosta C. A., González A. I., Zamarreño J.M. and Castelló V., 2015. "Controlador Predictivo No Lineal para la Gestión Energética del Sistema Centralizado de Aire Acondicionado de un Inmueble Hotelero". Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática 12, 376-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2015.07.003Acosta C. A., González A. I., Zamarreño J.M. and Castelló V., 2016. "Energy savings and guaranteed thermal comfort in hotel rooms through nonlinear model predictive controllers". 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Springer-Verlag.Castilla M., Álvarez J.D., Berenguel M., Pérez M., Rodríguez F. and Guzmán J.L., 2010. "Técnicas de control de confort en edificios". Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática 7, 5-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1697-7912(10)70038-8Castilla M., Álvarez J.D., Normey-Rico J.E. and Rodríguez F., 2012. "A nonlinear model based predictive control strategy to maintain thermal comfort inside a bioclimatic building". 20th Mediterranean Conference on Control & Automation (MED). Barcelona. Spain, July 3-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/MED.2012.6265714Chávez F.J. ,2002. "Zona Variable de Confort Térmico", Tesis Doctoral, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Barcelona. Sitio web: https://www.tesisenred.net.Da Silva C. F., Freire R. Z. and Mendes N., 2018. "Optimization Applied to Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort of Buildings: Bibliometric Analysis on Techniques and Applications". 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Numerical modelling of multi-directional thin-ply carbon/glass hybrid composites with open holes under tension

Many researchers have used continuum damage mechanics for modelling damage in standard composites. This approach is intrinsically suitable for modelling the progress of damage modes spread over the specimen, which has been widely reported in pseudo-ductile hybrid composites. To the authors' best knowledge, this paper is the first numerical model based on continuum damage mechanics proposed for pseudo-ductile hybrid composites. The proposed constitutive model uses a thermodynamically consistent approach to compute the damage progression in the material. Experimental stress-strain curves and the failure pattern of carbon/glass hybrid lay-ups with gradual failure taken from the literature are compared against the numerical results to validate the model. The model provides a mesh-independent solution with a good prediction of the damage sequence and the overall stress-strain curves of the notched samples. A good correlation in size, location and type of damage mechanism was found between numerical and experimental results. This study indicates that the proposed model can provide a good prediction of the onset and propagation of the damage in notched hybrid composite laminates

Systematic event generator tuning for the LHC

In this article we describe Professor, a new program for tuning model parameters of Monte Carlo event generators to experimental data by parameterising the per-bin generator response to parameter variations and numerically optimising the parameterised behaviour. Simulated experimental analysis data is obtained using the Rivet analysis toolkit. This paper presents the Professor procedure and implementation, illustrated with the application of the method to tunes of the Pythia 6 event generator to data from the LEP/SLD and Tevatron experiments. These tunes are substantial improvements on existing standard choices, and are recommended as base tunes for LHC experiments, to be themselves systematically improved upon when early LHC data is available.Comment: 28 pages. Submitted to European Physical Journal C. Program sources and extra information are available from http://projects.hepforge.org/professor