An efficient protocol to perform genetic traceability of tissue and foods from Geoffroea decorticans

The quality of a DNA isolation method depends, among others, on the target tissue and the metabolites therein. Geoffroea decorticans Burkart (chanar) is a species that has nutritional and pharmacological potential. However, an effective method of DNA extraction capable of facilitating population studies and food genetic traceability has not been studied yet. The objective of the present work was to evaluate four methods of DNA extraction from leaves and chanar-based foods. The methods were evaluated based on yield, DNA purity, and molecular markers. The CCI-P (CTAB/Chloroform-Isoamylalcohol/pellet) method showed the highest yield of DNA obtained from leaves. However, the CPCI-SC (CTAB/Phenol-Chloroform-Isoamylalcohol/silica-column) method was the only one that resulted in acceptable DNA quality with both parameters (A260/A280 and A260/A230). The leaf DNA obtained with this method showed a greater amount of fragments with RAPD, and an acceptable amount of fragments with ISSR. On the other hand, the CCI-P method showed a higher yield of DNA from arrope de chanar (syrup). However, the CPCI-SC method was the only one that had relatively better DNA quality, which allowed the amplification of molecular markers. Regarding chanar flour, the CPCI-SC method showed the highest yield, DNA quality and good amplification with molecular markers. Therefore, the CPCI-SC extraction method is efficient for obtaining DNA from different matrices, and can support studies for a possible designation of origin of chanar-based foods

Continuous Forest Fire Propagation in a Local Small World Network Model

This paper presents the development of a new continuous forest fire model implemented as a weighted local small-world network approach. This new approach was designed to simulate fire patterns in real, heterogeneous landscapes. The wildland fire spread is simulated on a square lattice in which each cell represents an area of the land's surface. The interaction between burning and non-burning cells, in the present work induced by flame radiation, may be extended well beyond nearest neighbors. It depends on local conditions of topography and vegetation types. An approach based on a solid flame model is used to predict the radiative heat flux from the flame generated by the burning of each site towards its neighbors. The weighting procedure takes into account the self-degradation of the tree and the ignition processes of a combustible cell through time. The model is tested on a field presenting a range of slopes and with data collected from a real wildfire scenario. The critical behavior of the spreading process is investigated

Surface-peaked medium sensitivity of the optical potential: an exact result

Microscopic optical model potentials for elastic hadron-nucleus scattering usually take the form of a convolution of a two-body effective interaction with the target ground-state mixed density. Within the Brueckner-Bethe-Goldstone gmatrix approach for the effective interaction, nuclear medium effects are made explicit by means spatial integrals throughout the bulk of the nucleus. In this contribution we discuss a novel and exact approach to track down the manifestation of intrinsic nuclear medium effects. After examining the momentumand coordinate-space structure of a two-body effective interaction –spherically symmetric in its mean coordinate– it is demonstrated that the intrinsic medium effects in the optical potential depend solely on the gradient of a reduced interaction. This feature implies the confinement of intrinsic medium effects to regions where the density varies most, i.e. the nuclear surface. This finding may be of special significance in the study of nuclear collisions sensitive to the peripheric structure of nuclei. We illustrate some of its implications in the context of 10Be + p elastic scattering at 39.1A MeV

Observations on the water distribution and extractable sugar content in carrot slices after pulsed electric field treatment

peer-reviewedThe impact of pulsed electric field (PEF) processing conditions on the distribution of water in carrot tissue and extractability of soluble sugars from carrot slices was studied. Time domain NMR relaxometry was used to investigate the water proton mobility in PEF-treated carrot samples. Three distinct transverse relaxation peaks were observed in untreated carrots. After PEF treatment only two slightly-overlapping peaks were found; these were attributed to water present in the cytoplasm and vacuole of carrot xylem and phloem tissues. This post-treatment observation indicated an increase in water permeability of tissues and/or a loss of integrity in the tonoplast. In general, the stronger the electric field applied, the lower the area representing transverse relaxation (T2) values irrespective of treatment duration. Moreover an increase in sucrose, β- and α-glucose and fructose concentrations of carrot slice extracts after PEF treatment suggested increases in both cell wall and vacuole permeability as a result of exposure to pulsed electric fields.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Irish Phytochemical Food Network (IPFN) project funded under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM, 06/TNI/AFRC6) of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. Dr. Aguiló-Aguayo thanks Generalitat of Catalonia for the postdoctoral grant Beatriu de Pinós (BP-DGR2010). E. Balagueró thanks the Lifelong Learning Programme for the internship grant Leonardo da Vinci MOTIVA3 (201 1-1-ES1-LEO02-34225)

Efectos de los temporales sobre las playas de la Bahía de Cádiz

[Resumen] En el presente trabajo se estudian los efectos que los temporales de Diciembre e 1995 y Enero de 1996 tuvieron sobre las playas de la Bahía de Cádiz. Del análisis del oleaje incidente se observa cómo sus efectos se multiplican cuando los picos de temporal coinciden con el máximo rango de mareas. Los cambios morfológicos registrados en las playas se estudian mediante el perfilamiento pre y post-temporal de playas tanto naturales como regeneradas artificialmente. La cuantificación de dichos cambios muestra cómo la forma inicial de los perfiles es determinante en el tipo de respuesta de las playas frente a olejaes de gran energía. También se manifiestan procesos de erosión en cordones dunares, mediante incisiones, desbordamientos, etc. La estimación final de los daños sufridos por las playas revela mayores pérdidas en aquellas zonas donde la presión antrópica es mayor[Abstract] The work deals with the effects that the storm surges of December-1995 and January-1996 made upon the beaches of Cádiz Bay (SW Spain). From the incidentwave analysis it can be deduced that the effects are much stronger when the surge peak coincides with maximum tidal ranges. The morphological changes recorded in the beaches are studied through pre- and post-surge profiling of both natural and artificially nourished beaches. The quantification of such morphological transformations shows that the initial beach profile is determinant in the kind of response of the beach to high wave-energy conditions. The erosive processes upon dune ridges are represented by gullying, overwashing, etc. The final estimation of losses in the beaches reveals higher damages in zones where anthropic preassure is higher

Why Ni3_3Al is an itinerant ferromagnet but Ni3_3Ga is not

Ni$_3$Al and Ni$_3$Ga are closely related materials on opposite sides of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. The Stoner factor of Ni is virtually the same in both compounds and the density of states is larger in Ni$_3$Ga. So, according to the Stoner theory, it should be more magnetic, and, in LDA calculations, it is. However, experimentally, it is a paramagnet, while Ni$_3$Al is an itinerant ferromagnet. We show that the critical spin fluctuations are stronger than in Ni$_3$Ga, due to a weaker q-dependence of the susceptibility, and this effect is strong enough to reverse the trend. The approach combines LDA calculations with the Landau theory and the fluctuation-dissipation theorem using the same momentum cut-off for both materials. The calculations provide evidence for strong, beyond LDA, spin fluctuations associated with the critical point in both materials, but stronger in Ni$_3$Ga than in Ni$_3$Al.Comment: replaced (incorrect version submitted

Utility of heavy minerals distribution and granulometric analyses in the study of coastal dynamics: Application to the littoral between Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Rota (Cadiz, southwest Iberian Peninsula)

The present paper deals with grain size and heavy minerals distribution in the sandy coastal sediments of the littoral between the cities of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Rota. We have related these distributions to the predominant southward littoral drift and the possible source contributions, mostly represented by the Guadalquivir and Guadalete Rivers. The littoral studied is composed of fine sand in the northern sector and medium sand in its central and southern sectors. Heavy minerals were identified using X-ray analysis: the most abundant in the study area are epidote and garnet. We found that their concentrations and sizes decrease from north to south according to the coastal drift, whereas the grain morphology and the mineralogical component generally remain constant.Este trabajo trata de las distribuciones granulométrica y de minerales pesados de los sedimentos arenosos del tramo de litoral comprendido entre las ciudades de Sanlúcar de Barrameda y Rota (suroeste de la península Ibérica). Se han relacionado dichas distribuciones con la deriva litoral predominante hacia el Sur y con las fuentes de aporte de sedimentos constituidas por los ríos Guadalquivir y Guadalete. El litoral estudiado se caracteriza por arena fina en su parte norte y arena media en su parte central y meridional. Los minerales pesados se han identificado mediante rayos X: los más abundantes en el área estudiada son epidota y granate. Se ha deducido cómo sus concentraciones y tamaños disminuyen de norte a sur de acuerdo con la deriva litoral, manteniéndose el conjunto mineralógico y la morfología de los granos constante.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Sequential Monte Carlo with transformations.

This paper examines methodology for performing Bayesian inference sequentially on a sequence of posteriors on spaces of different dimensions. For this, we use sequential Monte Carlo samplers, introducing the innovation of using deterministic transformations to move particles effectively between target distributions with different dimensions. This approach, combined with adaptive methods, yields an extremely flexible and general algorithm for Bayesian model comparison that is suitable for use in applications where the acceptance rate in reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo is low. We use this approach on model comparison for mixture models, and for inferring coalescent trees sequentially, as data arrives

Estudio petrológico de la "Unidad Salina" de la Cuenca del Tajo

Se presenta un esquema fotogeológico de los principales afloramien tos de Ja Unidad Salina y un mapa de distribución de las facies evaporíticas. Se estudia la petrografía de la Unidad Salina de la Cuenca del Tajo, que presenta una interesante paragénesis de sa les sódicas. Se describen estructu ras de deformación en facies anhidrítico - magnesíticas, diferentes formas de cristales de anhidrita (idiomorfos, manojos (asciculares, cristales en " lazo" ... ). texturas seudomórficas en yeso. texturas primarias y secundarias en glauberita y halita. Se analizan también las diferentes facies texturales polihalíticas, entre las que cabe destacar las esferulíticas y las "afieltradas", así como las facies thenardíticas. De todo ello se deduce una secuencia mineralógica