Threatened vascular flora of León province

De los más de 2800 taxones que integran la flora vascular leonesa, 200 se han incluido en esta Lista de la Flora Leonesa amenazada. De ellos 61 forman parte de la Lista Roja de la Flora Vascular Española (que previamente sólo recogía 49 para León). Hemos catalogado hasta el momento 30 taxones vulnerables (VU) y 3 en peligro (EN). Los otros 28 están incluidos en la categoría «datos insuficientes» (DD). Incluimos en este trabajo además otros taxones que por sus peculiaridades pueden considerarse de interés; entre ellos, 38 con una sola población en León y, por ello, sometidos en este territorio a cierto grado de amenaza.The León flora includes more than 2800 taxa, from which we include some two hundred (200) in the Red List of the Leon Flora. 61 of them belong to the Red List of the Spanish Vascular Flora (only 49 formerly). From the 61 taxa, we have labelled 30 as Vulnerable (VU), 3 as Endangered (EN), and 28 as «with Deficient Data» (DD). In this paper, we include also other taxa that can be considered as interesting because of their peculiarities, like 38 taxa showing a sole population in León province, and thus threatened in some degree within this territory

Is “Self-Experience” Really a Transdiagnostic Concept? Preliminary Evidence in Favor of the Transdiagnostic Conception of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy

The authors would like to thank the University of Almeria's Contextual Therapies training program for the suggestions about the content of this article and financial support.Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) offers a radically behavioral and transdiagnostic conception of the formation of the “self” and the appearance of a diversity of psychological problems. This study examined the extent to which a wide variety of psychological disorders (somatization, obsessive–compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility/aggressiveness, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism) and a global index of psychopathological severity may in fact be linked to problems of the “self” according to the FAP conception. Two questionnaires, one related to self-experience according to FAP and the other to find the scores on several different psychopathology scales, were administered to 280 adult Spaniards for this purpose. The results confirmed the transdiagnostic nature of the “self”-experience. There are significant and strong correlations between all the psychopathology scales studied and self-experience. Linear regression analyses also show that, along with age and gender, in some cases, the score on self-experience predicts each and every one of the psychopathological variables studied, in addition to the Global Severity Index. These results are discussed and related to the transdiagnostic approach to psychopathology.University of Almeria's Contextual Therapies training progra

Acetic Acid Bacteria and the Production and Quality of Wine Vinegar

The production of vinegar depends on an oxidation process that is mainly performed by acetic acid bacteria. Despite the different methods of vinegar production (more or less designated as either “fast” or “traditional”), the use of pure starter cultures remains far from being a reality. Uncontrolled mixed cultures are normally used, but this review proposes the use of controlled mixed cultures. The acetic acid bacteria species determine the quality of vinegar, although the final quality is a combined result of technological process, wood contact, and aging. This discussion centers on wine vinegar and evaluates the effects of these different processes on its chemical and sensory properties

Characterization of vertical wind speed profiles based on Ward's agglomerative clustering algorithm

Wind turbine blades have been constantly increasing since wind energy becomes a popular renewable energy source to generate electricity. Therefore, the wind sector requires a more efficient and representative characterization of vertical wind speed profiles to assess the potential for a wind power plant site. This paper proposes an alternative characterization of vertical wind speed profiles based on Ward's agglomerative clustering algorithm, including both wind speed module and direction data. This approach gives a more accurate incoming wind speed variation around the rotor swept area, and subsequently, provides a more realistic and complete wind speed vector characterization for vertical profiles. Real wind database collected for 2018 in the Forschungsplattformen in Nordund Ostsee (FINO) research platform is used to assess the methodology. A preliminary pre-processing stage is proposed to select the appropriated number of heights and remove missing or incomplete data. Finally, two locations and four heights are selected, and 561588 wind data are characterized. Results and discussion are also included in this paper. The methodology can be applied to other wind database and locations to characterize vertical wind speed profiles and identify the most likely wind data vector patterns.This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain) (No. PID2021-126082OB-C22)

Estabilidad física de mezclas de aceite esencial de tomillo y un tensioactivo no iónico

El aceite esencial de tomillo es un componente natural con propiedades antioxidantes y antimicrobianas; propiedades que lo hacen muy interesante en campos como el alimentario, el cosmético o el agroalimentario. Los alquil polipentósidos son una nueva clase de tensioactivos derivados de recursos agrícolas renovables como paja de trigo. Son tensioactivos respetuosos con el medio ambiente, ya que muestran alta y rápida biodegradabilidad, así como baja toxicidad. En este trabajo se ha estudiado un alquil polipentósido comercialmente conocido como Appyclean 6548. Este tensioactivo no iónico es sólido a temperatura ambiente y soluble en disolventes orgánicos por lo que para ser usado como emulsionante de emulsiones ecológicas O/W es necesario fundirlo en la fase oleosa. Por este motivo, en esta investigación se estudia el efecto del tratamiento térmico al que es sometida una mezcla aceite esencial de tomillo/Appyclean 6548 en relación en peso 90,9/9,1, sobre su estabilidad física. Adicionalmente, se investiga la influencia de dicho tratamiento sobre la estabilidad física de emulsiones aceite esencial de tomillo/W obtenidas con una fase dispersa de concentración equivalente a la estudiada en la fase previa. Para abordar los objetivos planteados se han usado técnicas como la difracción láser y barridos de retrodispersión de luz.Thyme essential oil is a natural compound with antibacterial and antioxidant activity which are really interesting to be used as functional ingredient in food, cosmetics and agrochemical industries. Alkyl polypentosides are a new class of surfactants which coming from agricultural renewable resources as wheat straw. They are non-toxic and biodegradable surfactants commercially known as Appyclean. In this case, Applyclean 6548 was studied. This non-ionic surfactant is solid and it is immiscible in water so, the emulsifier was melted and dissolved in the oil phase. For this reason, the influence of thermal treatment was studied in a 90.9/9.1 mass ratio (thyme essential oil/Appyclean 6548) on physical stability of these dispersions. Additionally, this influence was investigated on the stability and droplet size distribution of thyme essential oil/W emulsions. In order to achieve this goal laser diffraction and multiple light scattering techniques were used.Plan Propio de la Universidad de Sevilla Proyecto: 2017/00000962Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)/FEDER (UE) CTQ2015-70700-

Synergism Effect between Phenolic Metabolites and Endogenous Antioxidants in Terms of Antioxidant Activity

Polyphenolic compounds, widely distributed in plant kingdom, have been exhaustively studied for their bioactive properties specially antioxidant activity. However, they are extensively metabolized by human organism and the resulting metabolites are largely responsible for their effects. Furthermore, they may interact with the endogenous antioxidant network being this possibility scarcely studied. Plasma antioxidant network encompasses antioxidant enzymes and other substances such as uric acid. In addition, ascorbic acid is the major compound representing water soluble compartment both in foods and human body. The interaction of this vitamin with phenolic compound is largely unexplored. This work aims to study if there is a synergic effect between phenolic metabolites and main antioxidants (uric and ascorbic acid). For this purpose, the antioxidant activity was evaluated in terms of ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capac ity) and FRAP (ferricreducing antioxidant power) as these tests involved either HAT (Hydrogen Atom Transfer) or SET (Single Electron Transfer) mechanisms. Additionally, a kinetic studied was developed to test if the rate constant presented a synergic effect. Protocatechuic acid, 3, 4 -dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, 3,4 -dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid and 3 -hydroxyphenylacetic acid were selected as they were metabolites of polyphenol compounds such as anthocyanins, quercetin, neohesperidin, chlorogenic acid and hesperetin present in wines, orange and strawberries. A synergic effect was proved for the combination of ascorbic acid with 3,4 -dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, both in terms of antioxidant activity and potent increase of velocity of the antioxidant reaction that took place.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL-2010-22152-C03-0

Influencia de la formulación y de las variables de procesado sobre la estabilidad física de emulsiones de aceite esencial de tomillo

En la actualidad, los consumidores tienden a preferir productos que contengan compuestos naturales en lugar de aditivos sintéticos. Este hecho hace que en los últimos tiempos se haya realizado un gran esfuerzo en el estudio de formulaciones de emulsiones cuya fase orgánica está compuesta por aceites esenciales procedentes de plantas aromáticas. Estos aceites, como por ejemplo, el aceite esencial de tomillo (Thymus Vulgaris), constituido principalmente por timol, permiten diseñar productos más ecológicos y más seguros. En este estudio, se ha evaluado la estabilidad física de emulsiones concentradas de aceite de tomillo en función de la concentración de un tensioactivo de baja toxicidad y rápida biodegradación, Appyclean 6548. Dicho tensioactivo es no iónico del tipo alquil polipentósido, cuyo HLB está entre 9.0 y 9.5. En primer lugar, se obtuvo una emulsión primaria mediante el uso de un homogeneizador de alta velocidad rotor-stator, Silverson L5M. Posteriormente, se hizo pasar esta emulsión por un homogeneizador de alta presión por microcanales, Microfluidizer M110P. Finalmente, se estudió la estabilidad de las emulsiones resultantes mediante la combinación de técnicas como la difracción láser y la retrodispersión de luz en toda la longitud del recipiente que contenía la muestra.Nowadays, the consumers tend to prefer product containing natural components instead of synthetic additives. For this reason, recently the researchers have made a great effort to study formulation of emulsions whose organic phase containing essential oils from aromatic plants. These oils, such as, thyme essential oil (Thymus Vulgaris), consisting mainly of thymol, make possible to design more ecological and safer products. In this study, the physical stability of concentrated emulsions has been assessed as a function of a surfactant with low toxicity and rapid biodegradation, Appyclean 6548. This is a non-ionic surfactant, alkylpolypentoside, with HLB of 9.0-9.5. Firstly, a coarse emulsion was obtained by means of a rotor-stator homogenizer. Then, this emulsion was submitted at high pressure by a microchannel homogenizer. Finally, the stability of the resulting emulsions using multiple light scattering and laser diffraction.Plan Propio de la Universidad de Sevilla Proyecto: 2017/00000962Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)/FEDER (UE) CTQ2015-70700-

Time course of l-tryptophan metabolites when fermenting natural grape musts: effect of inoculation treatments and cultivar on the occurrence of melatonin and related indolic compounds

Background and Aims:Tryptophan is involved in the formation of bioactive compounds, such as melatonin (MEL) and3-indoleacetic acid (3-IAA), by yeast. Melatonin is a neurohormone whose occurrence in wine has been widely reported inrecent years. The occurrence, however, of MEL and other indolic compounds related to tryptophan metabolism by wineyeast strains has been scarcely reported in grape musts. This work examined the occurrence of these compounds during thealcoholic fermentation (AF) of musts from seven grape cultivars, Corredera, Chardonnay, Moscatel, Palomino Fino, Sau-vignon Blanc, Tempranillo and Vijiriega.Methods and Results:Must was fermented with threeSaccharomyces cerevisiaestrains and then in two cases an additionalsequential inoculation with the non-SaccharomycesyeastTorulaspora delbrueckiiwas carried out. Fermented must samples wereanalysed by UHPLC/HRMS to determine the concentration of:L-tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptamine,N-acetyl-5-hydroxytryptamine, MEL, 3-IAA, tryptamine, tryptophol andL-tryptophan ethyl ester. The profile of indoliccompounds during AF with the Aroma White strain depended on the cultivar. The yeast strain did not influence the profile ofindolic compounds; instead, fermentation time was found to be a more influential factor.Conclusions:The production of indolic compounds during the AF depends largely on the cultivar used and the day of fer-mentation on natural grape musts.Significance of the Study:This is thefirst study that quantifies 5-hydroxytryptophan andN-acetyl-5-hydroxytryptamineduring the AF of grape must. The occurrence of compounds with bioactive potential, for example 3-IAA and ML, during fer-mentation with commercial yeast strains is also described.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España - AGL2013-47300-C3-2-R, 2014–16 y AGL2016-77505-C3-2-R, 2017–1

Inhibition of VEGF-Induced VEGFR-2 Activation and HUVEC Migration by Melatonin and Other Bioactive Indolic Compounds

Excessive concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) trigger angiogenesis, which causes complications such as the destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques and increased growth of tumors. This work focuses on the determination of the inhibitory activity of melatonin and other indolic related compounds on VEGF-induced VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) activation and an approximation to the molecular mechanism underlying the inhibition. Quantification of phosphorylated VEGFR-2 was measured by ELISA. Migration wound-healing assay was used to determine cell migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). This is the first time that melatonin, 3-indolacetic acid, 5-hydroxytryptophol, and serotonin are proved to significantly inhibit VEGF-induced VEGFR-2 activation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and subsequent angiogenesis. 3-Indolacetic acid showed the highest inhibitory effect (IC50 value of 0.9704 mM), followed by 5-hydroxytryptophol (35% of inhibition at 0.1 mM), melatonin (30% of inhibition at 1 mM), and serotonin (24% of inhibition at 1 mM). An approximation to the molecular mechanism of the inhibition has been proposed, suggesting that indolic compounds might interact with the cell surface components of the endothelial membrane in a way that prevents VEGF from activating the receptor. Additionally, wound-healing assay revealed that exposure of HUVECs to melatonin and 3-indolacetic acid in the presence of VEGF significantly inhibited cell migration by 87% and 99%, respectively, after 24 h. These data demonstrate that melatonin, 3-indolacetic acid, 5-hydroxytryptophol, and serotonin would be good molecules for future exploitation as anti-VEGF signaling agents.España, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación AGL2013-47300-C3-2-

Methodological proposal of neurodesign of products from the somatic markers of Damasio

La hipótesis de los marcadores somáticos de Damasio constituye un instrumento a partir del cual se ofrece una explicación a la forma en que se articula la emoción y el pensamiento racional en los procesos cognitivos, recogida en su libro el error de Descarte. En el mismo, se establece que en los procesos de interacción con el medio objetual, son la emociones las herramientas a partir de las cuales se toman las decisiones de interacción y uso para la formación de los marcadores somáticos que constituyen el elenco experiencial de uso. Este enfoque teórico, que si bien constituye una hipótesis, es una oportunidad para la formulación de un marco metodológico de neurodiseño, objeto del presente trabajo. En el mismo, se formula un modelo de neurodiseño multisensorial en base al concepto de marcadores somáticos de Damasio y posteriormente se aplica a un producto industrial. En la parte final, se realiza la valoración de la metodología propuesta en base al estado de conocimiento de la neurociencia actual y se indica posibles líneas de actuación para el desarrollo del neurodiseño de productos.The hypothesis of the somatic markers of Damasio constitutes an instrument from which an explanation is offered to the way articulation of the emotion and the rational thought in the cognitive processes, collected in his book the error of Discard. In the same, it is stable that in the processes of interaction with the context, emotions are the tools from which the decisions of interaction and use are made for the formation of the somatic markers that constitute the experiential cast of use. This theoretical approach, which constitutes a hypothesis, is an opportunity for the formulation of a methodological framework of neurodesign object of the present work. In the same, a model of multisensory neurodevelopment is formulated based on the concept of somatic markers of Damasio and later applied to an industrial product. In the final part, the evaluation of the proposed methodology is carried out based on the state of knowledge of the current neuroscience and indicates possible lines of action for the development of the neurodesign of products