Effect of different intensities of physical activity on cardiometabolic markers and vascular and cardiac function in adult rats fed with a high-fat high-carbohydrate diet

Background: Physical activity (PA) and diet are 2 lifestyle factors that affect cardiometabolic risk. However, data on how a high-fat high-carbohydrate (HFHC) diet influences the effect of different intensities of PA on cardiometabolic health and cardiovascular function in a controlled setting are yet to be fully established. This study investigated the effect of sedentary behavior, light-intensity training (LIT), and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on cardiometabolic markers and vascular and cardiac function in HFHC-fed adult rats. Methods: Twelve-week-old Wistar rats were randomly allocated to 4 groups (12 rats/group): control (CTL), sedentary (SED), LIT, and HIIT. Biometric indices, glucose and lipid control, inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, vascular reactivity, and cardiac electrophysiology of the experimental groups were examined after 12 weeks of HFHC-diet feeding and PA interventions. Results: The SED group had slower cardiac conduction (p = 0.0426) and greater thoracic aortic contractile responses (p < 0.05) compared with the CTL group. The LIT group showed improved cardiac conduction compared with the SED group (p = 0.0003), and the HIIT group showed decreased mesenteric artery contractile responses compared with all other groups and improved endothelium-dependent mesenteric artery relaxation compared with the LIT group (both p < 0.05). The LIT and HIIT groups had lower visceral (p = 0.0057 for LIT, p = 0.0120 for HIIT) and epididymal fat (p < 0.0001 for LIT, p = 0.0002 for HIIT) compared with the CTL group. Conclusion: LIT induced positive adaptations on fat accumulation and cardiac conduction, and HIIT induced a positive effect on fat accumulation, mesenteric artery contraction, and endothelium-dependent relaxation. No other differences were observed between groups. These findings suggest that few positive health effects can be achieved through LIT and HIIT when consuming a chronic and sustained HFHC diet

Caracterización molecular de algunas especies y variedades de ñame presentes en la costa atlántica colombiana

En Colombia el ñame (Dioscorea data y Dioscorea rotundata) es un cultivo de importancia para los pequeños productores de la Costa Atlántica. El Programa Colombiano de Biotecnología Agrícola (PBA) de Ñame tiene el objetivo de incrementar la sostenibilidad de grupos de campesinos de la región, adelantando investigaciones participativas en diferentes aspectos relacionados con el cultivo. En el presente trabajo, el objetivo principal fue caracterizar molecularmente las ocho variedades de ñame utilizadas en el PBA, a través de marcadores moleculares tipo AFLP para determinar si existe concordancia entre la taxonomía morfológica establecida para la clasificación de las especies y variedades con la discriminación y agrupación de los individuos por sus perfiles de bandas moleculares aportados por los AFLP Para la obtención de los patrones de AFLP se utilizaron los kits de Gibco-BRL, New York Analysis System I y Analysis System II, siguiendo los manuales de instrucción. Para el análisis estadístico se realizaron matrices de presencia ausencia, se determinaron las similitudes a partir del índice de similaridad de Dice con el paquete estadístico Gel Stats. Posteriormente, las matrices se transformaron en matrices de distancia, y a partir de éstas se construyeron los dendogramas utilizando como estrategia de agrupamientos UPGMA (Unweighted Pare Group Method Averange). Finalmente se realizó una comparación entre matrices utilizando el análisis de permutaciones de Mantel. Los resultados muestran que de las siete variedades de Dioscorea alata analizadas solamente tres de ellas presentan polimorfismos que permiten diferenciarlas. Las otras cuatro se agruparon como una sola variedad.Seven varieties of the Dioscorea alata specie (but only one variety of the Dioscorea rotundata specie) have been morphologically characterised in Colombia. These varieties have been used in the Colombian Yam Agricultural Biotechnology Programme (ABP) to increase the sustainability of groups of poor rural workers from the Colombian Atlantic Coast by providing them with plants having good organoleptic characteristics and increased tuber yield. This work's main objective was the molecular characterisation of those varieties of yam from the Colombian Atlantic Coast used in the ABP, through Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) molecular markers. This aimed at determining if there is conformity between that morphological taxonomy established for the classification of ABP programme species and varieties with the discrimination and grouping of individuals by their molecular band profiles provided by AFLP Seven varieties of D. alata specie and the sole variety of the D. rotundata specie were characterised. Gibco-BRL, New York Analysis System I and Analysis System II kits were used to obtain AFLP patterns, following handbook instructions. Presence/absence matrices were constructed for the statistical analysis; similarity was determined from the Dice similarity index by using the Gel Stats statistical package. Later matrices became distance matrices and dendograms were constructed from these by using UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method Average) for grouping strategy. Comparison was then made between matrices by using Mantel permutation analysis. The results show that only three of all the seven Dioscorea alata varieties analysed presented polymorphism allowing them to be differentiated. The other four varieties were grouped as a sole variety or belonged to a single variety. These results have great importance for widening information concerning yam in Colombia, particularly for the Colombian ABR since it makes it possible to reduce collection and maintenance costs, leading to information regarding each accession to Colombia's germplasm banks to be increased. This is the first molecular characterisation work carried out in Colombia on yam species (Dioscorea spp.)

Broad-band gravitational-wave pulses from binary neutron stars in eccentric orbits

Maximum gravitational wave emission from binary stars in eccentric orbits occurs near the periastron passage. We show that for a stationary distribution of binary neutron stars in the Galaxy, several high-eccentricity systems with orbital periods in the range from tens of minutes to several days should exist that emit broad gravitational-wave pulses in the frequency range 1-100 mHz. The space interferometer LISA could register the pulsed signal from these system at a signal-to-noise ratio level $S/N>5\sqrt{5}$ in the frequency range $\sim 10^{-3}-10^{-1}$ Hz during one-year observational time. Some detection algorithms for such a signal are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, LATEX, 3 figures, Astronomy Letters, 2002, in press; typos corrected, refference adde

Measuring star formation in high-z massive galaxies: A mid-infrared to submillimeter study of the GOODS NICMOS Survey sample

We present measurements of the mean mid-infrared-to-submillimeter flux densities of massive (M\ast \approx 2 \times 10^11 Msun) galaxies at redshifts 1.7 < z < 2.9, obtained by stacking positions of known objects taken from the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS) catalog on maps: at 24 {\mu}m (Spitzer/MIPS); 70, 100, and 160{\mu}m (Herschel/PACS); 250, 350, 500{\mu}m (BLAST); and 870{\mu}m (LABOCA). A modified blackbody spectrum fit to the stacked flux densities indicates a median [interquartile] star-formation rate of SFR = 63 [48, 81] Msun yr^-1 . We note that not properly accounting for correlations between bands when fitting stacked data can significantly bias the result. The galaxies are divided into two groups, disk-like and spheroid-like, according to their Sersic indices, n. We find evidence that most of the star formation is occurring in n \leq 2 (disk-like) galaxies, with median [interquartile] SFR = 122 [100,150] Msun yr^-1, while there are indications that the n > 2 (spheroid-like) population may be forming stars at a median [interquartile] SFR = 14 [9,20] Msun yr^-1, if at all. Finally, we show that star formation is a plausible mechanism for size evolution in this population as a whole, but find only marginal evidence that it is what drives the expansion of the spheroid-like galaxies.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. 10 pages, 3 figures, 3 table

Integración de nuevas soluciones plásticas con propiedades antioxidantes en sistemas de irrigación destinados a la reutilización de agua en agricultura de precisión. Póster

El uso cada vez más frecuente de aguas de alta actividad biológica, como son las aguas procedentes de depuradoras municipales, agudizan los problemas de obstrucción del emisor, lo cual conlleva para el agricultor situaciones complejas que pueden generar proliferación microbiana con reducción en la uniformidad del riego y por ende una disminución de la producción agrícola. Desde hace años, la aplicación de nuevas tecnologías en el sector agrícola está dirigida a conseguir mayor producción trabajando con mayor precisión y control con los sistemas utilizados en riego. El desarrollo en otros sectores, como el industrial, de nuevas tecnologías puede servir como impulso en la velocidad de incorporación a la agricultura de estas soluciones. La introducción en el sector agrícola de nuevos materiales con funcionalidades antimicrobianas contrastadas puede convertirse en una línea estratégica para el desarrollo de barreras de protección frente a la obstrucción de los sistemas de irrigación sometidos a trabajar con aguas de mala calidad. Se plantea una metodología basada en el testeo comparativo de diferentes materiales que transformados en emisores serán evaluados en la evolución del caudal emitido con agua regenerada. Una vez determinada la validez de la metodología se plantea la discriminación de los eventos necesarios para asegurar el mantenimiento de la instalación, para lo cual, se requiere continuar con el testado de los materiales

MASSIV: Mass Assembly Survey with SINFONI in VVDS. V. The major merger rate of star-forming galaxies at 0.9 < z < 1.8 from IFS-based close pairs

We aim to measure the major merger rate of star-forming galaxies at 0.9 < z <1.8, using close pairs identified from integral field spectroscopy (IFS). We use the velocity field maps obtained with SINFONI/VLT on the MASSIV sample, selected from the star-forming population in the VVDS. We identify physical pairs of galaxies from the measurement of the relative velocity and the projected separation (r_p) of the galaxies in the pair. Using the well constrained selection function of the MASSIV sample we derive the gas-rich major merger fraction (luminosity ratio mu = L_2/L_1 >= 1/4), and, using merger time scales from cosmological simulations, the gas-rich major merger rate at a mean redshift up to z = 1.54. We find a high gas-rich major merger fraction of 20.8+15.2-6.8 %, 20.1+8.0-5.1 % and 22.0+13.7-7.3 % for close pairs with r_p <= 20h^-1 kpc in redshift ranges z = [0.94, 1.06], [1.2, 1.5) and [1.5, 1.8), respectively. This translates into a gas-rich major merger rate of 0.116+0.084-0.038 Gyr^-1, 0.147+0.058-0.037 Gyr^-1 and 0.127+0.079-0.042 Gyr^-1 at z = 1.03, 1.32 and 1.54, respectively. Combining our results with previous studies at z < 1, the gas-rich major merger rate evolves as (1+z)^n, with n = 3.95 +- 0.12, up to z = 1.5. From these results we infer that ~35% of the star-forming galaxies with stellar masses M = 10^10 - 10^10.5 M_Sun have undergone a major merger since z ~ 1.5. We develop a simple model which shows that, assuming that all gas-rich major mergers lead to early-type galaxies, the combined effect of gas-rich and dry mergers is able to explain most of the evolution in the number density of massive early-type galaxies since z ~ 1.5, with our measured gas-rich merger rate accounting for about two-thirds of this evolution.Comment: Published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 24 pages, 30 figures, 2 tables. Appendix with the residual images from GALFIT added. Minor changes with respect to the initial versio

Mid-Infrared Spectra of Dust Debris Around Main-Sequence Stars

We report spectra obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope in the wavelength range between 14 microns and 35 microns of 19 nearby main-sequence stars with infrared excesses. The six stars with strong dust emission show no recognizable spectral features, suggesting that the bulk of the emitting particles have diameters larger than 10 microns. If the observed dust results from collisional grinding of larger solids, we infer minimum masses of the parent body population between 0.004 of the Earth's mass and 0.06 of the Earth's mass. We estimate grain production rates of 10 Gg/s around lambda Boo and HR 1570; selective accretion of this matter may help explain their peculiar surface abundances. There appear to be inner truncations in the dust clouds at 48 AU, 11 AU, 52 AU and 54 AU around HR 333, HR 506, HR 1082 and HR 3927, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, ApJ Supplement, Spitzer special issue, in pres

A statistical correlation of sunquakes based on their seismic and white-light emission

Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the transient seismic emission, i.e. “sunquakes,” from some solar flares. Some theories associate high-energy electrons and/or white-light emission with sunquakes. High-energy charged particles and their subsequent heating of the photosphere and/or chromosphere could induce acoustic waves in the solar interior. We carried out a correlative study of solar flares with emission in hard X-rays, enhanced continuum emission at 6173 Å, and transient seismic emission. We selected those flares observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) with a considerable flux above 50 keV between 1 January 2010 and 26 June 2014. We then used data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard the Solar Dynamic Observatory to search for excess visible-continuum emission and new sunquakes not previously reported. We found a total of 18 sunquakes out of 75 flares investigated. All of the sunquakes were associated with an enhancement of the visible continuum during the flare. Finally, we calculated a coefficient of correlation for a set of dichotomic variables related to these observations. We found a strong correlation between two of the standard helioseismic detection techniques, and between sunquakes and visible-continuum enhancements. We discuss the phenomenological connectivity between these physical quantities and the observational difficulties of detecting seismic signals and excess continuum radiation

Plataforma de supervisión y control de riego localizado en cultivos leñosos

La interpretación de sensores de humedad y la automatización del riego permiten una gestión rápida del cultivo, manteniendo unas condiciones óptimas en la zona de las raíces garantizando un adecuado crecimiento del mismo. Este trabajo trata de exponer como poner en valor las herramientas de digitalización en un cultivo leñoso regado por goteo, tomando como ejemplo el mandarino. Para ello se ha diseñado una plataforma web que permite recoger, visualizar y tomar decisiones. En concreto, gracias a la plataforma web se puede ver el comportamiento de diferentes sondas de humedad de tipo capacitivo, así como hacer un seguimiento de las lecturas de riego aplicado. Los resultados muestran que a pesar de que las sondas muestren variabilidad entre ellas, debido a sus características inherentes o propiedades del terreno en que se instalan, lo interesante es su respuesta frente al riego o un evento meteorológico y su tendencia a largo plazo. Además, se observó que durante el periodo de tiempo evaluado el caudal apenas experimentó variaciones respecto al valor teórico (0.96% en riego superficial y 0.926% en riego subterráneo). Finalmente, gracias al conocimiento adquirido en esta instalación, se pondrá poner en práctica en otros cultivos