A PROTEOMIC STUDY OF SOYBEAN SEED COATS (Glycine max)

The seed coat arises from maternal integuments and its main role is the protection of the developing embryo. At maturity the soybean seed coat is composed mainly of dead cells that impart protection, enable germination and enhance dispersal. Soybean seed coat is an agricultural-by product that is currently under utilized, although some reports have found diverse applications that are currently explored. Using gel-based pre fractionation of proteins followed by electro spray ionization tandem mass spectrometry, a comprehensive proteomic database of physiologically mature soybean seed coats was created. Around 150,000 spectral was acquired and used to challenge current protein databases. The gene ontology assignment of over 1,000 seed coat proteins allowed a correlation with important seed metabolic pathways such as cell wall biosynthesis, proteolytic pathway, synthesis of amino acids, carbohydrates and nucleotides thorough the Ci metabolic pathway, fatty acids and isoflavonoids. The most abundant protein in the soybean seed coat is methionine synthase. Besides the synthesis of methionine, it could be associated with the production of ethylene in the seed coat, promoting fruit ripening. There is an apparent increase in the relative amount of metabolic proteins at the onset of seed maturation. This finding suggests that the seed coat remains metabolically active for a longer time than the embryo. Proteases are an important protein group in the seed coat proteome and are most likely involved in tissue remodelling. They could also be further studied as potential candidates for catalysis of industrial reactions. A comprehensive protein database is reported along with protein ontology assignments. The correlation of proteomic and transcriptomic data for specific proteins allowed the identification of control mechanisms of protein expression in the seed coat. This will be very valuable in future molecular-based approaches to in modify the seed coat proteome in order to control aspects of seed development, and also as a target organ for the heterologous expression of proteins

Matrix solid-phase dispersion followed by liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry for the determination of selectiveciclooxygenase-2 inhibitors in sewage sludge samples

A straightforward single-step extraction method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD), followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with hybrid quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (LC–QTOF-MS), was developed and optimized to determine five non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Valdecoxib, Etoricoxib, Parecoxib, Celecoxib and 2,5-Dimethylcelecoxib) in sewage sludge samples. The influence of different operational parameters on the extraction efficiency a well as in the matrix effects of the produced extracts was evaluated in detail. Under final working conditions, freeze dried samples (0.2 g) were first soaked with 100 μL of aqueous potassium hydroxide solution (60%, w/v), mixed with 1 g of anhydrous sodium sulfate and dispersed with 1 g of Florisil. This blend was transferred to the top of a polypropylene column cartridge containing 3 g of silica. Analytes were recovered using 15 mL of hexane/acetone (1:2, v/v) mixture. The extracts were concentrated by evaporation and reconstituted with 1 mL of methanol/water (1:1, v/v), filtered and injected in the LC system. Quantification limits from 0.005 and 0.05 ng g−1 and absolute recoveries between 86 and 105% were achieved. Results indicated the presence of two of the targeted COXIBs in real samples of sewage sludge, the highest average concentration (22 ng g−1) corresponding to celecoxib. Moreover, the screening capabilities of the LC–QTOF-MS system demonstrated that the developed MSPD extraction procedure might be useful for the selective extraction of some other pharmaceuticals (e.g. amiodarone and their metabolite N-desethylamiodarone, miconazole, clotrimazole and ketoprofen) from sludge samplesThis study has been supported by the Spanish Government and E.U. FEDER funds (project CTQ2015-68660-P) and Xunta de Galicia (GRC2013/020)S

Stereoselective construction of the tetracyclic scalarane skeleton from carvone

The tetracyclic scalarane skeleton 22 has been constructed from (S)-(+)-carvone using two intramolecular Diels–Alder reactions as key synthetic steps.Abad Somovilla, Antonio, [email protected] ; Agullo Blanes, M Consuelo, [email protected] ; Cuñat Romero, Ana Carmen, [email protected] ; Llosa Blasco, Maria Carmen, [email protected]

Traducción y memoria histórica: El niño pan de Agustín Gómez Arcos

Traduction et mémoire historique s’épousent de manière spéciale dans le cas de la réception des auteurs espagnols d’expression française au XXe siècle. À l’orée du XXIe siècle et grâce à la traduction, ces auteurs deviennent accessibles dans leur langue maternelle et ils nous offrent le témoignage d’une littérature qui porte en elle, soixante-dix ans après, les stigmates d’un passé confronté à la guerre civile, à l’exil et un engagement contre le régime politique qui s’ensuit. Le cas d’Agustín Gómez Arcos s’intègre parfaitement dans cette perspective, car son thème fétiche c’est l’Espagne franquiste et sa mémoire historique est tissée de mémoire linguistique.Translation and historical memory unite in a very special way in the case of the reception of Spanish authors writing in French. In the 21st century these authors are getting accessible in their mother tongue. Sixty years later they evidence a literature with the marks of a past confronting Spanish Civil War, exile and the commitment to oppose the new political regime. Agustín Gómez Arcos fits perfectly into this perspective for his fetish topic is Francoist Spain and his historical memory has linguistic memory too

Madres malas y literatura del exilio

Existe un denominador común a una serie escritores contemporáneos de origen español pero de expresión francesa, como Agustín Gómez Arcos, Jorge Semprún o Michel del Castillo, que se materializa como una temática recurrente en sus obras. En casi todas sus novelas puede descubrirse una mujer «mala» y, para más señas, la figura de la madre y la necesidad que tienen de hablar de ella. ¿Qué ocurre cuando la madre, real o simbólica, resulta ser mala, bien porque reniegue de su función principal, la maternidad, o de su función social? Madrastra también la madre patria que ha expulsado de su regazo a estos autores, entonces niños de la guerra. En sus imaginarios, estas dos realidades están demasiado cercanas para evitar que no se confundan. España se ha convertido en una madrastra para ellos, una madre cruel que les fuerza al exilio y les obliga a renegar de su lengua.There is a common factor to several contemporary authors of Spanish origin but with a French expression, such as Agustín Gómez Arcos, Jorge Semprún or Michel del Castillo, which comes to a recurrent subject matter in their works. In nearly all of their works we can find out an «evil» woman and, to be more specific, the mother figure and the necessity they have to talk about it. What is the matter when that mother, true or symbolic, turns out to be evil by denying either her main duty —motherhood— or her social one? A stepmother also is the mother country that has expelled these writers —then war babies— from their lap. In their fiction these two realities are too close as not to be confused. Spain has become a stepmother to them, a cruel mother who sends them into exile and makes them deny their mother tongue

A Context-Aware Artificial Intelligence-based System to Support Street Crossings For Pedestrians with Visual Impairments

Artificial intelligence has the potential to support and improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. Mobility is a potentially dangerous activity for people with impaired ability. This article presents an assistive technology solution to assist visually impaired pedestrians in safely crossing the street. We use a signal trilateration technique and deep learning (DL) for image processing to segment visually impaired pedestrians from the rest of pedestrians. The system receives information about the presence of a potential user through WiFi signals from a mobile application installed on the user’s phone. The software runs on an intelligent semaphore originally designed and installed to improve urban mobility in a smart city context. This solution can communicate with users, interpret the traffic situation, and make the necessary adjustments (with the semaphore’s capabilities) to ensure a safe street crossing. The proposed system has been implemented in Maringá, Brazil, for a one-year period. Trial tests carried out with visually impaired pedestrians confirm its feasibility and practicality in a real-life environment

Applying Recommendations to Align Competences, Methodology, and Assessment in Telematics, Computing, and Electronic Engineering Courses

The alignment between competences, teachinglearning methodologies, and assessment is a key element of European higher education. This paper presents the efforts carried out by six telematics, computer science and electronic engineering education teachers toward achieving this alignment in their subjects. In a joint work with pedagogues, a set of recommended actions are identified. A selection of these actions are applied and evaluated in the six subjects. The cross analysis of the results indicates that the actions allow students to better understand the methodologies and assessments planned for the subjects, facilitate (self-) regulation, and increase students’ involvement in the subjects