Detección rápida de la adulteración de aceite de argán con aceites de fritura usando espectroscopía de fluorescencia inducida por láser combinada con herramientas quimiométricas

There is a contentious need for robust and rapid methodologies for maintaining the authenticity of foods. The aim of this study was to detect and quantify argan oil adulteration using Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy coupled with chemometric methods. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) were used to assess argan oil authenticity; PCA was used to classify samples according to their quality and the PLS model to determine the amount of adulterants in pure argan oil. The correlation coefficient of the obtained model was about 0.99, with Root Mean Square Error of Prediction (RMSEP) and Standard Error of Prediction (SEP) of 2%. This study demonstrated the feasibility of LIF spectroscopy combined with chemometric tools to identify adulterants in pure argan oil from a percentage of adulteration, of 0.35 % without the need to destruct samples.Existe una necesidad de metodologías sólidas y rápidas para determinar la autenticidad de los alimentos. El objetivo de este estudio es detectar y cuantificar la adulteración del aceite de argán mediante espectroscopia de fluorescencia inducida por láser (LIF) junto con métodos quimiométricos. Se utilizaron el análisis de componentes principales (PCA) y la regresión de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLSR) para evaluar la autenticidad del aceite de argán. Se utilizó PCA para clasificar las muestras según su calidad y el modelo PLS se aprovechó para determinar la cantidad de adulterantes en el aceite de argán puro. El coeficiente de correlación del modelo obtenido fue de alrededor de 0,99, el error cuadrático medio de la predicción (RMSEP) y el error estándar de predicción (SEP) del 2%. Este estudio demostró la viabilidad de la espectroscopia LIF combinada con herramientas quimiométricas que permiten identificar adulterantes en aceite de argán puro, sin necesidad de destruir muestras, a partir de un porcentaje de adulteración del 0,35 %

IndustRE: participación de la demanda industrial en el sistema eléctrico

El mercado eléctrico europeo está actualmente lidiando con dos grandes desafíos. El primero es la integración de las energías renovables variables en los sistemas eléctricos. El segundo es creciente precio de la electricidad que afecta a la competitividad de las industrias europeas. La demanda industrial flexible es una oportunidad para afrontar estas dos problemáticas. IndustRE es un proyecto financiado por el programa de la Unión Europea, Horizaon 2020 de investigación e innovación. Su labor consiste en formular modelos de negocios que beneficien tanto a la industria electro-intensiva como a las energías renovables buscando los terrenos donde confluyen sus intereses. Para ello quieren, desarrollar las herramientas que faciliten la implementación de estos modelos de negocios y formular una legislación recomendada, para finalmente cuantificar los beneficios obtenidos. Este documento se centra en los modelos de negocio que consisten en ofrecer servicios el sistema eléctrico. Y concluye con el análisis de la viabilidad de estos modelos en España y Francia.Ingeniería en Tecnologías Industriale

Estudio del mecanismo de acción del cierre estomático mediado por butanoato de (Z)-3-hexenilo en plantas

[ES] En respuesta a señales de estrés, las plantas sintetizan proteínas de defensa y compuestos químicos de diversa naturaleza. Entre otros, los compuestos orgánicos volátiles (VOCs) pertenecen a este grupo de compuestos defensivos (Niinemets et al., 2013). En concreto, se ha identificado la emisión diferencial de ésteres de (Z)-3-hexenilo de plantas de tomate "Rio Grande" como consecuencia de la infección con la bacteria avirulenta Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (López-Gresa et al., 2017). De entre estos ésteres, cabe destacar el butanoato de (Z)-3-hexenilo (HB) que, tras ser aplicado directamente sobre las plantas de tomate, no sólo produce la inducción de proteínas y metabolitos defensivos, sino que también cierra los estomas, produciendo así un aumento de la resistencia frente a la infección bacteriana. Además, este cierre estomático mediado por HB no sólo fue observado en Solanáceas sino que también fue efectivo en varias especies de plantas pertenecientes al género Nicotiana, Arabidopsis, Medicago, Zea y Citrus (López-Gresa et al., 2018). Su gran eficacia y universalidad nos ha llevado a la obtención de una patente para dicho compuesto como inductor del cierre estomático (Lisón et al., 2017). En el presente TFM se profundiza en el estudio de los mecanismos de acción del HB, así como su posible interacción con diferentes rutas de señalización hormonales y defensivas. Para ello, se estudia el efecto -en términos de cierre estomático y resistencia a la infección por Pseudomonas syringae- que producen tratamientos exógenos de HB sobre plantas de Arabidopsis thaliana ecotipo Col-0 y Ler, así como, sobre plantas mutantes que tienen alterados diferentes genes clave en las etapas tempranas de la señalización defensiva. También se comprueba la existencia de un posible efecto de los VOCs en la comunicación entre plantas. Todos estos estudios refuerzan la importancia de los VOCs como compuestosc lave en la respuesta defensiva de las plantas frente a patógenos[EN] In response to stress, plants synthesize different defense proteins and chemical compounds. Among others, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) belong to this group of defensive metabolites (Niinemets et al., 2013). Specifically, the differential emission of (Z)-3-hexenyl esters from "Rio Grande" tomato plants has been identified after the infection with the avirulent bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (López-Gresa et al., 2017). Among these esters, it is worth mentioning the (Z)-3-hexenyl butanoate (HB) which, after being applied directly on tomato plants, not only induces proteins and defensive metabolites, but also closes the stomata, thus producing an increase in resistance against bacterial infection. Furthermore, this HB-mediated stomatal closure was also effective in several plant species belonging to the genus Nicotiana, Arabidopsis, Medicago, Zea and Citrus (López Gresa et al., 2018). Its efficacy and universality have led us to obtain a patent for this compound as an inducer of stomatal closure (Lisón et al., 2017). This TFM has focused into the study of the mechanisms of action of HB, as well as its possible interaction with different hormonal and defensive signaling pathways. To this aim, the effect -in terms of stomatal closure and resistance to infection by Pseudomonas syringaethat produce exogenous HB treatments on Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Col-0 and Ler plants, as well as on mutant plants with different key genes altered in the early stages of defensive signaling, is studied. A possible effect of VOCs on communication between plants is also verified. All these studies reinforce the importance of VOCs as key compounds in the defensive response of plants against pathogens.Rodríguez Chikri, LY. (2021). Estudio del mecanismo de acción del cierre estomático mediado por butanoato de (Z)-3-hexenilo en plantas. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/161076TFG

Hypertension and type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study in Morocco (EPIDIAM Study)

Background: In Morocco, there are no studies that focused on the hypertension and its associated risk factors through patients with type 2 diabetes. Different findings show that the frequency of type 2 diabetes has risen rapidly in Morocco. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors among a group of patients with type 2 diabetes and to examine the level of control of hypertension among type 2 diabetic patients with hypertension. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 525 type 2 diabetics in three Moroccan regions. The structured questionnaire was used to gather information on sociodemographic variables, history of hypertension, use of anti-hypertensive medications and duration of diabetes. Anthropometric measurements including weight and height were measured by trained staff. Blood pressure was measured using standardized sphygmomanometers. Results: The prevalence of hypertension was 70.4%. The logistic regression indicated that hypertension was positively associated with age (p<10-4), BMI (p<0.0002) and duration of diabetes (p Conclusion: Hypertension is a common co-morbidity among Moroccan diabetic patients with high rate of ignorance of hypertension among study subjects. The focus must be on patients and family education, counseling and behavioral interventions designed to modify lifestyle such as increasing physical activity and adopting recommended dietary changes, as well as compliance with medications

GAD2 on chromosome 10p12 is a candidate gene for human obesity

The gene GAD2 encoding the glutamic acid decarboxylase enzyme (GAD65) is a positional candidate gene for obesity on Chromosome 10p11&ndash;12, a susceptibility locus for morbid obesity in four independent ethnic populations. GAD65 catalyzes the formation of &gamma;-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which interacts with neuropeptide Y in the paraventricular nucleus to contribute to stimulate food intake. A case-control study (575 morbidly obese and 646 control subjects) analyzing GAD2 variants identified both a protective haplotype, including the most frequent alleles of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) +61450 C&gt;A and +83897 T&gt;A (OR = 0.81, 95% CI [0.681&ndash;0.972], p = 0.0049) and an at-risk SNP (&minus;243 A&gt;G) for morbid obesity (OR = 1.3, 95% CI [1.053&ndash;1.585], p = 0.014). Furthermore, familial-based analyses confirmed the association with the obesity of SNP +61450 C&gt;A and +83897 T&gt;A haplotype (&chi;2 = 7.637, p = 0.02). In the murine insulinoma cell line &beta;TC3, the G at-risk allele of SNP &minus;243 A&gt;G increased six times GAD2 promoter activity (p &lt; 0.0001) and induced a 6-fold higher affinity for nuclear extracts. The &minus;243 A&gt;G SNP was associated with higher hunger scores (p = 0.007) and disinhibition scores (p = 0.028), as assessed by the Stunkard Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire. As GAD2 is highly expressed in pancreatic &beta; cells, we analyzed GAD65 antibody level as a marker of &beta;-cell activity and of insulin secretion. In the control group, &minus;243 A&gt;G, +61450 C&gt;A, and +83897 T&gt;A SNPs were associated with lower GAD65 autoantibody levels (p values of 0.003, 0.047, and 0.006, respectively). SNP +83897 T&gt;A was associated with lower fasting insulin and insulin secretion, as assessed by the HOMA-B% homeostasis model of &beta;-cell function (p = 0.009 and 0.01, respectively). These data support the hypothesis of the orexigenic effect of GABA in humans and of a contribution of genes involved in GABA metabolism in the modulation of food intake and in the development of morbid obesity.<br /

Post Genome-Wide Association Studies of Novel Genes Associated with Type 2 Diabetes Show Gene-Gene Interaction and High Predictive Value

Recently, several Genome Wide Association (GWA) studies in populations of European descent have identified and validated novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), highly associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Our aims were to validate these markers in other European and non-European populations, then to assess their combined effect in a large French study comparing T2D and normal glucose tolerant (NGT) individuals. rs7903146 SNP, were combined (8.68-fold for the 14% of French individuals carrying 18 to 30 risk alleles with an allelic OR of 1.24). With an area under the ROC curve of 0.86, only 15 novel loci were necessary to discriminate French individuals susceptible to develop T2D. strongly associate with T2D in French individuals, and mostly in populations of Central European descent but not in Moroccan subjects. Genes expressed in the pancreas interact together and their combined effect dramatically increases the risk for T2D, opening avenues for the development of genetic prediction tests

Comparison of strategies for scan-path prediction using CNN-based saliency maps

any different approaches exist to understand where people’s attention is concentrated. However, very few information concerning the order in which these regions should be scanned is given. Developing a system that allows obtaining sequences of fixations automatically given an image is the main goal addressed in this work. In order to do that, a CNN-based model is implemented to generate saliency maps from the SALICON dataset. These estimated saliency maps are analyzed using NSS, KL and shuffled AUC metrics in order to evaluate its performance and ensure its usability for later generating the scan-paths from them. The scan-paths are sampled using three different sampling strategies, which are analyzed and compared using the Jarodzka metric, after validating their corresponding parameters. Our experiments show that realistic scan-paths are possible to obtain. However, the accuracy and precision of these sequences of fixations depend on the sampling strategy used. The strategy with the best results corresponds to a function that calculates local maxima given a distance. Results also show that the distance between fixations should be equal to the third of the image size, resulting in scan-paths with small lengths.Ingeniería de Sistemas Audiovisuale

Hybrid boiler systems in the Dutch industry: A techno-economic analysis of the potential of hybrid boiler systems to cost-effectively decarbonise steam generation in the Dutch industry

The Netherlands aims to accelerate the energy transition. Accordingly, ambitious targets have been set for the industrial sector. This will require additional investments in the Dutch industry which is expected to reduce the CO2 emissions at limited costs in comparison with other sectors. However, the ambition to reduce the emissions can create a risk of loss of activity and jobs if the industrial businesses prospects are not ensured. Power-to-heat technology provides an opportunity to the industry to reduce the emissions for heating processes. This technology can be implemented in hybrid configurations to ensure the electrification of heat. Hybrid configurations are characterised by their ability to switch between natural gas and electricity which could cost-effectively reduce the emissions consuming electricity at low prices. In this research, a techno-economic evaluation of hybrid boiler systems is performed to analyse the potential of this technology to cost-effectively reduce the CO2 emissions for steam generation in a production process, in 2030. To this end, the operation of hybrid boiler systems was simulated and assessed. The performance of hybrid configurations was compared to alternative options. Finally, the hybrid systems were analysed under different scenarios for 2030. The results for the case study presented, showed that hybrid configurations saved operation costs and reduced the direct CO2 emissions by almost 20%. Therefore, the hybrid boiler could cost-effectively reduce the emissions. However the potential benefits of hybrid boilers are subjected to variation of electricity, natural gas and CO2 prices.Electrical Engineering | Sustainable Energy Technolog

Rat gene coding for heart 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase: characterization of an unusual promoter region and identification of four mRNAs.

We have cloned previously a 22-kb rat gene which codes for heart 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase from an ATG located in exon 2. To characterize the promoter of the gene, we have now cloned and sequenced 1.9 kb of its 5' region and show here that it has an unusual structural and functional organization. By S1 nuclease mapping and primer extension we found that this region contains the first, noncoding, exon of a mRNA that we call R3. The sequence upstream from this exon behaved as a promoter in transient transfection assays. These assays also suggested that the gene possesses more than one promoter. Indeed, by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction techniques we identified three additional mRNAs that differ by their 5' noncoding exons upstream from the common, coding, exon 2. mRNA R1 contains two 5' noncoding exons located upstream from the first exon of mRNA R3. mRNA R2 contains one 5' noncoding exon located upstream from, and partially overlapping with, the first exon of mRNA R3. mRNA R4 contains one 5' noncoding exon located downstream from the first exon of mRNA R3 but overlapping partially with it. The distribution of these mRNAs in rat tissues was evaluated by reverse transcription--polymerase chain reaction. We conclude that the gene contains four more exons than the 16 previously described and at least three promoters, two of which correspond to exonic sequences. The gene gives rise to at least four mRNAs which are expressed not only in heart but also in most tissues