Comparación de metodos analíticos para medición de PH en suelos de San Luis

Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron caracterizar el PH en suelos de la provincia de San Luis y verificar si existen ventajas al medir el PH con la utilización de soluciónes de CaCI2 y KCI, El estudio fue realizado en dieciséis sitios del Este de la provincia de San Luis.EEA AnguilFil: de Dios Herrero. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; ArgentinaFil: Colazo, Juan Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Moreno, Florencia. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

Manejo y conservación de suelos en San Luis. Algunas reflexiones

El objetivo del siguiente trabajo es realizar una actualización sobre las publicaciones efectuadas en relación a las investigaciones en temas de suelos en el ámbito de la EEA San Luis, pero además, intentar reflexionar sobre el impacto de las actividades de investigación en las decisiones de los usuarios (políticos, asesores, productores), así como también presentar las vacancias actuales y la prospectiva sobre el manejo de los suelos en la provincia.EEA San LuisFil: Colazo, Juan Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Celdran, Diego Javier. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; ArgentinaFil: de Dios Herrero. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; Argentin

Fratricide activity of MafB protein of N. meningitidis strain B16B6.

BACKGROUND: Neisseria meningitidis is an inhabitant of the mucosal surfaces of the human nasopharynx. We recently demonstrated that the secreted meningococcal Two-partner secretion protein A (TpsA) is involved in interbacterial competition. The C-terminal end of the large TpsA protein contains a small toxic domain that inhibits the growth of target bacteria. The producing cells are protected from this toxic activity by a small immunity protein that is encoded by the gene immediately downstream of the tpsA gene. Further downstream on the chromosome, a repertoire of toxic modules, designated tpsC cassettes, is encoded that could replace the toxic module of TpsA by recombination. Each tpsC cassette is associated with a gene encoding a cognate immunity protein. RESULTS: Blast searchers using the toxic domains of TpsA and TpsC proteins as queries identified homologies with the C-terminal part of neisserial MafB proteins, which, for the rest, showed no sequence similarity to TpsA proteins. On the chromosome, mafB genes are part of genomic islands, which include cassettes for additional toxic modules as well as genes putatively encoding immunity proteins. We demonstrate that a MafB protein of strain B16B6 inhibits the growth of a strain that does not produce the corresponding immunity protein. Assays in E. coli confirmed that the C-terminal region of MafB is responsible for toxicity, which is inhibited by the cognate immunity protein. Pull-down assays revealed direct interaction between MafB toxic domains and the cognate immunity proteins. CONCLUSIONS: The meningococcal MafB proteins are novel toxic proteins involved in interbacterial competition

Effectiveness of personalized cognitive stimulation in older adults with mild possible cognitive impairment: A 12-month follow-up cognitive stimulation in mild cognitive impairment

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the long-term effects of a personalized cognitive stimulation (PCS) program on the global cognition, cognitive aspects, activities of daily living (ADLs), anxiety, and depression in older adults with possible mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A 12-month follow-up analysis was carried out in a single-blind, randomized clinical trial to research the long-term effects of a 10-week PCS program evaluating the cognitive level, depression, and anxiety of older adults with possible MCI. Results: Fifty older adults were assessed 12 months after the CS program, 23 in the intervention group and 27 in the control group. There were significant differences between the groups at 12 months in the global cognition (p = .002), in global orientation (p < .001), and in spatial orientation (p = .004) in favor of the intervention group, measured with the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MEC-35). Conclusions: A PCS program could be effective in improving global cognition and global and spatial orientation. Clinical implications: A PCS program based on cognitive levels in older adults with possible MCI achieves improvements in global cognition and global and spatial orientation. PCS programs can be applied successfully by trained occupational therapists

Solving vehicle routing problems with asymmetric costs and heterogeneous fleets

[EN] The vehicle routing problem (VRP) is a flourishing research area with clear applications to real-life distribution companies. However, most VRP-related academic articles assume the existence of a homogeneous fleet of vehicles and/or a symmetric cost matrix. These assumptions are not always reasonable in real-life scenarios. To contribute in closing this gap between theory and practice, we propose a hybrid methodology for solving the asymmetric and heterogeneous vehicle routing problem (AHVRP). In our approach, we consider: 1) different types of vehicle loading capacities (heterogeneous fleets); 2) asymmetric distance-based costs. The proposed approach combines a randomised version of a well-known savings heuristic with several local searches specifically adapted to deal with the asymmetric nature of costs. A computational experiment allows us to discuss the efficiency of our approach and also to analyse how routing costs vary when slight departures from the homogeneous fleet assumption are considered.This work has been partially supported by the Ibero-American Program for Science, Technology and Development (CYTED2010-511RT0419, IN3-HAROSA network) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (TRA2010-21644-C03).Herrero, R.; Rodríguez Villalobos, A.; Cáceres-Cruz, J.; Juan, ÁA. (2014). Solving vehicle routing problems with asymmetric costs and heterogeneous fleets. International Journal of Advanced Operations Management. 6(1):58-80. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJAOM.2014.059620S58806

Dysfunctional oxidative phosphorylation shunts branched-chain amino acid catabolism onto lipogenesis in skeletal muscle

It is controversial whether mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle is the cause or consequence of metabolic disorders. Herein, we demonstrate that in vivo inhibition of mitochondrial ATP synthase in muscle alters whole-body lipid homeostasis. Mice with restrained mitochondrial ATP synthase activity presented intrafiber lipid droplets, dysregulation of acyl-glycerides, and higher visceral adipose tissue deposits, poising these animals to insulin resistance. This mitochondrial energy crisis increases lactate production, prevents fatty acid b-oxidation, and forces the catabolism of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) to provide acetyl-CoA for de novo lipid synthesis. In turn, muscle accumulation of acetyl-CoA leads to acetylation-dependent inhibition of mitochondrial respiratory complex II enhancing oxidative phosphorylation dysfunction which results in augmented ROS production. By screening 702 FDA-approved drugs, we identified edaravone as a potent mitochondrial antioxidant and enhancer. Edaravone administration restored ROS and lipid homeostasis in skeletal muscle and reinstated insulin sensitivity. Our results suggest that muscular mitochondrial perturbations are causative of metabolic disorders and that edaravone is a potential treatment for these diseasesThis work was ts from Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, MINECO, Spain (SAF2016-76028-R and SAF2016-75916-R) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) de Enfermedades Raras, Spain (CB06/07/0017

Dynamics of an infectious keratoconjunctivitis outbreak by Mycoplasma conjunctivae on Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra p. pyrenaica

Between 2006 and 2008, an outbreak of Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) affected Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra p. pyrenaica, an endemic subspecies of mountain ungulate that lives in the Pyrenees. The study focused on 14 mountain massifs (180,000 ha) where the species’ population is stable. Cases of IKC were detected in ten of the massifs and, in five of them, mortality was substantial. The outbreak spread quickly from the first location detected, with two peaks in mortality that affected one (2007) and three (2008) massifs. In the latter, the peak was seasonal (spring to autumn) and, in the former, the outbreak persisted through winter. To identify the outbreak’s aetiology, we examined 105 Pyrenean chamois clinically affected with IKC. TaqMan rt-PCR identified Mycoplasma conjunctivae in 93 (88.5%) of the chamois. Another rt-PCR detected Chlamydophila spp. in 14 of chamois, and 12 of those had mixed infections with mycoplasmas. In the period 2000–2007, the chamois population increased slightly (¿ 1.026) but decreased significantly during the IKC outbreak (¿ 0.8, 2007–2008; ¿ 0.85, 2008–2009) before increasing significantly after the outbreak (¿ 1.1, 2009–2010). Sex-biased mortality shifted the adult sex ratio toward males (from 0.6 to 0.7 males per female) and reduced productivity slightly. Hunting was practically banned in the massifs where chamois experienced significant mortality and allowed again after the outbreak ended. Long-term monitoring of wild populations provides a basis for understanding the impacts of disease outbreaks and improves management decisions, particularly when species are subject to extractive exploitation

Oncologist’s knowledge and implementation of guidelines for breakthrough cancer pain in Spain: CONOCE study

[Purpose]: Breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) has been shown to be a prevalent and poor prognostic factor for oncologic patients, which remain under diagnosed and undertreated. In 2012, the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) published a clinical practice guideline (CPG) for the treatment of cancer pain which specifically addressed the management of BTcP.[Methods]: Fundación ECO designed a qualitative study using an Internet-based survey to investigate the attitudes toward, compliance with, and use of SEOM Guideline.[Results]: A total of 83 oncologists with a mean experience of 13 years responded. Overall, 82% were aware of different guidelines to manage BTcP. Notably, attitudes toward guidelines were highly positive and there was nearly unanimous agreement that CPG provided the best scientific evidence available (99%), on the minimum information to be gathered for the medical history (100%), on the need for a specific treatment for BTcP (100%), and fentanyl as the first-choice drug (99%). Interestingly, there were discrepancies between what oncologists agreed with and what they do in clinical practice. In fact, 87.6% declare full compliance with SEOM guideline, although adherence to registration of BTcP data in medical records ranged from 30.1 to 91.6% (mean 64.5%); therapeutic management compliance was higher ranging from 75.9 to 91.6%. Main barriers identified were time pressure together with vague statements and limited dissemination of the guidelines.[Conclusion]: Despite oncologist’s clinical practice is increasingly guided by GPC, it suffers from limited compliance, at least in part due to suboptimal statements. Improved dissemination and education are needed to enhance guideline implementation.This study was funded by Kyowa Kirin Farmacéutica S. L.U. through Fundación ECO