Acorns for fattening free-range pigs (OK-Net Ecofeed Practice Abstract)

- The fattening performance is very much influenced by the age of pigs and their compensatory growth; hence, pigs should be as old as possible (≥1 year) and adapted to grazing. - Grass is necessary as a source of protein to compensate for the low protein levels in acorns. - The food conversion rate is 10.5 kg of whole acorns of Q. i. rotundifolia to gain 1 kg, besides the contribution of grass; to establish the stocking rate, consider that an adult evergreen oak produces ≈11 kg of acorns/year). - Iberian pigs peel acorns to avoid the high content of tannins in the shell. However, during peeling, approxi-mately 20% of the kernel can be wasted

La Inspección de Educación: ¿parte de la solución o parte del problema?

This article posits that education inspectors in Spain have become part of the many problems ailing the Spanish Educational system, especially those related to its comprehensiveness and the qualifications it issues. It reviews the main traits of the inspectors’ weak professional code, which holds a close relationship with some features of the Spanish school system. The author believes the latter features are the origin of the above-mentioned problems. Finally, a set of measures is suggested that may eventually change the current role of education inspectors. These measures may, according to the author, help education inspectors become part of a solution for Spanish schools.En este artículo se sustenta la tesis de que la Inspección de Educación ha llegado a formar “parte de los problemas” e insuficiencias que afectan a los sistemas escolares del Estado Español, unos problemas que afectan a la capacidad inclusiva y a la capacidad cualificadora de aquellos. Así, se analizan los rasgos característicos del “débil código profesional” de la Inspección de Educación y su correlación con algunos rasgos institucionales imperantes en nuestros sistemas escolares, que explicarían los problemas señalados más arriba. Finalmente, se aventuran algunas medidas que podrían configurar la Inspección de Educación como “parte de la solución” para las tribulaciones de los sistemas escolares del Estado Español

TPU Cloud-Based Generalized U-Net for Eye Fundus Image Segmentation

Medical images from different clinics are acquired with different instruments and settings. To perform segmentation on these images as a cloud-based service we need to train with multiple datasets to increase the segmentation independency from the source. We also require an ef cient and fast segmentation network. In this work these two problems, which are essential for many practical medical imaging applications, are studied. As a segmentation network, U-Net has been selected. U-Net is a class of deep neural networks which have been shown to be effective for medical image segmentation. Many different U-Net implementations have been proposed.With the recent development of tensor processing units (TPU), the execution times of these algorithms can be drastically reduced. This makes them attractive for cloud services. In this paper, we study, using Google's publicly available colab environment, a generalized fully con gurable Keras U-Net implementation which uses Google TPU processors for training and prediction. As our application problem, we use the segmentation of Optic Disc and Cup, which can be applied to glaucoma detection. To obtain networks with a good performance, independently of the image acquisition source, we combine multiple publicly available datasets (RIM-One V3, DRISHTI and DRIONS). As a result of this study, we have developed a set of functions that allow the implementation of generalized U-Nets adapted to TPU execution and are suitable for cloud-based service implementation.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2016-77785-

Structural investigations on novel non-nucleoside inhibitors of human norovirus polymerase

Human norovirus is the first cause of foodborne disease worldwide, leading to extensive outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis, and causing around 200,000 children to die annually in developing countries. No specific vaccines or antiviral agents are currently available, with therapeutic options limited to supportive care to prevent dehydration. The infection can become severe and lead to life-threatening complications in young children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals, leading to a clear need for antiviral agents, to be used as treatments and as prophylactic measures in case of outbreaks. Due to the key role played by the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) in the virus life cycle, this enzyme is a promising target for antiviral drug discovery. In previous studies, following in silico investigations, we identified different small-molecule inhibitors of this enzyme. In this study, we rationally modified five identified scaffolds, to further explore structure-activity relationships, and to enhance binding to the RdRp. The newly designed compounds were synthesized according to multiple-step synthetic routes and evaluated for their inhibition of the enzyme in vitro. New inhibitors with low micromolar inhibitory activity of the RdRp were identified, which provide a promising basis for further hit-to-lead optimization

Therapeutic opportunities in intestinal microbiota-virus interactions

The host microbiota has emerged a third player in interactions between hosts and viral pathogens. This opens new possibilities to use different tools to modulate the intestinal microbial composition, aimed at reducing the risk of or treating viral enteric infections

The Interactions between host glycobiology, bacterial microbiota, and viruses in the gut

Rotavirus (RV) and norovirus (NoV) are the major etiological agents of viral acute gastroenteritis worldwide. Host genetic factors, the histo-blood group antigens (HBGA), are associated with RV and NoV susceptibility and recent findings additionally point to HBGA as a factor modulating the intestinal microbial composition. In vitro and in vivo experiments in animal models established that the microbiota enhances RV and NoV infection, uncovering a triangular interplay between RV and NoV, host glycobiology, and the intestinal microbiota that ultimately influences viral infectivity. Studies on the microbiota composition in individuals displaying different RV and NoV susceptibilities allowed the identification of potential bacterial biomarkers, although mechanistic data on the virus-host-microbiota relation are still needed. The identification of the bacterial and HBGA interactions that are exploited by RV and NoV would place the intestinal microbiota as a new target for alternative therapies aimed at preventing and treating viral gastroenteritis

Broadening the Chemical Scope of Laccases: Selective Deprotection of N-Benzyl Groups

El sistema catalítico formado por la lacasa de Trametes versicolor y el TEMPO es utilizado de forma eficiente para llevar a cabo la desprotección quimioselectiva de los grupos N-bencilo primarios en condiciones suaves de reacción.Laccase from Trametes versicolor together with TEMPO has been found as a very efficient system to deprotect Nbenzylated primary amines, differing from previously described methods since it uses oxygen as mild oxidant in aqueous medium. Chemoselective removal of the benzyl group was achieved with excellent yields when secondary amine and alcohol moieties were also presentMICINN (Projects CTQ2011-24237 and CTQ2013-44153). Principado de Asturias (predoctoral fellowship Severo Ochoa)

Using virtual potential fields for electric wheelchair guidance

TetraNauta is an electric wheelchair guidance system intended for people with heavy motion impairments (such as persons with tetraplegia). It is specially useful when impairments also affect wheelchair steering as it is able to automatically guide wheelchairs between different points in a known environment (a hospital, a school, etc), conditioned with track marks painted on the floor. It also provides a semiautomatic navigation mode, where control is shared between user and navigation system. It is intended for learning wheelchair manipulation and as an aid in places where navigation is difficult or dangerous (i.e. for crossing narrow corridors)