Influencia del riego en precosecha sobre la calidad de manzanas Golden Supreme y Golden Smoothee.

El riego, práctica habitual y a la vez indispensable de nuestra fruticultura constituye, en su manejo, uno de los principales factores determinantes de la producción y calidad final del fruto, y sobre el cual el agricultor desempeña un papel indispensable como regulador. A este respecto hay varios estudios que entre si presentan conclusiones dispares. El hecho de aumentar la frecuencia y dosis de riego provoca, según varios autores, una disminución en la firmeza de las manzanas (Asaf et al., 1975), mientras que en otras investigaciones se observa el fenómeno contrario (Reichel y Schmidt, 1983). También hay estudios con resultados dispares en relación al efecto que el riego pueda tener en la acidez titulable y el contenido en sólidos solubles del fruto. No obstante, parece ser que una restricción de riego en precosecha se traduce en un aumento de los sólidos solubles de los frutos (Ramos et al., 1993) y en una disminución de su acidez (Recasens et al., 1988). La fecha de recolección también es un factor muy importante en vistas a una optimización tanto de rendimientos de la plantación como de la aptitud del fruto para su frigoconservación. Recolectar un mismo fruto una semana más tarde implica una pérdida de firmeza durante su frigoconservación de aproximadamente 1,5 N por mes, pasando de unas pérdidas mensuales de 3 N a 4,5 N según se haga la recolección en el momento optimo o después (Duran, 1990). Es este acumulo de discrepancias el que ha motivado el planteamiento de este ensayo para nuestras propias condiciones de cultivo. En él se pretende ver si diferentes fechas de recolección y condiciones de riego pueden influir en la firmeza de los frutos y por tanto en su sensibilidad a la manipulación, aspecto de gran interés en el momento de la cosecha. Asimismo es preciso comprobar que estas prácticas culturales no afecten a la calidad del fruto

Addressing potential sources of variation in several non-destructive techniques for measuring firmness in apples

Measurements of firmness have traditionally been carried out according to the Magness Taylor (MT) procedure; using a texture analyser or penetrometer in reference texture tests. Non-destructive tests like the acoustic impulse response of acoustic firmness sensors (AFSs), a low-mass impact firmness sensor Sinclair International (SIQ-FT) and impact test (Lateral Impact – UPM) have also been used to measure texture and firmness. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the influence of different sources of variation in these three non-destructive tests and to evaluate their respective capabilities of discriminating between fruit maturity at two different harvest dates, turgidity before and after dehydration treatment and ripening after different storage periods. According to our results, fruit studied an unexpected AFS trend with turgidity. Contact measurements (Lateral Impact – UPM and SIQ-FT) appeared highly sensitive to changes in turgidity, but were less able to follow changes in ripening caused by storage period. Contact measurements were suitable for detecting differences between fruits from different harvest dates and showed higher correlation coefficients with reference texture tests than acoustic measurements. The Lateral Impact – UPM test proved better at separating fruits according to turgidity than the SIQ-FT instrumen

Forschendes Lernen. Konzeptuelle Grundlagen und Potenziale digitaler Medien

Im folgenden Artikel wird dargelegt, was unter dem Konzept des forschenden Lernens zu verstehen ist und welche Einsatzmöglichkeiten sich für das forschende Lernen im Kontext Universität ergeben. Dabei werden speziell diejenigen Merkmale theoretisch herausgearbeitet, die aus Lehrendenperspektive Anknüpfungspunkte für einen prozessbegleitenden Medieneinsatz bieten. Exemplarisch wird eine Lehrveranstaltung angeführt, die auf Fallebene zeigt, wie ein forschungsorientiertes Seminar um digitale Medien angereichert werden kann und welche Chancen und Grenzen sich bei der selbstgesteuerten Verwendung digitaler Medienangebote ergeben. Die Evaluation des Seminars zeigt, dass die Studierenden einen großen Lernzuwachs erleben, jedoch teilweise durch die Offenheit des Lernens überfordert sind. Diese und andere Gründe führen dazu, dass die von Lehrenden vorgeschlagenen Medienangebote selten bis kaum genutzt werden. Zudem sehen Lernende die Qualität virtuell distribuierter Inhalte kritisch, was sich auf die Akzeptanz und die Nutzung der vorhandenen digitalen Medienangebote auswirkt. (DIPF/Orig.

The realisation of voicing assimilation rules in Hungarian spontaneous and read speech: Case studies

Hungarian represents a particularly fruitful ground for exploring voicing assimilation. Although this topic has been extensively analysed, a contradiction can be observed between most phonological descriptions and acoustic-phonetics-based studies of voicing assimilation. Theoretical works suggest that this process in Hungarian speech is a purely regressive, obligatory and categorical phenomenon, but in practice divergent realisations can be observed. In the present paper three case studies of voicing assimilation are performed. CCC clusters, CC clusters interrupted by pause and partially voiced realisations were analysed. The results showed that in the first two cases the speech planning process and the degree of self-monitoring were the most influential factors, while the various concomitances of voicing and devoicing arising due to aerodynamic and articulatory reasons resulted in partially voiced realisations. The variability of the data confirms the hypothesis that Hungarian voicing assimilation is a gradient and sometimes only partly regressive process. Even if it operates mainly obligatorily, several factors can override it

When GETomics meets aging and exercise in COPD

The term GETomics has been recently proposed to illustrate that human health and disease are actually the final outcome of many dynamic, interacting and cumulative gene (G) - environment (E) interactions that occur through the lifetime (T) of the individual. According to this new paradigm, the final outcome of any GxE interactions depends on both the age of the individual at which such GxE interaction occurs as well as on the previous, cumulative history of previous GxE interactions through the induction of epigenetic changes and immune memory (both lasting overtime). Following this conceptual approach, our understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has changed dramatically. Traditionally believed to be a self-inflicted disease induced by tobacco smoking occurring in older men and characterized by an accelerated decline of lung function with age, now we understand that there are many other risk factors associated with COPD, that it occurs also in females and young individuals, that there are different lung function trajectories through life, and that COPD is not always characterized by accelerated lung function decline. In this paper we discuss how a GETomics approach to COPD may open new perspectives to better understand its relationship with exercise limitation and the ageing process

2D versus 3D human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cultures for neurodegenerative disease modelling

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), affect millions of people every year and so far, there are no therapeutic cures available. Even though animal and histological models have been of great aid in understanding disease mechanisms and identifying possible therapeutic strategies, in order to find disease-modifying solutions there is still a critical need for systems that can provide more predictive and physiologically relevant results. One possible avenue is the development of patient-derived models, e.g. by reprogramming patient somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which can then be differentiated into any cell type for modelling. These systems contain key genetic information from the donors, and therefore have enormous potential as tools in the investigation of pathological mechanisms underlying disease phenotype, and progression, as well as in drug testing platforms. hiPSCs have been widely cultured in 2D systems, but in order to mimic human brain complexity, 3D models have been proposed as a more advanced alternative. This review will focus on the use of patient-derived hiPSCs to model AD, PD, HD and ALS. In brief, we will cover the available stem cells, types of 2D and 3D culture systems, existing models for neurodegenerative diseases, obstacles to model these diseases in vitro, and current perspectives in the field

Amaranthus palmeri a New Invasive Weed in Spain with Herbicide Resistant Biotypes

Amaranthus palmeri is the most prominent invasive weed in agricultural land from North America, partly due to its propensity to evolve resistance to multiple herbicide sites of action. In the last two decades, reports of this species have increased throughout the American continent and occasionally in other continents. In 2007, A. palmeri populations were found in three localities in northeastern Spain, and they are still present today. To determine whether these three populations resulted from a common or independent introduction events¿and when and from where they could have occurred¿research was carried out aiming to characterize the resistance profile and mechanisms to 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase-and acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides and to analyze the relationship between these three populations using inter simple sequence repeat DNA fingerprinting. Dose-response trials confirmed that the three populations were susceptible to glyphosate but resistant to nicosulfuron-methyl. Resistance to ALS inhibitors was due to several amino acid substitutions in positions Pro197, Trp574 and Ser653. Moreover, the substitutions Ser653Ile and Pro197Thr are described for the first time in this species. At field-labeled rates, all populations were fully controlled with alternative herbicides with other sites of action. Amaranthus palmeri individuals were clustered in three groups based on unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean analysis, which corresponded to the three sampled populations, with a 67% of genetic relationship among them. Considering this high genetic variability and the different positions and amino acid substations found between populations, it was hypothesized that different colonization events occurred from the American continent probably prior to the introduction of glyphosate resistant crops. Prevention from new introductions is warranted because new herbicide resistance traits could arrive, complicating the management of this invasive weed species, while managing or eradicating the already established populations.This work was funded by Spanish Government through the project AGL2017-83325-C4-2-R (AEI/FEDER/UE). Joel Torra acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grant Ramon y Cajal RYC2018-023866-I)

Police Powers and Accountability in a Democratic Society

ARTICLES: : 1. Editorial 2. Joachim Kersten - Police Powers and Accountability in a Democratic Society: Introductory Report 3. Amadeu Recasens - The Control of Police Powers 4. Imre Kertész and István Szikinger - Changing Patterns of Culture and its Organisation of the Police in a Society of Transition – Case Study: Hungary 5. Maurice Punch - Police Corruption and its Prevention 6. Philip C. Stenning - Powers and Accountability of Private Police 7. Dominique Monjardet - Police and the Public 8. Judith Vocks and Jan Nijboer - The Promised Land: A Study of Trafficking in Women from Central and Eastern Europe to the Netherland