Dos nuevas especies y una subespecie de campodeidos cavernícolas de la cornisa cantábrica (Diplura, Campodeidae)

A total of 139 specimens of campodeid diplurans, collected from 27 caves of Cantabrian Cornice (Spain) are studied and two new species and one subspecies are described: Podocampa asturiana n. sp., Podocampa asturiana riberiensis n. ssp. and Litocampa zaldivarae n. sp. P. asturiana n. sp. differs from its most closely related species, P. group fragiloides (an endogean species) by troglomorphic characters; P. asturiana riberiensis n. ssp. is distinct from the type species by the number of trochanteral bacilliform sensilla; and L. zaldivarae n. sp. is easely recognized from Litocampa espanoli by the number of macrochaetae posterior lateral in IV urotergite. These new discoveries show the value and diversity of this family of apterygote insects in the Cantabrian subterranean environment.Se han estudiado un total de 139 ejemplares de zipluros campodeidos, recolectados en 27 grutas de la cornisa cantábrica y se han descrito dos nuevas especies y una subespecie: Podocampa asturiana sp. n., Podocampa asturiana riberiensis ssp. n. y Litocampa zaldivarae sp. n. P. asturiana sp. n. difiere de la especie más próxima, Podocampa grupo fragiloides (una forma de hábitat endógeo), por características relacionadas con su facies cavernícola; P. asturiana riberiensis ssp. n. difiere de la especie tipo por el número de sensilos baciliformes trocanterales; y L. zaldivarae sp. n. es fácilmente distinguible de Litocampa espanoli por el número de macroquetas laterales posteriores del IV uroterguito. Estos nuevos hallazgos indican la riqueza y diversidad de esta familia de insectos apterigotos en el medio subterráneo cantábrico

On the Complexity of tt-Closeness Anonymization and Related Problems

An important issue in releasing individual data is to protect the sensitive information from being leaked and maliciously utilized. Famous privacy preserving principles that aim to ensure both data privacy and data integrity, such as $k$-anonymity and $l$-diversity, have been extensively studied both theoretically and empirically. Nonetheless, these widely-adopted principles are still insufficient to prevent attribute disclosure if the attacker has partial knowledge about the overall sensitive data distribution. The $t$-closeness principle has been proposed to fix this, which also has the benefit of supporting numerical sensitive attributes. However, in contrast to $k$-anonymity and $l$-diversity, the theoretical aspect of $t$-closeness has not been well investigated. We initiate the first systematic theoretical study on the $t$-closeness principle under the commonly-used attribute suppression model. We prove that for every constant $t$ such that $0\leq t<1$, it is NP-hard to find an optimal $t$-closeness generalization of a given table. The proof consists of several reductions each of which works for different values of $t$, which together cover the full range. To complement this negative result, we also provide exact and fixed-parameter algorithms. Finally, we answer some open questions regarding the complexity of $k$-anonymity and $l$-diversity left in the literature.Comment: An extended abstract to appear in DASFAA 201

HepaPlan: a CAD software for planning hepatic surgeries

López-Mir, F.; Naranjo Ornedo, V.; Verdú-Monedero, R.; Morales, S.; Brugger, S.; Pareja, E. (2015). HepaPlan: a CAD software for planning hepatic surgeries. International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery. 10(Suppl 1):S238-S239. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/65381SS238S23910Suppl

Impact of UV-light irradiation on sensory properties, volatile, fatty acid, and tocopherol composition of peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Shelf life of peanuts is determined by their susceptibility to lipid oxidation. However, oxidation stability tests require accelerated conditions to speed up oxidation processes. This work aimed to test the use of UV radiation to accelerate the oxidation in peanuts. Shelled and fried peanuts were irradiated for 3 and 7 days, respectively with a UV lamp. The content of fatty acids, tocopherols, and volatile compounds was determined followed by colour and sensory properties of samples. Obtained results were compared with samples heated for 2 months at 70 °C in an oven. Tocopherol content showed oxidation process had just started after 3 days of UV irradiation. Moreover, aldehydes content increased 8.40 times and 11.77 times at 3 days and 7 days, respectively. Aroma, odour, sweetness scores, and a* value of peanuts were lower and permanency and rancity scores were higher after the oxidation process. Thermal treatment showed an increase in colour and b* value and a reduction in a crunchiness score highlighting temperature possible causes chemical changes which are not related to the oxidation process. Acceleration of oxidation with UV radiation can be used to study peanuts oxidation with less impact on sample colour and crunchiness when the sensorial analysis was performed.The authors would like to acknowledge the Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Center (ITENE) and the Generalitat Valenciana (FEDEGENT/2018/021) for their financial support

Optimization and validation of a simplified methodology for simultaneous extraction of fatty acids and tocopherol homologues in peanuts

A new sample treatment methodology was developed for the simultaneous determination of oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic fatty acids (FA), and α-, β-, γ- and δ-tocopherol homologues in peanut samples. Usually, the determination of these compounds is carried out after oil extraction with an organic solvent at boiling temperatures of the solvent. The innovative analytical methodology developed in this work was performed in a 20 mL vial in which the FA and tocopherols were simultaneously extracted, and the derivatization of the FA was, afterwards, conducted. The reduction in analysis time from 1 h 30 min (reference methodology) to 20 min (new methodology) increased the sample throughput. Furthermore, the amount of organic solvent used decreased from 40 mL to 6 mL The new methodology was validated based on the analysis of a certified reference peanut butter sample and the results were compared to those obtained by using the reference methodology and a suitable agreement with the certified values was found. Finally, the new sample treatment approach was used to analyse toasted and fried (with and without tegument) peanuts.The authors would like to acknowledge the Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Center (ITENE) and the Generalitat Valenciana (FEDEGENT/2018/021) for their financial support and DAMEL group© for providing some of the peanut samples

Oxygen Scavenger and Antioxidant LDPE/EVOH/PET-Based Films Containing β-Carotene Intended for Fried Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) Packaging: Pilot Scale Processing and Validation Studies

The aim of this study was to develop an oxygen scavenger and antioxidant active packaging material for fried peanuts. The packaging solution, which has been made at the laboratory previously, has been developed by cast film extrusion and is composed of low-density polyethylene-ethylene vinyl alcohol-polyethylene terephthalate (LDPE/EVOH/PET)-based films containing β-carotene (CAR). In comparison with film without additive, developed film presented an orange colouring (higher L* and b* values and lower a* values) and an increase in oxygen induction time (OIt) from 4.5 to 14.1 min. The incorporation of β-carotene to the formulation also brings about a significant effect on the thermal stability as maximum degradation temperatures increased around 1%. Regarding the oxygen absorption capacity of the films, values of 1.39 ± 0.10 mL O2 per g of film at laboratory scale and 1.7 ± 0.3 mL O2 per g of multilayer (ML)/LDPE_CAR were obtained, respectively, after 3 days, proving the suitability of the packaging solutions as oxygen absorbers. To validate the packaging solution, the oxidative stability of fried peanuts packed in fabricated multilayer β-carotene bags was evaluated for 3 months at 40 °C. The hexanal content remained constant during this period. Meanwhile, peanuts packed in ML without β-carotene increased their hexanal content to 294%. This fact indicated a lower extent of oxidation in fried peanuts compared to food samples packaged in control films, suggesting the potential of ML/LDPE_CAR films as sustainable and antioxidant food packaging systems to offer protection against lipid oxidation in foods. Sensory evaluation confirmed that ML/LDPE_CAR films provided the peanut samples with an extra aroma due to the volatile degradation products of β-carotene (such as β-cyclocitral or 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-ol).This research was funded by Generalitat Valenciana (FEDEGENT/2018/021) and the Packaging, Transport and Logistics Research Center (ITENE) (ITENE2-18Y)

Two serological approaches for detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in different scenarios: a screening tool and a point-of-care test

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has infected more than 8 million people worldwide, becoming a pandemic. Detecting antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is of utmost importance and a good indicator of exposure and circulation of the virus within the general population. Two serological tools based on a double recognition assay [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DR-ELISA) and lateral flow assay (DR-LFA)] to detect total antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 have been developed based on the recombinant nucleocapsid protein. A total of 1065 serum samples, including positive for COVID-19 and negative samples from healthy donors or infected with other respiratory pathogens, were analyzed. The results showed values of sensitivity between 91.2% and 100%, and specificity of 100% and 98.2% for DR-LFA and DR-ELISA, respectively. No cross-reactivity against seasonal coronavirus (HCoV-NL63, HCoV-229E, HCoV-HKU1, HCoV-OC43) was found. These results demonstrate the importance of serology as a complementary tool to polymerase chain reaction for follow-up of recovered patients and identification of asymptomatic individuals

A super-family of transcriptional activators regulates bacteriophage packaging and lysis in Gram-positive bacteria

The propagation of bacteriophages and other mobile genetic elements requires exploitation of the phage mechanisms involved in virion assembly and DNA packaging. Here, we identified and characterized four different families of phage-encoded proteins that function as activators required for transcription of the late operons (morphogenetic and lysis genes) in a large group of phages infecting Gram-positive bacteria. These regulators constitute a super-family of proteins, here named late transcriptional regulators (Ltr), which share common structural, biochemical and functional characteristics and are unique to this group of phages. They are all small basic proteins, encoded by genes present at the end of the early gene cluster in their respective phage genomes and expressed under cI repressor control. To control expression of the late operon, the Ltr proteins bind to a DNA repeat region situated upstream of the ter S gene, activating its transcription. This involves the C-terminal part of the Ltr proteins, which control specificity for the DNA repeat region. Finally, we show that the Ltr proteins are the only phage-encoded proteins required for the activation of the packaging and lysis modules. In summary, we provide evidence that phage packaging and lysis is a conserved mechanism in Siphoviridae infecting a wide variety of Gram-positive bacteria.Funding for open access charge: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) [Consolider-Ingenio CSD2009-00006, BIO2011-30503-C02-01 and Eranet-pathogenomics PIM2010EPA-00606 to J.R.P]; Cardenal Herrera-CEU University [Copernicus-Santander program to J.R.P.]; Insituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias (INIA) [DR08-0093 to M.A.T-M.]; National Institute of Health [R56AI081837 to G.E.C, R01AI022159-23A2 to R.P.N.]