Liquid culture for isolating microorganisms with potential to degrade methyl parathion from agricultural soils and organic waste.

The search for microorganisms with high capacity for pesticide degradation is a very interesting attempt to approach bioremediation strategies in order to prevent contamination. This study evaluates the potential of agricultural soils and solid organic waste cultures microbial isolation as a strategy for screening microorganisms with potential for Methyl parathion (MP) degradation. For the study, microbial consortia were recovered from the liquid fraction of suspension cultures of agricultural soils and solid organic waste. Then, the MP degradation ability and its toxic effect on microbial activity were determined during microbial incubations under laboratory controlled conditions. The results showed that it is not possible to recover the active microorganisms that have potential to degrade the MP from the agricultural soils. However, an active consortium that would degrade both MP and its degradation products was isolated from the organic solid waste

Liquid culture for isolating microorganisms with potential to degrade methyl parathion from agricultural soils and organic waste.

The search for microorganisms with high capacity for pesticide degradation is a very interesting attempt to approach bioremediation strategies in order to prevent contamination. This study evaluates the potential of agricultural soils and solid organic waste cultures microbial isolation as a strategy for screening microorganisms with potential for Methyl parathion (MP) degradation. For the study, microbial consortia were recovered from the liquid fraction of suspension cultures of agricultural soils and solid organic waste. Then, the MP degradation ability and its toxic effect on microbial activity were determined during microbial incubations under laboratory controlled conditions. The results showed that it is not possible to recover the active microorganisms that have potential to degrade the MP from the agricultural soils. However, an active consortium that would degrade both MP and its degradation products was isolated from the organic solid waste

An ABS control logic based on wheel force measurement

The paper presents an anti-lock braking system (ABS) control logic based on the measurement of the longitudinal forces at the hub bearings. The availability of force information allows to design a logic that does not rely on the estimation of the tyre-road friction coefficient, since it continuously tries to exploit the maximum longitudinal tyre force. The logic is designed by means of computer simulation and then tested on a specific hardware in the loop test bench: the experimental results confirm that measured wheel force can lead to a significant improvement of the ABS performances in terms of stopping distance also in the presence of road with variable friction coefficien

Industrialización de la riqueza vegetal: oportunidades sociales y económicas

Las empresas enfrentan un importante desafío es esta economía globalizada, porque para sobrevivir tienen que ofrecer nuevos productos con valor agregado en los mercados internacionales. Para ello se requieren profesionales entrenados en las metodologías para el desarrollo de nuevos productos (DNP), y los egresados universitarios tienen que tener estas habilidades para que puedan contribuir a enfrentar esta situación. J unto con esto se requieren también productos innovadores de la mano con la conservación del medio ambiente y aprovechando al máximo los recursos disponibles, bien sea de la tierra o de transformación tecnológica. Con este proyecto se pretende abrir una ventana de oportunidad para que los alumnos del programa de Ingeniería de Procesos puedan adquirir el entrenamiento necesario para desempeñarse con éxito en el DNP. A demás, los empresarios del campo puedan obtener un valor agregado para sus productos como alternativa en tiempos de precios desfavorables.Companies face a major challenge is this globalized economy, because to survive they have to offer new products with added value in the international market. This requires professionals trained in the methodologies for the development of new products (DNP) and university graduates must have these skills so that they can contribute to deal with this situation. A long with this they also require innovations running by the side of conservation of the environment and the taking of full advantage of available resources, either from land or technological transformation. This project is to open a window of opportunity so that the Process Engineering students can acquire the knowledge needed to perform successfully in the DNP training. A lso field employers can get valueadded products as an alternative in times of unfavourable prices

In vivo observation of chlorophyll fluorescence quenching induced by gold nanoparticles

To our knowledge, the present work reports the first in vivo observation of chlorophyll a fluorescence quenching induced by gold nanoparticles. Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy was used to collect in vivo chlorophyll a fluorescence, using a portable optical fiber-based spectrofluorimeter. Fluorescence quenching was observed for all plants submitted to the gold nanoparticle treatment, and both excitation wavelengths, 405 nm and 532 nm, were capable of detecting interactions between gold nanoparticles and plants. Our results also suggest that gold nanoparticles were able to translocate and accumulate in the soybean plants after seed inoculation.CNPqFUNDECTINCT - INO

How does the beach ecosystem change without tourists during COVID-19 lockdown?

Urban tourist beach ecosystems provide the essential service of recreation. These ecosystems also support critical ecological functions where biodiversity conservation is not usually a priority. The sudden lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic created a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of human absence in these urban-coastal ecosystems. This study examined bioindicators from 29 urban tourist beaches in seven Latin-American countries and assesses their response to lockdown about some relevant anthropogenic stressors such as pollution, noise, human activities, and user density. The presence of animals and plants, as well as the intensity of stressors, were assessed through a standardized protocol during lockdown conditions. Additionally, the environmental conditions of the beaches before and during lockdown were qualitatively compared using multivariate non-parametric statistics. We found notable positive changes in biological components and a clear decrease in human stressors on almost all the beaches. Dune vegetation increased on most sites. Similarly, high burrow densities of ghost crabs were observed on beaches, except those where cleaning activity persisted. Because of the lockdown, there was an exceptionally low frequency of beach users, which in turn reduced litter, noise and unnatural odors. The observed patterns suggest that tourist beaches can be restored to natural settings relatively quickly. We propose several indicators to measure changes in beaches once lockdown is relaxed. Adequate conservation strategies will render the recreational service of tourist beaches more environmental-friendly

Purifying selection in corvids is less efficient on islands

Funding was provided by the European Research Council (ERCStG-336536 FuncSpecGen to J.B.W.W.), the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (621-2013-4510 to J.B.W.W.), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (to J.B.W.W.), the Lawski foundation (to V.E.K. and J.B.W.W.), the German Research Foundation (KU 3402/1-1 to V.E.K.), the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/G023913/2 to C.R.), and the New Zealand Marsden Fund (to G.R.H.).Theory predicts that deleterious mutations accumulate more readily in small populations. As a consequence, mutation load is expected to be elevated in species where life-history strategies and geographic or historical contingencies reduce the number of reproducing individuals. Yet, few studies have empirically tested this prediction using genome-wide data in a comparative framework. We collected whole-genome sequencing data for 147 individuals across seven crow species (Corvus spp.). For each species, we estimated the distribution of fitness effects of deleterious mutations and compared it with proxies of the effective population size Ne. Island species with comparatively smaller geographic range sizes had a significantly increased mutation load. These results support the view that small populations have an elevated risk of mutational meltdown, which may contribute to the higher extinction rates observed in island species.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Extrapair paternity in two populations of the socially monogamous Thorn-tailed Rayadito Aphrastura spinicauda (Passeriformes: Furnariidae)

Studies on extrapair paternity (EPP) are key to understanding the ecological and evolutionary drivers of variation in avian mating strategies, but information is currently lacking for most tropical and subtropical taxa. We describe the occurrence of EPP in two populations of a South American socially monogamous bird, the Thorn-tailed Rayadito, based on data from 266 broods and 895 offspring that were sampled during six breeding seasons in north-central and southern Chile. In the northern population, 21% of the broods contained at least one extrapair young and 14% of all offspring were sired by an extrapair male, while in the southern population, we detected extrapair offspring (EPO) in 14% of the broods, and 6% of all offspring were EPO. Variation in the frequency of EPP could stem from population differences in the duration of the breeding season or the density of breeding individuals. Other factors such as differences in breeding synchrony and variation in food availability need to be evaluated. More reports on EPP rates are necessary to determine the patterns of taxonomic and geographic variation in mating strategies in Neotropical birds, and to better understand the differences in ecological dynamics between northern and southern hemisphere populations.Fil: Botero Delgadillo, Esteban. Max Plank Institute For Ornithology; Alemania. SELVA: Investigación para la Conservación en el Neotrópico; Colombia. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Quirici, Verónica. Universidad Andrés Bello; ChileFil: Poblete, Yanina. Universidad de Las Américas; ChileFil: Ippi, Silvina Graciela. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Departamento de Ecología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Kempenaers, Bart. Max Plank Institute For Ornithology; AlemaniaFil: Vásquez, Rodrigo A.. Universidad de Chile; Chil

Comportamiento reproductivo y producción de leche en hatos.

El presente estudio tuvo por objeto determinar la relación entre las variables independientes: días abietos, días secos, días en la lactancia e intervalo entre partos y las variables dependientes producción total y producción diaria. Se analizaron 735 lactancias correspondientes a 12 hatos Holstein localizados en la sabana de Bogotá e inscritos en el Programa de Registro Lechero del ICA, durante los años 1973 a 1978. Se utilizó el modelo estadístico propuesto por Louca y Legates y un análisis de regresión múltiple polinomial para describir las observaciones individuales de las variables analizadas. Se efectuaron ecuaciones de predicción para estimar la producción de leche en 3 hatos hipotéticos, de acuerdo con el número de días abiertos y días secos, manteniendo constantes los días de lactancia, para estimar las pérdidas en producción de leche. Las vacas tuvieron su primer parto a los 36 meses y alcanzaron durante el período estudiado (5 años) una vida productiva de 40.9 meses, lapso durante el cual presentaron 3.26 lactancias. Los días abiertos, secos y en lactancia fueron, respectivamente, 150, 88.3 y 324, y un intervalo entre partos de 430 días. La producción por lactancia alcanzó 4.436 kg y la producción diaria, 13.6 kg. Las variables hato y días de lactancia mostraron una participación alta en la suma de cuadrados (46.8 y 32.9 por ciento, respectivamente), mientras que las otras viariables, días vacíos, días secos y edad de primer parto revelaron una participación baja (0.04, 7.6 y 0.08 por ciento). Se encontró una asociación negativa altamente significativa (P menor que 0.01) de los días abiertos, los secos y el intervalo entre partos, con relación a la producción total de leche (r igual a menos 0.14, menos 0.22 y menos 0.44, respectivamente).;Los coeficientes de regresión indican que la producción de leche disminuyó en 3.8 kg por cada día vacío adicional, por encima de los 100 días, en 8.7 kg por cada día seco adicional por encima de los 60 días y en 0.6 kg por cada día que el intervalo entre partos se prolongó más allá de 305 días. Las ecuaciones de predicción para estimar la producción total de leche en 3 grupos hipotéticos, con 85, 150 y 220 días vacíos y con 60, 100 y 150 días secos, respectivamente, revelaron una producción esperada para cada uno de los grupos de 4.252, 3.987 y 3.775 kg de leche. Esto significa que los 2 últimos grupos produjeron 265 y 477 kg de leche menos (6.5 y 11 por ciento) que el primer grupoGanado de leche-Ganadería lech