In vitro production of two chitinolytic proteins with an inhibiting effect on the insect coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and the fungus Hemileia vastatrix the most limiting pests of coffee crops

Two genes from Streptomyces albidoflavus, one exochitinase (905-bp) and an endochitinase (1100-bp) were functionally expressed in Escherichia coli in form of a fusion protein with a maltose binding protein (MBP). The goal was to produce and test proteins that inhibit both the coffee berry borer insect Hypothenemus hampei and the coffee rust fungus Hemileia vastatrix. Both recombinant proteins MBP/exochitinase and MBP/endochitinase showed chitinolytic activity. When recombinant purified proteins were added to an artificial coffee-based diet for the coffee berry borer, MBP/exochitinase at a concentration of 0.5% W/W caused delayed growth of larvae and 100% mortality between days 8 and 15, while MBP/endochitinase caused 100% mortality at day 35. H. vastatrix urediniospores presented total cell wall degradation in their germinative tubes within 18 h of exposure to the proteins at enzyme concentrations of 5 and 6 mg ml-1, with exochitinase having the greatest effect. The dual deleterious effect of S. albidoflavus chitinases on two of the most limiting coffee pests worldwide, the coffee borer and the coffee rust, make them potential elements to be incorporated in integrated control strategies

Reconocimiento de patrones de habla usando MFCC y RNA

In this work the results of the design and development of an algorithm based on artificial intelligence and MFCC for recognizing speech patterns are presented. The using of MFCC allowed to characterize voice signals, having into account the noise in the record environment, which helps with the estimation of common patterns among these signals when presents disturbances. As a main result of this work, a recognizing rate between 93 and 96% for the selected vowels (/a/,/e/,/o/) was achieved. For the training a number of 22 samples were used and others 11 for the validation process. The samples were obtained from 11 test subjects, all of them of male genre.En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del diseño y desarrollo de un algoritmo basado en inteligencia artificial para el reconocimiento de patrones de vocablos del idioma español, utilizando Coeficientes Cepstrales en las Frecuencias de Mel o (MFCC), para representar el habla a través de la percepción auditiva del ser humano. La utilización de MFCC permitió caracterizar las señales de voz teniendo en cuenta el posible ruido presente en el ambiente de grabación, lo cual ayudo a la obtención de patrones comunes entre estas señales cuando presentan alteraciones. Como resultado se obtuvo un reconocimiento superior al 95% de las tres vocales escogidas, en este caso la /a/,/e/,/o/, entre un grupo de 22 muestras por vocal para el entrenamiento y 11 muestras para la validación. Las muestras fueron obtenidas de 11 personas, todas del género masculino

Socio-economic and Technical Characteristics of Backyard Animal Husbandry in Two Rural Communities of Yucatan, Mexico

This research work was conducted in order to asses the socio-economic and technical aspects of backyard animal rearing in two communities of Yucatán, México. One hundred and thirty nine families were interviewed in Sudzal (C1) and 117 families in San Jose Tzal (C2). A structured questionnaire was used to interview the families on technical and socio-economic aspects. Using this information the technical level of animal husbandry and a index of socio-economic status of the families involved in backyard animal rearing in both communities were determined. In C1 46.8% of the interviewed families reared animals in their backyard in comparison to 70.9% in C2. Main animal species kept in the backyard were chickens (C1= 92.3% and C2= 88.0), turkeys (C1= 63.1% and C2= 55.4%) and pigs (C1= 38.5% and 1C2= 5. 7% in C1 and C2 respectively). In C2 100% of pigs kept in the backyard were of the commercial type. Technical level in animal production was significantly higher (P 0.0001) in C2 than in C1, because utilisation of commercial diets was higher in C2 (P 0.001) than in C1. The families of C2 had a higher socio-economic level (P 0.002) than families from C1, because families of C2 have houses built with lasting materials (P 0.0001) and the occupation of the head of the family was associated with higher income (merchants or employees) (P 0.0001). The correlation coefficients between socio-economic status and technical level in backyard animal production showed that 84% of the technical level was explained by the socio-economic status. It can be concluded that socio-economic status has a high influence on backyard animal production characteristics. The socio-economic status determine the number of animals kept and the technical level in animal rearing

Demand in the electricity market: analysis using big data

The traditional business model of energy companies is changing in recent years. The introduction of smart meters has led to an exponential increase in the volume of data available, and their analysis can help find consumption patterns among electric customers to reduce costs and protect the environment. Power plants generate electricity to cover peak consumption at specific times. A set of techniques called “demand response” tries to solve this problem using artificial intelligence proposals. This document proposes a method for processing large volumes of data such as those generated by smart meters. Both for the preprocessing and for the optimization and realization of this analysis big data techniques are used. Specifically, a distributed version of the k-means algorithm and several indices of internal validation of clustering for big data in Spark. The source data correspond to the consumption of electric customers in Bogota, Colombia during the year 2018. The analysis carried out in this study about consumers helps their characterization. This greater knowledge about consumer habits and types of customers can enhance the work of utilities

Pauli principle and chaos in a magnetized disk

We present results of a detailed quantum mechanical study of a gas of $N$ noninteracting electrons confined to a circular boundary and subject to homogeneous dc plus ac magnetic fields $(B=B_{dc}+B_{ac}f(t)$, with $f(t+2\pi/\omega_0)=f(t)$). We earlier found a one-particle {\it classical} phase diagram of the (scaled) Larmor frequency $\tilde\omega_c=omega_c/\omega_0$ {\rm vs} $\epsilon=B_{ac}/B_{dc}$ that separates regular from chaotic regimes. We also showed that the quantum spectrum statistics changed from Poisson to Gaussian orthogonal ensembles in the transition from classically integrable to chaotic dynamics. Here we find that, as a function of $N$ and $(\epsilon,\tilde\omega_c)$, there are clear quantum signatures in the magnetic response, when going from the single-particle classically regular to chaotic regimes. In the quasi-integrable regime the magnetization non-monotonically oscillates between diamagnetic and paramagnetic as a function of $N$. We quantitatively understand this behavior from a perturbation theory analysis. In the chaotic regime, however, we find that the magnetization oscillates as a function of $N$ but it is {\it always} diamagnetic. Equivalent results are also presented for the orbital currents. We also find that the time-averaged energy grows like $N^2$ in the quasi-integrable regime but changes to a linear $N$ dependence in the chaotic regime. In contrast, the results with Bose statistics are akin to the single-particle case and thus different from the fermionic case. We also give an estimate of possible experimental parameters were our results may be seen in semiconductor quantum dot billiards.Comment: 22 pages, 7 GIF figures, Phys. Rev. E. (1999

Comportamiento de la humedad durante el secado solar del mineral laterítico

En las empresas cubanas del níquel que utilizan el proceso Caron, el contenido elevado de humedad en la material prima mineral incide en el aumento del consumo de combustible en los secadores durante el secado térmico. Se evaluó de forma experimental la humedad durante el secado solar del mineral laterítico a la intemperie. El método de análisis de la humedad utilizado fue el de diferencias de pesadas. Se empleó la regression lineal multiple para establecer los modelos matemáticos de las masas de trabajo. El estudio demostró que los parámetros climatológicos más influyentes en el secado solar del mineral laterítico son la temperatura del medio ambiente, las precipitaciones, la velocidad del viento y la temperatura del punto de rocío, así como que solamente el agua no estructural es la que puede ser eliminada. La humedad se redujo en un 13 %

Similarities between the lipid proile of Mexican patients with lupus and the general population

Premature cardiovascular events have been observed in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, but the reason for this accelerated process is still debatable; although traditional risk factors are more prevalent in such patients than in the general population, the do not seem to fully explain that enhanced risk. One of the most important conditions is a proatherogenic lipid proile. There is not enough data about it in Mexican SLE patients. Objective: To establish the differences in the lipid proiles between Mexican patients with SLE and the general population. Material and methods: Observational, transversal, descriptive and comparative study, between SLE patients and age-sex-matched healthy volunteers. We performed a full lipid proile (by spectrophotometry) 14 hours of fast. The results obtained were analyzed by the statistical program SPSS® Statistics version 17. Results: We studied the full lipid proiles of 138 subjects, 69 with a diagnosis of SLE and 69 agesex- matched healthy volunteers; 95.7% were females and 4.3% males. Average age was 30 years; average body mass index (BMI) 25.96 ± 5.96 kg/m² in SLE patients and 26.72 ± 4.36 kg/m² in the control group (p = 0.396). Average of total cholesterol 156 mg/dl in the SLE patients and 169.4 mg/dl in the control group (p =0.028); average of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol 85.27 mg/dl in the SLE patients and 97.57 mg/dl in the control group (p = 0.023). Conclusions: We did not ind statistical differences in the lipid proiles among patients and healthy volunteers, which could explain increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality observed in SLE patient

Evaluación de la extracción del colorante de totumo (Crescentia cujete L.) en un producto textil

The objective of this study was to evaluate the extraction of colorant from the pulp of the fruit of calabash tree (Crescentia cujete L.) obtained in Granada (Meta, Colombia). Such extraction was performed using three different solvents (water, sodium hydroxide, and ethanol) to determine (1) the solvent that offers the highest yield and the greatest stability in resistance tests applied to a textile product and (2) the metabolites present in the samples. For this purpose, the dye was extracted by the digestion method, where 150 g of pulp were placed in three different beakers, adding water, ethanol, and sodium hydroxide until a volume of 300 ml was reached over 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 1 hour, respectively, at a constant agitation and a temperature of 75 °C. The residues were filtered and weighed. The samples thus obtained were used to dye 2x2-cm pieces of cotton, which were subjected to resistance tests with acids and alkalis, high temperatures, and detergent. The final color was determined by a colorimeter to obtain its coordinates in the CIEL*a*b* color space. Finally, by means of spectrophotometry and peaks in the absorbance spectrum plots, it was possible to study the presence of organic pigments in the samples. The NaOH solvent achieved the best performance in the resistance tests. In turn, the sample dyed with the colorant extracted using ethanol showed a total color difference of ΔE = 3.41, which was the lowest color loss in this study. The sample treated with NaOH exhibited peaks at 270–370 nm, indicating the presence of flavonoids; and that treated with ethanol, peaks at 665–700 nm, signaling the presence of saponins. According to the above, it is possible to extract a colorant from the calabash tree fruit, which makes it a potential agro-industrial raw material.La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo evaluar la extracción del colorante de la pulpa del fruto de totumo (Crescentia cujete L.) obtenido en el municipio de Granada, departamento del Meta. Para ello se usaron tres distintos solventes: agua, hidróxido de sodio y etanol, lo cual permitió determinar el colorante de mayor rendimiento, el más estable ante pruebas de resistencia aplicado en un producto textil y la determinación de metabolitos. Esto se logró mediante la extracción del colorante por el método de digestión, en donde se agregó 150 g de pulpa a tres vasos diferentes de precipitado, adicionando agua, etanol e hidróxido de sodio hasta alcanzar un volumen de 300 ml durante un tiempo de 20 minutos, 30 minutos y 1 hora, respectivamente, a una agitación y temperatura constante de 75 °C. Se filtraron y pesaron los residuos y, una vez obtenidas las muestras, estas se utilizaron para teñir fragmentos de algodón de 2 x 2 cm, los cuales se sometieron a pruebas de resistencia con ácidos y álcalis, altas temperaturas y detergente. El color final se determinó empleando el colorímetro para obtener las coordenadas del círculo cromático de la escala CIEL a* b*. Finalmente, mediante espectrofotometría, se logró, por medio de los rangos de longitud de onda, considerar la existencia de pigmentos orgánicos presentes en dichas muestras. Se evidenció que el NaOH fue el solvente de mayor rendimiento. La muestra teñida con colorante extraído con etanol dio una diferencia total de color ΔE = 3,41, considerándolo el de menor pérdida de color. Para la muestra con NaOH se obtuvo un rango de 270-370 nm, lo que indica presencia de flavonoides y, para el extracto con etanol se obtuvo un rango de 665-700 nm, lo cual indica presencia de saponinas. De acuerdo con lo anterior, es posible efectuar la extracción de color a partir del totumo, lo cual convierte este producto en una materia prima con potencial agroindustrial