Aqueous extract of coconut shell biochar as a pre-germination treatment increases seed germination and early seedling growth in chiltepín pepper (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum)

Since the fruit of the Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum (Dunal) Heiser and Pickergil (chiltepín pepper) has a low germination rate, we sought to determine whether using an aqueous biochar extract could improve this. Germination tests were performed out in Petri dishes, using wild chiltepín pepper seeds collected in Sonora, México, which were exposed for 24 h to aqueous extracts of coconut shell biochar (CSBA) at different doses (0.05, 0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00%, w/v) and a control comprising deionized water. In addition to quantifying the germination rate, we determined the physical quality, viability, imbibition, electrical conductivity, seed pH, and capsaicin content. The fast green test showed an ideal physical quality (p = 0.5475), an imbibition rate > 65% (p > 0.05), and high viability 98.4% (p > 0.05). The wild chiltepín pepper seeds exposed to the CSBA0.05 and CSBA0.25 treatments increased the percentage germination rate (p < 0.001) to 80.9% and 71.7%, respectively. A higher percentage of normal seedlings resulted from CSBA0.05, CSBA0.10 and CSBA1.00 (p < 0.01), and a greater shoot length was obtained with CSBA0.05 (p < 0.01). The exposure of wild chiltepín seeds to aqueous CSBA for 24 h at low doses (CSBA0.05 and CSBA0.25) increase the germination rate, while CSBA0.05 could enhance early seedling growth

Emprendimiento femenino y financiación social: un estudio comparado

En el actual entorno económico mundial organismos como la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE) o el Banco Mundial reconocen el emprendimiento de nuevos negocios como un motor de crecimiento indiscutible y a los mecanismos financieros para ponerlo en práctica como determinantes. La literatura económica desde hace tiempo viene estudiando los procesos de emprendimiento desde diferentes perspectivas; aunque no tanto atendiendo al género de quien toma la iniciativa empresarial y a las singularidades de esta circunstancia, ya que hay situaciones que pueden llegar a condicionar la puesta en marcha de negocios por mujeres como el menor acceso a la financiación bancaria frente a sus homólogos masculinos, lo que puede justificar una menor actividad emprendedora. En ámbitos específicos como el emprendimiento social, donde el componente del lucro se ajusta con la dimensión social y medioambiental del proyecto, se pone de manifiesto esta situación. El presente artículo se centra en la demanda de financiación por parte de las emprendedoras a partir de tres bloques de análisis. En el primero, se estudian las necesidades de recursos financieros de las emprendedoras frente a los emprendedores con el propósito de establecer si hay diferencias relevantes, contrastando si las primeras precisan menos financiación que los segundos a la hora de llevar a cabo iniciativas empresariales. En el siguiente bloque, se analizan las fuentes de financiación principal declaradas por las emprendedoras de 69 países en la encuesta del Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), identificando varios clústeres relevantes con resultados diversos. Esto último hace posible, para terminar, contrastar empíricamente las diferencias en las fuentes principales expresadas por hombres y mujeres para financiar sus negocios

Minimally invasive treatment of calcified double J catheter

Introduction: The calcification of the double J catheter can be found in 13% of those placed and increases proportionally to the time it remains in contact with urine. The researchers agree that the calcified double J catheter is a complex complication to resolve. A bibliographic review was carried out, from 2011 to 2021. The resources of the SciELO, EBSCO, Elsevier and PubMed databases were used in relation to the descriptors lithiasis, catheters, minimally invasive surgical procedures and intraoperative and postoperative complications. Objective: To describe the role of minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of calcified double J catheter. Development: The risk factors related to calcified double J are clinical-therapeutic and sociodemographic, such as urinary tract infection, history of lithiasis, pregnancy, chronic kidney disease, metabolic or congenital anomalies. Those made of polyurethane have higher rates of calcification. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy can be used in up to 70.7% of patients. Multimodal methods such as ureteroscopy prior to transurethral cystolithotripsy have been applied between 6-17.9%, percutaneous nephrolithotomy and ureteroscopy prior cystolithotripsy or not in 7.7%-20%. The most frequent complications are reported during the postoperative period (20%): fever, pain, vomiting, hematuria, pyelonephritis, sepsis, urinoma, spontaneous migration of the newly placed catheter, and acute kidney injury, among others. Conclusions: Minimally invasive surgery is currently the cornerstone of treatment for patients with calcified double-J catheters

La atención a la diversidad educativa desde una perspectiva democrática y de justicia social

The participation of the subjects in the pedagogical activity is an essential condition to promote educational processes from democracy and social justice focused on the recognition of the educational diversity of students as actors of social development. The conceptual bases and the main transformations contained in the normative documents of the third improvement of the Cuban educational system enhance the development of a democratic educational act and social justice, based on the cohesion between the educational institution and individual and social interests. The recognition of diversity in the educational context constitutes one of the central elements of the educational transformations derived from the improvement process for Higher Secondary Education. Hence, the essential purpose of this work is aimed at: Reflecting on attention to educational diversity as a component of democracy and social justice in the third improvement of the Cuban educational system.La participación de los sujetos en la actividad pedagógica es condición esencial para impulsar procesos educativos desde la democracia y la justicia social centrados en el reconocimiento de la diversidad educativa del alumnado como actores del desarrollo social. Las bases conceptuales y las principales transformaciones contenidas en los documentos normativos del tercer perfeccionamiento del sistema educacional cubano potencian el desarrollo de un acto educativo democrático y de justicia social, a partir de la cohesión entre la institución educativa y los intereses individuales y sociales. El reconocimiento de la diversidad en el contexto educativo constituye uno de los elementos centrales de las transformaciones educativas derivadas del proceso de perfeccionamiento para la Educación Media Superior. De ahí que el propósito esencial de este trabajo esté dirigido a: Reflexionar sobre la atención a la diversidad educativa como componente de la democracia y la justicia social en el tercer perfeccionamiento del sistema educativo cubano

A Molecular Vision of the Interaction of Tomato Plants and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersic

Fusarium oxysporum causes vascular wilt disease in a broad range of crops, including tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Tomato, a major and important vegetable crop, is susceptible to F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL), a biotrophic pathogen that is the causal agent of tomato wilt resulting in significant yield losses each year. Development of disease in susceptible tomato plants requires FOL to advance through a series of transitions, beginning with spore germination and culminating with establishment of a systemic infection. In addition, many host attributes, including the composition of root exudates, the structure of the root cortex, and the capacity to recognize and respond quickly to invasive growth of a pathogen, can impede the development of FOL. FOL divides into races on the basis of the ability of individual strains to overcome specific genes. This implies the presence of avirulence genes (Avr) in the fungus that is recognized by products of the corresponding genes. In tomato, resistance (R) genes against the wilt-inducing FOL are called immunity genes, and the interaction between these genes will determine the success of the infection

Nanopartículas de quitosán mejoran el rendimiento, actividad enzimática y compuestos bioactivos en frutos de tomate

Las nanopartículas de quitosán (NPsCS) son utilizadas como bioestimulantes naturales en la agricultura sustentable, ya que incrementan la productividad de los cultivos e inducen la síntesis de antioxidantes enzimáticos y no enzimáticos, protegiendo a la planta del estrés. El presente estudio se desarrolló con el objetivo de determinar el efecto de la aplicación foliar de las NPsCS sobre el rendimiento, actividad enzimática y contenido de compuestos bioactivos en frutos de tomate. El ensayo se estableció en un diseño completamente al azar con seis dosis crecientes de NPsCS: 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 y 0.8 mg mL-1. La aspersión foliar de 0.2 mg mL-1 aumentó el rendimiento, tamaño y firmeza de los frutos; en cambio dosis alta incrementan los compuestos bioactivos y la actividad enzimática. El uso de NPsCS aplicadas de forma foliar presentan un gran potencial para utilizarse como bioestimulantes para mejorar el rendimiento y obtener alimentos funcionales

City-Friendly Smart Network Technologies and Infrastructures: The Spanish Experience

Efficient, resilient, and sustainable electricity delivery is a key cornerstone in increasingly large and complex urban environments, where citizens expect to keep or rise their living standards. In this context, cost-effective and ubiquitous digital technologies are driving the transformation of existing electrical infrastructures into truly smart systems capable of better providing the services a low-carbon society is demanding. The goal of this paper is twofold: 1) to review the dramatically evolving landscape of power systems, from the old framework based on centralized generation and control, aimed at serving inelastic customers through alternating current (ac) transmission networks and one-way distribution feeders, to a new paradigm centered mainly around two main axes: renewable generation, both centralized and distributed, and active customers (prosumers), interacting with each other through hybrid ac/dc smart grids; 2) to illustrate, through featured success stories, how several smart grid concepts and technologies have been put into practice in Spain over the last few years to optimize the performance of urban electrical assets

Vitamin D-Related Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms as Risk Biomarker of Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels. In addition to environmental risk factors, genetic predisposition increases the risk; this includes alterations in the vitamin D receptor gene (VDR). These alterations play a key role in modifying vitamin D uptake, being able to modify its function and increasing susceptibility to cardiovascular disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of polymorphisms in the VDR gene and risk of CVD in a Caucasian population. A retrospective case-control study was conducted comprising 246 CVD patients and 246 controls of Caucasian origin from Southern Spain. The genetic polymorphisms BsmI (rs1544410), TaqI (rs731236), ApaI (rs7975232), FokI (rs2228570) and Cdx2 (rs11568820) were determined by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for allelic discrimination using TaqMan® probes. The logistic regression analysis adjusted for body mass index and diabetes revealed that the TT genotype was associated with a higher risk of CVD in both the genotypic model (p = 0.0430; OR = 2.30; 95% CI = 1.06–5.37; TT vs. CC) and the recessive model (p = 0.0099; OR = 2.71; 95% CI = 1.31–6.07; TT vs. C). Haplotype analysis revealed that the haplotype GAC (p = 0.047; OR = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.12–0.98) was associated with increased risk of CVD. The VDR polymorphisms FokI (rs2228570) was significantly associated with the development of CVD. No influence was observed of the VDR polymorphisms BsmI (rs1544410), TaqI (rs731236), ApaI (rs7975232) and Cdx2 (rs11568820) on the risk of developing CVD in the patients studied.ERDF funds (EU) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III PT13/0010/003

Use of iodine to biofortify and promote growth and stress tolerance in crops

odine is not considered essential for land plants; however, in some aquatic plants, iodine plays a critical role in antioxidant metabolism. In humans, iodine is essential for the metabolism of the thyroid and for the development of cognitive abilities, and it is associated with lower risks of developing certain types of cancer. Therefore, great efforts are made to ensure the proper intake of iodine to the population, for example, the iodization of table salt. In the same way, as an alternative, the use of different iodine fertilization techniques to biofortify crops is considered an adequate iodine supply method. Hence, biofortification with iodine is an active area of research, with highly relevant results. The agricultural application of iodine to enhance growth, environmental adaptation, and stress tolerance in plants has not been well explored, although it may lead to the increased use of this element in agricultural practice and thus contribute to the biofortification of crops. This review systematically presents the results published on the application of iodine in agriculture, considering different environmental conditions and farming systems in various species and varying concentrations of the element, its chemical forms, and its application method. Some studies report beneficial effects of iodine, including better growth, and changes in the tolerance to stress and antioxidant capacity, while other studies report that the applications of iodine cause no response or even have adverse effects. We suggested different assumptions that attempt to explain these conflicting results, considering the possible interaction of iodine with other trace elements, as well as the different physicochemical and biogeochemical conditions that give rise to the distinct availability and the volatilization of the element

Tree-ring distinctness, dating potential and climatic sensitivity of laurel forest tree species in Tenerife Island

Producción CientíficaMacaronesian laurel forests are the only remnants of a subtropical palaeoecosystem dominant during the Tertiary in Europe and northern Africa. These biodiverse ecosystems are restricted to cloudy and temperate insular environments in the North Atlantic Ocean. Due to their reduced distribution area, these forests are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances and changes in climatic conditions. The assessment of laurel forest trees’ response to climate variation by dendrochronological methods is limited because it was assumed that the lack of marked seasonality would prevent the formation of distinct annual tree rings. The aims of this study were to identify the presence of annual growth rings and to assess the dendrochronological potential of the most representative tree species from laurel forests in Tenerife, Canary Islands. We sampled increment cores from 498 trees of 12 species in two well-preserved forests in Tenerife Island. We evaluated tree-ring boundary distinctness, dating potential, and sensitivity of tree-ring growth to climate and, particularly, to drought occurrence. Eight species showed clear tree-ring boundaries, but synchronic annual tree rings and robust tree-ring chronologies were only obtained for Laurus novocanariensis, Ilex perado subsp. platyphylla, Persea indica and Picconia excelsa, a third of the studied species. Tree-ring width depended on water balance and drought occurrence, showing sharp reductions in growth in the face of decreased water availability, a response that was consistent among species and sites. Inter-annual tree-ring width variation was directly dependent on rainfall input in the humid period, from previous October to current April. The four negative pointer years 1995, 1999, 2008 and 2012 corresponded to severe drought events in the study area. This study gives the first assessment of dendrochronological potential and tree-ring climate sensitivity of tree species from the Tenerife laurel forest, which opens new research avenues for dendroecological studies in Macaronesian laurel forests.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (projects PID2019-109906RA-I00, PID2020-118444GA-100 and PID2019-106908RA-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (predoctoral contract PRE2018-084106)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (project CGL2017-87309-P and postdoctoral grant IJC2019-040571-I)Junta de Castilla y León (projects VA113G19 and IR2020-1-UVA08)Universidad de Valladolid (predoctoral contract 113-2019PREUVA22)Comunidad de Madrid (project S2018/EMT-4338