Mezcal artesanal en Puebla: actores y saberes locales.

The objective of this study was to explain the local understanding and knowledge of mezcal producers. The methodology was qualitative: in-depth interviews and participatory observation were used, which allowed a holistic view of the dynamics of mezcal production as well as approaching ancestral stakeholders and knowledge. Data collection from a sample of 42 production units and eight communities was conducted using the snowball method. The producers are 51 years old on average, 70% of them with education of 9 years or less, and they keep a strategy of multiple activities to generate their income: 63% sell mezcal and combine farming and non-farming activities (37%). Mezcal elaboration (artisanal and ancestral) has five processes: agave harvesting, cooking, fermentation, distillation and bottling. The workforce is mainly family members. The activity is carried out by fourth generation producers, 74% of them belong to an organization, and 88% participate in two or more stages of the agave-mezcal chain, where local understanding and knowledge are an essential part of the subsistence and permanence strategies of the households in the territory studied. Support policies, which have been scarce until now, are necessary to strengthen the permanence of mezcal elaboration as generator of social welfare, as well as conservation of the genetic resource, agronomic research, commercial training, and service provision to the communities.El objetivo de esta investigación, fue explicar el conocimiento y saber local de los productores de mezcal. La metodología fue cualitativa; se utilizaron la entrevista en profundidad y la observación participativa, que permitieron una visión holística de la dinámica de la producción de mezcal y el acercamiento a los actores y saberes ancestrales. La recolección de datos de una muestra de 42 unidades de producción y ocho comunida­des, se realizó usando el método de bola de nieve. Los productores tienen edad promedio de 51 años, 70% de ellos, con escolaridad de 9 años o menos y mantienen una estrategia de pluriactividad para generar sus ingre­sos: 63% venta de mezcal y combinan actividades agropecuarias y no agropecuarias (37%). La elaboración de mezcal (artesanal y ancestral) tiene cinco procesos: el acopio de agave, horneado, fermentación, destilación y envasado. La mano de obra, es principalmente familiar. La actividad, la realizan productores de cuarta gene­ración, 74% de ellos, pertenecen a alguna organización y 88%, participan en dos o más etapas de la cadena Agave-mezcal; en donde el conocimiento y saber local, son parte esencial de las estrategias de subsistencia y permanencia de los hogares en el territorio estudiado. Para afianzar la permanencia de la elaboración de mezcal como generadora de bienestar social, son necesarias políticas de apoyo, hasta ahora escasas, la conservación del recurso genético, investigación agronómica, capacitación comercial y dotación de servicios a las comunidades

Quasi pseudo-inverse reconstruction for rotating PET scanners

Proceeding of: 2005 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium Conference Record, Puerto Rico, 23-29 Oct. 2005A new reconstruction strategy is proposed for 3D images acquired with rotating PET scanners. This method is based on the decomposition of the System Response Matrix (SRM) into a projection and a rotation components that are inverted independently. We present the rationale of the new reconstruction procedure as well as some examples to compare with analytical 3D reconstruction (3DRP) and 3D statistical reconstruction (3D-OSEM)Part of this work is founded by the IM3 network (G03/185 Ministerio de Sanidad), with grants from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, project TEC2004 07052 C02 01, and Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio project FIT 330101 2004

Melatonin Modulation of Radiation and Chemotherapeutics-induced Changes on Differentiation of Breast Fibroblasts

Melatonin exerts oncostatic actions and sensitizes tumor cells to chemotherapeutics or radiation. In our study, we investigated the e ects of docetaxel, vinorelbine, and radiation on human breast fibroblasts and its modulation by melatonin. Docetaxel or vinorelbine inhibits proliferation and stimulates the di erentiation of breast preadipocytes, by increasing C/EBP and PPAR expression and by downregulating tumor necrosis factor (TNF ), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and IL-11 expression. Radiation inhibits both proliferation and di erentiation through the downregulation of C/EBP and PPAR and by stimulating TNF expression. In addition, docetaxel and radiation decrease aromatase activity and expression by decreasing aromatase promoter II and cyclooxygenases 1 and 2 (COX-1 and COX-2) expression. Melatonin potentiates the stimulatory e ect of docetaxel and vinorelbine on di erentiation and their inhibitory e ects on aromatase activity and expression, by increasing the stimulatory e ect on C/EBP and PPAR expression and the downregulation of antiadipogenic cytokines and COX expression. Melatonin also counteracts the inhibitory e ect of radiation on di erentiation of preadipocytes, by increasing C/EBP and PPAR expression and by decreasing TNF expression. Melatonin also potentiates the inhibitory e ect exerted by radiation on aromatase activity and expression by increasing the downregulation of promoter II, and COX-1 and COX-2 expression. Our findings suggest that melatonin modulates regulatory e ects induced by chemotherapeutic drugs or radiation on preadipocytes, which makes it a promising adjuvant for chemotherapy and radiotherapy sensibilization.Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry (SAF2016-77103-P) and from Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Valdecilla (IDIVAL) (APG/12)

The NWP Activities at AEMET (Spain): 28th ALADIN Workshop & HIRLAM ASM

Póster presentado en: Joint 28th ALADIN Workshop & HIRLAM All Staff Meeting, celebrado del 16 al 20 de abril de 2018 en Toulouse (Francia)

Optical smoke detector: an approach to semiconductors field for high level education students

Comunicació presentada a EDULEARN2019, 11th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (July 1-3, 2019, Palma, Mallorca, Spain).Nowadays, it is undeniable that the amount of technological devices is having a sharp increase all around us, with important benefits and repercussions for the society. Despite this, students are not used to knowing the basic principles of its operations. Hence, it is of utmost importance to approach undergraduate students to a practical example of a device they can find in their daily life. It is a fact that science is interconnected with multiple disciplines, such as Physics and Solid State Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering. A good example of it is a smoke detector because it combines both optical and electrical behaviour. Such a device contains a chamber inside which there is an infrared LED (light-emitting diode) and a photodiode (light detector). When the path of light is interrupted by the smoke, according to the principle of light scattering, the smoke will scatter a fraction of light into the photodiode, activating the detector. Thus, detecting low levels of smoke is vital for preventing the fire expansion and occupants can get more time to escape from the premises. The main purpose of this work is to help students to understand the work mechanism of the LED and photodiode in basis of their material composition. In order to do that, a smoke detector is disassembled and its different parts are observed. After that, the microstructure and composition of them are fully analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. With these experiments, students have gained knowledge about semiconductors materials and got a more accurate understanding of their role in these devices. All in all, this experience has allowed them to keep in contact during the whole study with three main concepts of Materials Science: composition, structure and properties. This fact make the work interesting not only from the point of view of students, but also for teachers of Inorganic Chemistry and Materials Science owing to its pedagogical character employing a Problem Based Learning

Melatonin enhancement of the radiosensitivity of human breast cancer cells is associated with the modulation of proteins involved in estrogen biosynthesis

Enhancing the radiosensitivity of cancer cells is one of the most important tasks in clinical radiobiology. Endocrine therapy and radiotherapy are two cancer treatmentmodalities which are often given together in patients with locally-advanced breast cancer and positive hormone-receptor status. Oncostatic actions of melatonin are relevant on estrogen-dependent mammary tumors. In the present study, we wanted to evaluate the effects of the combination of ionizing radiation and melatonin on proteins involved in estrogen biosynthesis in breast cancer cells.We demonstrated a role of melatonin in mediating the sensitization of human breast cancer cells to the ionizing radiation by decreasing around 50% the activity and expression of proteins involved in the synthesis of estrogens in these cells. Thus, melatonin pretreatment before radiation reduces the amount of active estrogens at cancer cell level. Melatonin 1 nM induced a 2-fold change in p53 expression as compared to radiation alone. The regulatory action of melatonin on p53 could be a link between melatonin and its modulatory action on the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to ionizing radiation. These findings may have implications for designing clinical trials using melatonin and radiotherapy

A cognitive-related neural oscillation pattern, generated in the prelimbic cortex, can control operant learning in rats

Material suplementario en vídeoDivision of Neurosciences, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, SpainAudiovisual Communication and Advertising Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, SpainPreprin

Main Factors of <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em> Associated with the Interaction to the Cells for their Colonization and Persistence

Staphylococcus aureus is a microorganism that can colonize the nose, pharynx, and other regions of the body. It has also been observed that it can cause persistence. Successful colonization of S. aureus depends in the factors that favor the interaction of the bacteria with host cells. The bacterial determinants of S. aureus that have the capacity to adhere to human tissues involve adhesion factors such as teichoic acids and cell-wall-anchored proteins (CWA) such as ClfA, IcaA, SdrC, FnBPA, among others. The colonization and persistence process first involve adhesion to the tissue, followed by its reproduction and the possible formation of a biofilm. This review will describe the main virulence factors that allow bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, including the accessory gene regulator genes (agr), related to colonization and persistence of S. aureus

Elaboración de mezclas de fertilizantes para papa y maíz en el valle de Toluca, Estado de México

La evaluación de proyectos optimiza el uso de los recursos y mejora la productividad de empresas e inversiones factibles. El objetivo de esta investigación fue proporcionar elementos de decisión técnico-económico sobre la conveniencia o no de poner en marcha un agronegocio para la producción de agromezclas de fertilizantes: papera y maicera para siembra y reabonado en papa y maíz, en el Valle de Toluca, Estado de México, usando la metodología de formulación y evaluación de proyectos. El mercado principal son los Municipios: Toluca, Zinacantepec, Sultepec, Valle de Bravo y Temascaltepec. Con una tasa de descuento de 13.1 % el Valor Presente Neto estimado fue $ 2 981 061, la Tasa Interna de Retorno (TIR) 78.36 % y la Tasa Interna de Retorno Modificada (TIRM) de 181.44 %. Los indicadores de evaluación superaron sus valores críticos, por tanto, es viable y factible decidir sobre la inversión