Diversidad de briófitos en los Montes de María, Colosó (Sucre, Colombia)

Alpha and beta diversity and the distribution of substrates of rheophilous bryophytes in three streams were determinate (Salto del Sereno, Pajarito and Paraíso localities), located in Montes de María (Sucre, Colombia). Two transects of 50 x 2m were conducted at each sampling site during the rainy season. The class Bryopsida presented 22 species and Hepaticopsida presented 9. The families of mosses with the largest number of species were Bryaceae (3 species), Neckeraceae (2), Pottiaceae (2). In liverworts, Lejeuneaceae (6), and the richest genera were Fissidens (5 species), Fabronia (2), Lejeunea (3) and Mastigolejeunea (2). The type of substrate with increased incidence of bryophytes was the epilithic (29 species), followed by epiphyte-corticolous (16) and terrestrial (13). The 31 species registered here, are new records for the department, 24 for the Caribbean region and one for Colombia (Hyophiladelphus agrarius).Se determinaron la diversidad (alfa y beta) y la distribución en los sustratos de los briófitos reófilos en tres quebradas (localidades de Salto del Sereno, Pajarito y Paraíso) ubicadas en los Montes de María (Sucre-Colombia). Se realizaron dos transectos de 50 × 2 m en cada sitio de muestreo en época de lluvia. La clase Bryopsida presentó 22 especies y la Hepaticopsida nueve. Las familias de musgos con mayor número de especies fueron Bryaceae (3 especies), Neckeraceae (2), Pottiaceae (2) y en hepáticas Lejeuneaceae (6), y los géneros más ricos fueron Fissidens (5 especies), Fabronia (2), Lejeunea (3) y Mastigolejeunea (2). El tipo de sustrato con mayor incidencia de briófitos fue el epilítico (29 especies), seguido de epifito-cortícola (16) y terrestre (13). Las 31 especies aquí registradas son nuevos registros para el departamento, 24 para la región Caribe y una (Hyophiladelphus agrarius) para Colombia

Lianas Suppress Seedling Growth and Survival of 14 Tree Species in a Panamanian Tropical Forest

Lianas are a common plant growth form in tropical forests, where they compete intensely with trees, decreasing tree recruitment, growth, and survival. If the detrimental effects of lianas vary significantly with tree species identity, as is often assumed, then lianas may influence tree species diversity and community composition. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that liana abundance and biomass are increasing relative to trees in neotropical forests, which will likely magnify the detrimental effects of lianas and may ultimately alter tree species diversity, relative abundances, and community composition. Few studies, however, have tested the responses of multiple tree species to the presence of lianas in robust, well‐replicated experiments. We tested the hypotheses that lianas reduce tree seedling growth and survival, and that the effect of lianas varies with tree species identity. We used a large‐scale liana removal experiment in Central Panama in which we planted 14 replicate seedlings of 14 different tree species that varied in shade tolerance in each of 16 80 × 80 m plots (eight liana‐removal and eight unmanipulated controls; 3136 total seedlings). Over a nearly two‐yr period, we found that tree seedlings survived 75% more, grew 300% taller, and had twice the aboveground biomass in liana‐removal plots than seedlings in control plots, consistent with strong competition between lianas and tree seedlings. There were no significant differences in the response of tree species to liana competition (i.e., there was no species by treatment interaction), indicating that lianas had a similar negative effect on all 14 tree species. Furthermore, the effect of lianas did not vary with tree species shade tolerance classification, suggesting that the liana effect was not solely based on light. Based on these findings, recently observed increases in liana abundance in neotropical forests will substantially reduce tree regeneration, but will not significantly alter tropical tree species diversity, relative abundance, or community composition

IMPLEMENTACIÓN DE RED CELULAR DE BAJO COSTO PARA COMUNIDADES RURALES BASADA EN SDR Y OPENBTS (IMPLEMENTATION OF A LOW COST CELLULAR NETWORK FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES BASED ON SDR AND OPENBTS)

El acceso a servicios de telecomunicaciones en México es hoy en día un gran reto. Principalmente, en comunidades rurales cuya ubicación geográfica y número de habitantes hacen que el despliegue de infraestructura no sea económicamente factible para los operadores de telecomunicaciones tradicionales. En este trabajo, se aborda el problema de la falta de servicios básicos de telefonía celular (i.e. voz y mensajes SMS) a través de la implementación de una estación base celular GSM basada en transceptores de radiofrecuencia de bajo costo y software de código abierto, que permiten su despliegue e implementación en comunidades de difícil acceso y pocos habitantes. Conjugando las tecnologías de Radio Definido por Software (SDR, por sus siglas en inglés) con herramientas de software libre con base en OpenBTS, es posible configurar e implementar rápidamente una estación base de telefonía celular que permite a los usuarios realizar llamadas de voz y enviar mensajes de texto SMS entre los elementos de la red. Asimismo, la estación base les permite realizar y recibir llamadas de usuarios de operadores externos en cualquier parte del mundo a través de voz sobre IP. De este modo, es factible proporcionar telefonía celular en comunidades rurales actualmente incomunicadas.The access to telecommunications services in Mexico is nowadays a great challenge. Mainly in rural communities whose geographic location and number of inhabitants make the deployment of infrastructure not economically feasible to traditional telecommunications carriers. In this work, the problem of the lack of basic cellular telephony services (i.e. voice and SMS text messages) is addressed through the implementation of a GSM cellular base station based on low cost radio frequency transceivers and open source software, which allow their deployment and implementation in communities of difficult access and few inhabitants. By combining Software Defined Radio (SDR) technologies with free software tools based on OpenBTS, it is possible to quickly configure and implement a cellular telephone base station that allows users to make voice calls and send SMS text messages between the elements of the network. Likewise, the base station allows them to make and receive calls from users of external operators anywhere in the world through voice over IP. In this way, it is feasible to provide mobile telephony in rural communities that are currently isolated

The role of traditional varieties of tomato as sources of functional compounds

BACKGROUND: Traditional varieties of tomato, usually associated with excellent organoleptic quality, are increasingly appreciated in European quality markets. A collection of 126 populations of 16 traditional varieties from the East of Spain (a secondary diversity center for tomato) have been evaluated during two years in order to determine their potential value as sources of functional compounds, including ascorbic acid, lycopene, B-carotene and total phenolic content. RESULTS: Population and population x year interaction significantly affected lycopene and ascorbic acid contents, while year effect was also significant for B-carotene. Despite finding some global trends in certain varieties concerning their functional value, high levels of variation have been found at the intra-varietal level. Populations with high levels of the compounds analyzed have been found, as well as different levels of intra-population and inter-year variation. Maximum mean contents for both years have reached 308 mg kg-1 of ascorbic acid, 130 mg kg-1 of lycopene, 30 mg kg-1 of B-carotene and 89 mg caffeic acid 100g-1 of total phenolic contents, though it is difficult to identify accessions with joint high values of the three compounds. CONCLUSION: These results open the possibility to promote traditional materials as sources of functional compounds, thus strengthening their quality niches and consolidating their price-premium. Additionally, these materials could also be used in breeding programs for quality.The funds for development of this research were provided by Fundacion de la Comunidad Valenciana para la Investigacion Agroalimentaria (AGROALIMED). Carles Cortes-Olmos expresses his gratitude to Universitat Politecnica of Valencia for the concession of a PhD grant.Cortes-Olmos, C.; Leiva-Brondo, M.; Rosello, J.; Raigón Jiménez, MD.; Cebolla Cornejo, J. (2014). The role of traditional varieties of tomato as sources of functional compounds. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 94(14):2888-2904. doi:10.1002/jsfa.6629S28882904941

The Digestive Tract of Cephalopods: a Neglected Topic of Relevance to Animal Welfare in the Laboratory and Aquaculture

Normal development, growth and the maintenance of health and well-being are only possible if all the digestive tract functions (e.g., motility, digestion, and absorption) operate normally and in concert. Understanding the physiological processes and the impact of external factors (e.g., handling, temperature, diet quality including exposure to food toxins, exposure to viral/bacterial infections and parasites) is important for normal laboratory maintenance of the animal in a research setting, as well as for optimizing conditions for aquaculture at each life stage. The study of the physiology of the cephalopod digestive apparatus has mainly focused on Sepia officinalis (Bidder, 1966; Boucaud-Camou and Boucher-Rodoni, 1983; Mangold and Bidder, 1989; Quintela and Andrade, 2002a,b; Sykes et al., 2013; Costa et al., 2014), Octopus vulgaris (Boucher-Rodoni and Mangold, 1977; Boucaud-Camou and Boucher-Rodoni, 1983; Andrews and Tansey, 1983b; Mangold and Bidder, 1989), Octopus maya (Martínez et al., 2011a,b, 2012; Rosas et al., 2013; Linares et al., 2015; Pech-Puch et al., 2016). Few studies have been carried out in Loligo vulgaris and other squid (Bidder, 1950; Mangold and Bidder, 1989). Furthermore, the morphology, motility and absorptive functions of the digestive tract of Nautilus pompilius have been the subject of limited investigation (Westermann and Schipp, 1998a,b, 1999; Ruth et al., 1999; Westermann et al., 2000, 2002). The inclusion of all “live cephalopods,” taken to mean all living species (about 700), at all life stages after hatching, in Directive 2010/63/EU (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2010) covering the use of animals in scientific research and education poses a number of challenges for research (Smith et al., 2013; Fiorito et al., 2015) including that aimed at optimizing practices in aquaculture (Sykes et al., 2012; Smith et al., 2013; Fiorito et al., 2015). Whilst the Directive regulates studies in the Member States of the European Union, the principles it enshrines and the approaches to care and welfare required for compliance are likely to impact on cephalopod research outside the European Union (see Fiorito et al., 2014, for discussion of wider implications). In comparison to the commonly studied vertebrate laboratory species and commercially exploited vertebrates such as salmon and trout, chickens, cows, and pigs (Stevens, 1988; Grosell et al., 2010; Rønnestad et al., 2013), knowledge of the physiology of the cephalopod digestive tract at all life stages is limited. Cephalopods are also kept for education and display purposes and, as in the laboratory and aquaculture, the normal functioning of the digestive tract is essential for good health and wellbeing (Fiorito et al., 2015). In this review, we will highlight a number of specific aspects of the relationship between feeding behavior and the physiology of the cephalopod digestive tract where increased understanding is required to ensure animal welfare. We will also discuss areas where further study is required.En prens

Synthesis of a-chlorolactams by cyanoborohydride-mediated radical cyclization of trichloroacetamides

A cyanoborohydride-promoted radical cyclization methodology has been developed to access α-chlorolactams in a simple and efficient way, using NaBH3CN and trichloroacetamides easily available from allylic and homoallylic secondary amines. This methodology allowed the synthesis of a library of αchlorolactams (mono and bicyclic), which were tested for herbicidal activity, trans-3-chloro-4-methyl-1-(3-trifluoromethyl)phenyl-2-pyrrolidinone being the most active

A new genomic tool for walnut (Juglans regia L.): development and validation of the high‐density Axiom™ J. regia 700K SNP genotyping array

11openInternationalInternational coauthor/editorOver the last 20 years, global production of Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) has grown enormously, likely reflecting increased consumption due to its numerous benefits to human health. However, advances in genome‐wide association (GWA) studies and genomic selection (GS) for agronomically important traits in walnut remain limited due to the lack of powerful genomic tools. Here, we present the development and validation of a high‐density 700K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array in Persian walnut. Over 609K high‐quality SNPs have been thoroughly selected from a set of 9.6 m genome‐wide variants, previously identified from the high‐depth re‐sequencing of 27 founders of the Walnut Improvement Program (WIP) of University of California, Davis. To validate the effectiveness of the array, we genotyped a collection of 1284 walnut trees, including 1167 progeny of 48 WIP families and 26 walnut cultivars. More than half of the SNPs (55.7%) fell in the highest quality class of ‘Poly High Resolution’ (PHR) polymorphisms, which were used to assess the WIP pedigree integrity. We identified 151 new parent‐offspring relationships, all confirmed with the Mendelian inheritance test. In addition, we explored the genetic variability among cultivars of different origin, revealing how the varieties from Europe and California were differentiated from Asian accessions. Both the reconstruction of the WIP pedigree and population structure analysis confirmed the effectiveness of the Applied Biosystems™ Axiom™ J. regia 700K SNP array, which initiates a novel genomic and advanced phase in walnut genetics and breedingopenMarrano, A.; Martínez-García, P.J.; Bianco, L.; Sideli, G.M.; Di Pierro, E.A.; Leslie, C.A.; Stevens, K.A.; Crepeau, M.W.; Troggio, M.; Langley, C.H.; Neale, D.B.Marrano, A.; Martínez-García, P.J.; Bianco, L.; Sideli, G.M.; Di Pierro, E.A.; Leslie, C.A.; Stevens, K.A.; Crepeau, M.W.; Troggio, M.; Langley, C.H.; Neale, D.B

Obesity Indexes and Total Mortality among Elderly Subjects at High Cardiovascular Risk: The PREDIMED Study

BackgroundDifferent indexes of regional adiposity have been proposed for identifying persons at higher risk of death. Studies specifically assessing these indexes in large cohorts are scarce. It would also be interesting to know whether a dietary intervention may counterbalance the adverse effects of adiposity on mortality.MethodsWe assessed the association of four different anthropometric indexes (waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and height) with all-cause mortality in 7447 participants at high cardiovascular risk from the PREDIMED trial. Forty three percent of them were men (55 to 80 years) and 57% were women (60 to 80 years). All of them were initially free of cardiovascular disease. The recruitment took place in 11 recruiting centers between 2003 and 2009.ResultsAfter adjusting for age, sex, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, intervention group, family history of coronary heart disease, and leisure-time physical activity, WC and WHtR were found to be directly associated with a higher mortality after 4.8 years median follow-up. The multivariable-adjusted HRs for mortality of WHtR (cut-off points: 0.60, 0.65, 0.70) were 1.02 (0.78–1.34), 1.30 (0.97–1.75) and 1.55 (1.06–2.26). When we used WC (cut-off points: 100, 105 and 110 cm), the multivariable adjusted Hazard Ratios (HRs) for mortality were 1.18 (0.88–1.59), 1.02 (0.74–1.41) and 1.57 (1.19–2.08). In all analyses, BMI exhibited weaker associations with mortality than WC or WHtR. The direct association between WHtR and overall mortality was consistent within each of the three intervention arms of the trial.ConclusionsOur study adds further support to a stronger association of abdominal obesity than BMI with total mortality among elderly subjects at high risk of cardiovascular disease. We did not find evidence to support that the PREDIMED intervention was able to counterbalance the harmful effects of increased adiposity on total mortality.Trial RegistrationControlled-Trials.com ISRCTN3573963