The CreC regulator of Escherichia coli, a new target for metabolic manipulations

The CreBC (carbon source-responsive) two-component regulation system of Escherichia coli affects a number of functions, including intermediary carbon catabolism. The impacts of different creC mutations (a ΔcreC mutant and a mutant carrying the constitutive creC510 allele) on bacterial physiology were analyzed in glucose cultures under three oxygen availability conditions. Differences in the amounts of extracellular metabolites produced were observed in the null mutant compared to the wild-type strain and the mutant carrying creC510 and shown to be affected by oxygen availability. The ΔcreC strain secreted more formate, succinate, and acetate but less lactate under low aeration. These metabolic changes were associated with differences in AckA and LdhA activities, both of which were affected by CreC. Measurement of the NAD(P)H/NAD(P)+ ratios showed that the creC510 strain had a more reduced intracellular redox state, while the opposite was observed for the ΔcreC mutant, particularly under intermediate oxygen availability conditions, indicating that CreC affects redox balance. The null mutant formed more succinate than the wild-type strain under both low aeration and no aeration. Overexpression of the genes encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from E. coli and a NADH-forming formate dehydrogenase from Candida boidinii in the ΔcreC mutant further increased the yield of succinate on glucose. Interestingly, the elimination of ackA and adhE did not significantly improve the production of succinate. The diverse metabolic effects of this regulator on the central biochemical network of E. coli make it a good candidate for metabolic-engineering manipulations to enhance the formation of bioproducts, such as succinate.Fil: Godoy, Manuel Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Nikel, Pablo Ivan. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Cabrera Gomez, José Gregorio. Unviversidad de San Pablo; BrasilFil: Pettinari, María Julia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentin

Proyecto de inversión pública : instalación del servicio de estimulación temprana del niño menor de tres años. Puesto de salud Santa Ana distrito José Leonardo Ortiz. Lambayeque

Contar con un centro de estimulación temprana es una prioridad en los establecimientos de salud del país. Dada la importancia de este proyecto como una alternativa para promover el desarrollo infantil de los menores de tres años de edad del puesto de salud Santa Ana del distrito de José Leonardo Ortiz, Lambayeque, se plantea como objetivo mejorar su nivel de salud y desarrollar la estimulación temprana de manera óptima con la participación de las madres de la comunidad de Santa Ana, en el marco de la reforma de salud y los objetivos del desarrollo sostenible. Así mismo al finalizar el proyecto se habrá logrado fortalecer las competencias del personal de salud, para una adecuada atención de estimulación temprana, así mismo se habrá dotado el equipamiento suficiente en el servicio, como el desarrollo de conocimientos apropiados de las madres sobre el desarrollo infantil temprano, así como fortalecer las capacidades de los pobladores del pueblo joven Santa Ana, para contar con un buen servicio de estimulación temprana y desarrollar practicas adecuadas que constituyan en beneficio del desarrollo integral de los infantes menores de tres años. El desarrollo es un proceso que inicia desde la vida intrauterina de manera ordenada y duradera pasando por la maduración neurológica, comportamental, cognitiva, social y afectiva del niño. Además, se considera un horizonte de duración de 10 años de generación de beneficios, que comprende el tiempo de realización de todas las acciones, la evaluación y seguimiento del proyecto

Energy Assessment of Pressurized Water Systems

[EN] This paper presents three new indicators for assessing the energy efficiency of a pressurized water system and the potential energy savings relative to the available technology and economic framework. The first two indicators are the ideal and real efficiencies of the system and reflect the values of the minimum energy required by users the minimum amount of energy to be supplied to the system (because of its ideal behavior) and the actual energy consumed. The third indicator is the energy performance target, and it is estimated by setting an ambitious but achievable level of energy loss attributable to inefficiencies in the system (e.g., pumping stations, leakage, friction loss). The information provided by these three key performance indicators can make a significant contribution towards increasing system efficiency. The real efficiency indicator shows the actual performance of the system; the energy performance target provides a realistic goal on how the system should be performing; and finally, the ideal efficiency provides the maximum and unachievable level of efficiency (limited by the topographic energy linked to the network topography). The applicability and usefulness of these metrics will be demonstrated with an application in a real case study.The authors acknowledge the very valuable contributions made by the reviewers of this paper, because their comments and suggestions have helped to significantly improve the contents. Additionally, we thank the staff of Aguas de Valencia for providing helpful advice and real case studies used to tune the software tool developed based on this paper. And last but not least, the research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement number 265122. The translation of this paper was funded by the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain.Cabrera Marcet, E.; Gomez Selles, E.; Cabrera Rochera, E.; Soriano Olivares, J.; Espert Alemany, VB. (2014). Energy Assessment of Pressurized Water Systems. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 141(8):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000494S112141

A Design Parameter for Reef Beach Profiles—A Methodology Applied to Cadiz, Spain

The southwestern coast of Spain is in a tidal zone (mesotidal) which causes the equilibrium profile to be developed in two different sections: the breakage section and the swash section. These two sections give rise to the typical bi-parabolic profile existing in tidal seas. The existence of areas with reefs/rocks which interrupt the normal development of the typical bi-parabolic profile causes different types of beach profiles. The objective of this article is designing an easy methodology for determining new formulations for the design parameters of the equilibrium profile of beaches with reefs in tidal seas. These formulations are applied on 16 profiles to quantify the error between the real profile data and the modelling results. A comparative analysis is extended to the formulations proposed by other authors, from which it is found that better results are obtained with the new formulations

Topographic Energy Management in Water Distribution Systems

[EN] A significant amount of energy is required to operate pressurised water distribution systems, and therefore, improving their efficiency is crucial. Traditionally, more emphasis has been placed on operational losses (pumping inefficiencies, excess leakage or friction in pipes) than on structural (or topographic) losses, which arise because of the irregular (unchangeable) terrain on which the system is located and the network's layout. Hence, modifying the network to adopt an ecologically friendly layout is the only way to reduce structural losses. With the aim of improving the management of water distribution systems and optimising their energy use, this work audits and classifies water networks' structural losses (derived from topographic energy), which constitutes the main novelty of this paper. Energy can be recovered with PATs (pumps as turbines) or removed through PRVs (pressure reducing valves). The proposed hydraulic analysis clarifies how that energy is used and identifies the most suitable strategy for improving efficiency as locating the most suitable place to install PRVs or PATs. Two examples are discussed to illustrate the relevance of this analysis.Del Teso-March, R.; Gomez Selles, E.; Estruch-Juan, E.; Cabrera Marcet, E. (2019). Topographic Energy Management in Water Distribution Systems. Water Resources Management. 33(12):4385-4400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-019-02375-9S438544003312Agathokleous A, Christodoulou S (2016) Vulnerability of urban water distribution networks under intermittent water supply operations. Water Resour Manag 30:4731–4750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1450-3Cabrera E, Pardo MA, Cobacho R, Cabrera E (2010) Energy audit of water networks. J Water Resour Plan Manag 136(6):669–677. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000077Cabrera E, Gómez E, Cabrera E, Soriano J, Espert V (2015) Energy assessment of pressurized water systems. J Water Resour Plan Manag 141(8):04014095. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000494Cabrera E, Gómez E, Soriano J, del Teso R (2019) Towards eco-layouts in water distribution systems. J Water Resour Plan Manag 145(1):04018088. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001024Castro Gama ME, Quan P, Andreja J, Chiesa C (2014) Model-based Sectorization of water distribution networks for increased energy efficiency. 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics. HIC 2014, New York City, USACiaponi C, Creaco E (2018) Comparison of pressure-driven formulations for WDN simulation. Water 10(4):523. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040523Covelli C, Cozzolino L, Cimorelli L, Della Morte R, Pianese D (2016) Optimal location and setting of PRVs in WDS for leakage minimization. Water Resour Manag 30(5):1803–1817. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1252-7Creaco E, Franchini M (2013) A new algorithm for real-time pressure control in water distribution networks. Water Supply 13(4):875–882. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2013.074Creaco E, Pezzinga G (2018) Comparison of algorithms for the optimal location of control valves for leakage reduction in WDNs. Water 10(4):466. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040466De Paola F, Giugni M, Portolano D (2017) Pressure management through optimal location and setting of valves in water distribution networks using a music-inspired approach. Water Resour Manag 31:1517. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1592-yEU (European Union) (2015) EU reference document good practices on leakage management. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, LuxembourgFecarotta O, Aricò C, Carravetta A, Martino R, Ramos H (2014) Hydropower potential in water distribution networks: pressure control by PATs. Water Resour Manag 29:699. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0836-3Giugni M, Fontana N, Ranucci A (2014) Optimal location of PRVs and turbines in water distribution systems. J Water Resour Plan Manag 140(9):06014004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000418Lambert A, Thornton J (2012) Pressure: bursts relationships: Influence of pipe materials, validation of scheme results, and implications of extended asset life. Proc., IWA Int. Specialized Conf. Water Loss 2012, IWA, The Hague, The NetherlandsLambert A, Fantozzi M, Thornton J (2013) Practical approaches to modelling leakage and pressure management in distribution systems – progress since 2005. CCWI 12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water IndustryMuhammetoglu A, Nursen C, Karadirek IE, Muhammetoglu H (2017) Evaluation of performance and environmental benefits of a full-scale pump as turbine system in Antalya water distribution network. Water Supply 18(1):130–141. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2017.087Patelis M, Kanakoudis V, Gonelas K (2017) Combining pressure management and energy recovery benefits in a water distribution system installing PATs. J Water Supply Res Technol AQUA 66(7):520–527. https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2017.018Saldarriaga J, Salcedo CA (2015) Determination of optimal location and settings of pressure reducing valves in water distribution networks for minimizing water losses. 13th CCWI. Procedia Engineering 119:973–983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.986Walski T, Bezts W, Posluszny ET, Weir M, Withman B (2006) Modeling leakage reduction through pressure control. Journal American Water Works Association 98(4):147–155. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1551-8833.2006.tb07642.

Exploring Potential Benefits of Accumulated Multicomponent-Training in Non-Active Older Adults: From Physical Fitness to Mental Health

The present study aimed to analyze the impact of a multicomponent training (MCT) program in a group of non-active older adults, comparing two different dose distributions. Twentyfour individuals, assigned to two groups, completed 15 weeks of MCT (2 days/week). The continuous group (CMCT; n = 14, 9 females; 71.07 ± 5.09 years) trained for 60 min/session in the morning. The accumulated group (AMCT; n = 10, 5 females; 72.70 ± 3.59 years) performed the same exercises, volume, and intensity, but the training was distributed twice per day (30 min in the morning; 30 more in the afternoon). Bonferroni post hoc comparisons revealed significant (p < 0.001) and similar large improvements in both groups in lower limb strength (five times sit-to-stand test: CMCT, 12.55 ± 2.83 vs. 9.44 ± 1.72 s; AMCT, 10.37 ± 2.35 vs. 7.46 ± 1.75 s). In addition, there were large gains in preferred walking speed and instrumental daily life activities, which were higher for CMCT and AMCT, respectively (in this order: 1.00 ± 0.18 vs. 1.44 ± 0.26 m/s and 1.09 ± 0.80 vs. 1.58 ± 0.18 m/s; 33.07 ± 2.88 vs. 36.57 ± 1.65 points and 32.80 ± 1.93 vs. 36.80 ± 0.92 points); improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, now moderate for CMCT (474.14 ± 93.60 vs. 529.64 ± 82.76 m) and large for AMCT (515.10 ± 20.24 vs. 589.60 ± 40.38 m); and medium and similar enhancements in agility in both groups (TUG test: CMCT: 7.49 ± 1.11 vs. 6.77 ± 1.16 s; AMCT: 6.84 ± 1.01 vs. 6.18 ± 0.62 s). None of the protocols had an impact on the executive function, whereas health-related quality of life showed a trend to significance in the whole sample only (EQindex overall sample, p = 0.062; d = 0.48 CMCT; d = 0.34 AMCT). Regardless of the type of dose distribution, starting multicomponent training improves physical function in non-active older adults, but does not improve cognitive function at mid-term. Because both forms of MCT showed similar compliance, slightly positive differences in accumulated strategies may indicate some benefits related to breaking afternoon sedentary behaviors, which deserves further research in longer and larger interventions. The mixed nature of MCT suggests accumulative group interventions may be a promising approach to address sedentary agin

Análisis de la productividad en la construcción de vivienda basada en rendimientos de mano de obra

El presente trabajo se basa en la identificación y eliminación de pérdidas dentro del proceso constructivo de edificaciones en la ciudad de Bogotá con el fin de aumentar la productividad. La metodología para recolección de información fue el muestreo de campo con el apoyo de imágenes digitales. Esto permitió identificar los principales factores causantes de pérdidas, entre los que se encuentran: esperas de material, desplazamientos, reprocesos, clima, entre otros. También se realizaron encuestas al personal de obra para identificar aspectos de percepción motivacional de los trabajadores y otros aspectos generales de la obra que afectaban la productividad, como condiciones de salario, clima laboral, estado de ánimo, entre otros. Finalmente, se llevó a cabo una simulación digital para plantear escenarios de mejoramiento donde se identificaban impactos de acciones de mejora que fueron diseñadas de acuerdo con los resultados encontrados en la etapa inicial.This paper is focused on the identification and elimination of waste in building construction pro-cess in the city of Bogota so as to increase productivity. The methodology for gathering information was direct observation supported by digital images. Common cau-ses of construction waste were identified, such as in-sufficient materials, inefficient material distribution, rework, and weather, among others. The data collection method also included construction workers interviews to identify motivational aspects and other general is-sues that affected productivity. Factors like salaries, workplace environment and mood were identified. Fi-nally, discrete event simulation models were created for the real scenario and different scenarios were pro-posed