Using genetic variability available in the breeder's pool to engineer fruit quality

8 páginas, 1 figura, 2 tablas.-- This article is open-access.We substantiate here the opinion that experts in biotechnology and natural biodiversity can work together on the production of successive waves of next-gen GM fruit crops to improve organoleptic and nutritional quality and therefore generate wider public acceptance. In this scenario genetic engineering becomes a faster and more precise way of transferring genes of interest to fruit crop plants from the same or sexually compatible species (intra- or cisgenesis) than more traditional methods, such as MASPB. The availability of complete genome sequences for an increasing number of crop plants, as well as the results from genomics studies, can assist in the identification of gene-to-trait association. The next wave of GM crops will be able to take full advantage of a Synthetic Biology-based strategy in the development of new fruit varieties by using DNA not necessarily present in the breeder's pool for a wide range of applications. There are still a number of challenges which require attention, such as identifying genes and allelic forms associated with traits of interest and improving the precision and stability of the transferred DNA, etc.Peer reviewe

La fiscalidad de las aguas: el recibo del agua potable para usos domésticos

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en examinar algunos de los recursos financieros obtenidos por las Administraciones Públicas en relación con la provisión de agua. Debido a que este es un campo muy amplio, en el que existe una gran diversidad de figuras tanto tributarias como de otros tipos, se hace necesario circunscribir este trabajo a un ámbito limitado, el de aquellas figuras relacionadas con la provisión de agua potable para usos domésticos. Se ha optado por estas figuras buscando cubrir las lagunas existentes en la mayoría de trabajos publicados en relación con la fiscalidad de las aguas, puesto que éstos suelen optar por una visión comprehensiva de todas las figuras relacionadas con el agua, no quedando, a nuestro juicio, suficientemente clara la normativa que afecta específicamente a la provisión a domicilio de agua potable. Debido a que la normativa aplicable viene referida a los tres niveles de las Administraciones Públicas, el nacional, el autonómico y el local y por razones obvias de localización geográfica, el trabajo se centrará, en referencia a los dos último niveles, principalmente en la normativa propia de la Comunidad Valenciana y de sus entidades locales. Sin dejar por ello de lado aquellos aspectos que nos parezcan más relevantes de la normativa de otras Comunidades Autónoma

Análisis cinemático de la trayectoria de la barra en la Arrancada y su relación con el rendimiento

El objetivo de este estudio está centrado en la descripción de la trayectoria de la barra en la Arrancada, así como analizar las diferencias entre levantadores de diferente nivel de rendimiento en términos relativos, incorporando como elemento de análisis el desplazamiento de los pies. La muestra está formada por 31 levantadores de categoría masculina de diferentes categorías de peso. Para el estudio comparativo se conforman dos grupos de levantadores en función de la carga relativa, esto es, la carga  máxima levantada en función del peso corporal. Se utiliza la metodología Fotogrametría 3D. Los resultados revelan que los levantadores que consiguen una mayor carga relativa desplazan la barra siguiendo una trayectoria más vertical. Estas diferencias se concretan en un menor desplazamiento horizontal de la barra en el instante en que la barra alcanza la máxima elevación y en el instante del encaje (p: 0,030 y p: 0,005, respectivamente) y en un menor desplazamiento atrás de los pies (p: 0,012). No se han encontrado diferencias en el recorrido vertical de la barra. Estos hallazgos podrían ser tenidos en cuenta en el entrenamiento individualizado de los levantadores, especialmente de los más jóvenes

Functional strengthening through synaptic scaling upon connectivity disruption in neuronal cultures

An elusive phenomenon in network neuroscience is the extent of neuronal activity remodeling upon damage. Here, we investigate the action of gradual synaptic blockade on the effective connectivity in cortical networks in vitro. We use two neuronal cultures configurations—one formed by about 130 neuronal aggregates and another one formed by about 600 individual neurons—and monitor their spontaneous activity upon progressive weakening of excitatory connectivity. We report that the effective connectivity in all cultures exhibits a first phase of transient strengthening followed by a second phase of steady deterioration. We quantify these phases by measuring GEFF, the global efficiency in processing network information. We term hyperefficiency the sudden strengthening of GEFF upon network deterioration, which increases by 20–50% depending on culture type. Relying on numerical simulations we reveal the role of synaptic scaling, an activity–dependent mechanism for synaptic plasticity, in counteracting the perturbative action, neatly reproducing the observed hyperefficiency. Our results demonstrate the importance of synaptic scaling as resilience mechanism. Author Summary Neuronal circuits exhibit homeostatic plasticity mechanisms to cope with perturbations or damage. A central mechanism is ‘synaptic scaling,’ a self-organized response in which the strength of neurons’ excitatory synapses is adjusted to compensate for activity variations. Here we present experiments in which the excitatory connectivity of in vitro cortical networks is progressively weakened through chemical action. The spontaneous activity and effective connectivity of the whole network is monitored as degradation progresses, and the capacity of the network for broad information communication is quantified through the global efficiency. We observed that the network responded to the perturbation by strengthening the effective connectivity, reaching a hyperefficient state for moderate perturbations. The study proves the importance of ‘synaptic scaling’ as a driver for functional reorganization and network-wide resilience

Tomato plants increase their tolerance to low temperature in a chilling acclimation process entailing comprehensive transcriptional and metabolic adjustments

43 p.-9 fig.Low temperature is a major environmental stress that seriously compromises plant development, distribution and productivity. Most crops are from tropical origin and, consequently, chilling sensitive. Interestingly, however, some tropical plants, are able to augment their chilling tolerance when previously exposed to suboptimal growth temperatures. Yet, the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying this adaptive process, termed chilling acclimation, still remain practically unknown. Here, we demonstrate that tomato plants can develop a chilling acclimation response, which includes comprehensive transcriptomic and metabolic adjustments leading to increased chilling tolerance. More important, our results reveal strong resemblances between this response and cold acclimation, the process whereby plants from temperate regions raise their freezing tolerance after exposure to low, non-freezing temperatures. Both chilling and cold acclimation are regulated by a similar set of transcription factors and hormones, and share common defence mechanisms, including the accumulation of compatible solutes, the mobilization of antioxidant systems and the rearrangement of the photosynthetic machinery. Nonetheless, we have found some important divergences that may account for the freezing sensitivity of tomato plants. The data reported in this manuscript should foster new research into the chilling acclimation response with the aim of improving tomato tolerance to low temperature.This work was supported by grants EUI2009-04074 and BIO2013-47788-R from MINECO to J.S., and EU H2020 TRADITOM (634561) and BIO2013-42193-R from MINECO to A.G.Peer reviewe

Smart Collaborative Mobile System for Taking Care of Disabled and Elderly People

Official statistics data show that in many countries the population is aging. In addition, there are several illnesses and disabilities that also affect a small sector of the population. In recent years, researchers and medical foundations are working in order to develop systems based on new technologies and enhance the quality of life of them. One of the cheapest ways is to take advantage of the features provided by the smartphones. Nowadays, the development of reduced size smartphones, but with high processing capacity, has increased dramatically. We can take profit of the sensors placed in smartphones in order to monitor disabled and elderly people. In this paper, we propose a smart collaborative system based on the sensors embedded in mobile devices, which permit us to monitor the status of a person based on what is happening in the environment, but comparing and taking decisions based on what is happening to its neighbors. The proposed protocol for the mobile ad hoc network and the smart system algorithm are described in detail. We provide some measurements showing the decisions taken for several common cases and we also show the performance of our proposal when there is a medium size group of disabled or elderly people. Our proposal can also be applied to take care of children in several situations.This work has been partially supported by the Instituto de Telecomunicacoes, Next Generation Networks and Applications Group (NetGNA), Portugal, and by National Funding from the FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia through the PEst-OE/EEI/LA0008/2011 Project.Sendra Compte, S.; Granell Romero, E.; Lloret, J.; Rodrigues, JJPC. (2014). Smart Collaborative Mobile System for Taking Care of Disabled and Elderly People. 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