Effect of Sunflower and Marine Oils on Ruminal Microbiota, In vitro Fermentation and Digesta Fatty Acid Profile

Funding This work has been funded by Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (research project LE007A07). Acknowledgments We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI). Support received from CICYT project AGL2005-04760-C02-02 is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Formación y vocación universitarias

El planteamiento central es que la formación univer-sitaria en las ciencias instrumentales debe ser un espacio que posibilite la armonización del conocimiento instru-mental, socioambiental y humanístico; así se rompería con la predominancia del conocimiento hiperespecializado, ya sea abriéndose a la complejidad, la interdisciplina o la transdisciplina; a la vez que, en el centro, estaría lo humano como integrante con responsabilidad de lo social y ambiental. Para ello González considera importante que el universitario se reconozca en su condición social, personal y contextual como ciudadano no limitado a la profesión que se cultiva, en un horizonte de acción en el presente para el futuro y en un contexto incierto, ante lo cual debe asumir su responsabilidad.Secretaría de Educación Pública-Subsecretaría de Educación Superior-Dirección General de Educación Superior Universitaria. Número del convenio con la SEP: 2018-15-001-017

Antimicrobial activity of Bursera morelensis ramírez essential oil

Background: Bursera morelensis, known as “Aceitillo”, is an endemic tree of Mexico. Infusions made from the bark of this species have been used for the treatment of skin infections and for their wound healing properties. In this work, we present the results of a phytochemical and antimicrobial investigation of the essential oil of B. morelensis.Materials and Methods: The essential oil was obtained by a steam distillation method and analyzed using GC-MS. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated.Results: GC-MS of the essential oil demonstrated the presence of 28 compounds. The principal compound of the essential oil was α-Phellandrene (32.69%). The essential oil had antibacterial activity against Gram positive and negative strains. The most sensitive strains were S. pneumoniae, V. cholerae (cc) and E. coli (MIC 0.125 mg/mL, MBC 0.25 mg/mL). The essential oil was bactericidal for V. cholera (cc). The essential oil inhibited all the filamentous fungi. F. monilifome (IC50 = 2.27 mg/mL) was the most sensitive fungal strain.Conclusions: This work provides evidence that confirms the antimicrobial activity of the B. morelensis essential oil and this is a scientific support about of traditional uses of this species.Keywords: Essential oil; Medicinal plants; Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley; Burseraceae; Burser

Using online adverts to increase the uptake of cervical screening amongst "real Eastenders": an opportunistic controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Cervical screening uptake has increased as a result of occurrences of cervical cancer in TV 'soap operas' and in real life celebrities such as Jade Goody. Media analysis at the time of Jade Goody's death suggested the NHS did not take sufficient advantage of this opportunity to improve cervical screening rates. Google AdWords has been used to recruit and raise awareness of health but we were not aware of its use to supplement media events. METHODS: This was an opportunistic service evaluation to accompany a cervical cancer storyline in Eastenders (a TV 'soap opera'). We ran an AdWords campaign based on keywords such as 'Eastenders', and 'cervical cancer' in a one mile radius in East London, linked to one webpage giving details of 10 practices and other links on cervical cancer. We recorded costs of adverts and setting up the webpage. We used routine statistics from Tower Hamlets, City and Hackney, and Newham Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) of the number of smears, eligible populations, and coverage by practice by month from September 2010 to January 2012 to compare the ten intervention practices with controls. RESULTS: Eight people per day in the target area viewed the project webpage. The cost of setting up the website and running Google AdWords was £1320 or £1.88 per person viewing the webpage. Unlike Jade Goody's death, there was no major impact from the Eastenders' storyline on Google searches for cervical cancer. There was considerable monthly variation in the number of smear tests in the 3 PCTs. The AdWords campaign may have had some effect on smear rates but this showed, at best, a marginal statistical difference. Assuming a 'real' effect, the intervention may have resulted in 110 'extra' women being screened but there was no change in coverage. CONCLUSIONS: Although the Eastenders storyline seemed to have no effect on interest in cervical cancer or screening, the AdWords campaign may have had some effect. Given the small scale exploratory nature of the study this was not statistically significant but the relatively modest cost of advertising suggests a larger study may be worthwhile. An outline of a possible study is described

Lethal Concentration of Carbonate OF Ca as a Function of the Osmotic Potential of the Solution in Sunflower (Heliantusannuus L.)

In order to know the effect of CaCO3 in solution, sunflower seedlings cv. Victoria, an experiment was completely randomized, where five concentrations of calcium carbonate were evaluated to determine the lethal concentration (LC50), pH and EC of the solution under laboratory conditions in the Universidad Tecnologica de Tehuacan, to simulate of excess Ca++ in the soils or nutrient solution. The results indicate, the LC50 was 62.8 mg CaCO3 L-1, so maximum values for pH, EC and calcium absorption, They were achieved at concentrations of 120 and 160 mg L-1 of CaCO3. This work can be concluded, Sunflower can absorb the high levels of calcium and used as an alternative, for remediation of agricultural soils affected hard water and Ca++ salts