CARACTERIZACIÓN DE LA CALIDAD FÍSICA DEL CAFÉ DE LOS MUNICIPIOS CAFETEROS DEL NORTE DE ANTIOQUIA-FASE 1

Colombia es considerado uno de los países con mayor biodiversidad a nivel mundial, y por tal motivo tiene un gran potencial para exportar diferentes productos agrícolas, entre los cuales está el café. Como objetivo del presente artículo se tiene caracterizar la calidad física del grano de café de los municipios cafeteros del norte de Antioquia, fase 1, para entrar en el mercado del café tostado y ser competitivos en la producción de café. Por esta razón, se utilizó una metodología tipo descriptiva y cualitativa en la que se tostó los granos de café almendra, se determinó el color de los granos tostados para establecer los grados de tostión, se les determinó el porcentaje de merma y, por último, se hizo un análisis organoléptico al café tostado. En la actualidad, el departamento de Antioquia cuenta con 79.452 caficultores y 122.206 hectáreas de café, según la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros; los municipios más representativos de la subregión norte de Antioquia con respecto al café son Angostura, Ituango, Santa Rosa de Osos (especialmente los corregimientos de San Pablo y San Isidro), Don Matías (especialmente la vereda Bellavista), Campamento, Gómez Plata, Guadalupe, Briceño y Yarumal. Como conclusión, se tiene que en la prueba de granulometría de las muestras de café almendra se identificó que el 60 % del grano de café se encontraba por encima de la malla 15, y los mejores resultados de las curvas de tostión del café almendra sana del municipio de Santa Rosa de Osos se obtuvieron con un tiempo de 480 a 660 segundos, y a una temperatura de 185 a 198 °C

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolated from gasoline-contaminated soil is capable of degrading methyl tert-butyl ether

Background: Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a pollutant that causes deleterious effects on human and environmental health. Certain microbial cultures have shown the ability to degrade MTBE, suggesting that a novel bacterial species capable of degrading MTBE could be recovered. The goal of this study was to isolate, identify and characterize the members of a bacterial consortium capable of degrading MTBE. Results: The IPN-120526 bacterial consortium was obtained through batch enrichment using MTBE as the sole carbon and energy source. The cultivable fraction of the consortium was identified; of the isolates, only Stenotrophomonas maltophilia IPN-TD and Sphingopyxis sp. IPN-TE were capable of degrading MTBE. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first demonstrating that S. maltophilia and Sphingopyxis sp. are capable of degrading MTBE. The degradation kinetics of MTBE demonstrated that S. maltophilia IPN-TD had a significantly higher overall MTBE degradation efficiency and rate (48.39 \ub1 3.18% and 1.56 \ub1 0.12 mg L-1 h-1, respectively) than the IPN-120526 consortium (38.59 \ub1 2.17% and 1.25 \ub1 0.087 mg L-1 h-1, respectively). The kinetics of MTBE removal by both cultures fit first-order and pseudo-first-order reaction models. Conclusions: These findings suggest that S.maltophilia IPN-TD in axenic culture has considerable potential for the detoxification of MTBE-contaminated water

Altered topology of the functional speech production network in non-fluent/agrammatic variant of PPA

Non-fluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA) is caused by neuro-degeneration within the left fronto-insular speech and language production network (SPN). Graph theory is a branch of mathematics that studies network architecture (topology) by quantifying features based on its elements (nodes and connections). This approach has been recently applied to neuroimaging data to explore the complex architecture of the brain connectome, though few studies have exploited this technique in PPA. Here, we used graph theory on functional MRI resting state data from a group of 20 nfvPPA patients and 20 matched controls to investigate topological changes in response to focal neuro-degeneration. We hypothesized that changes in the network architecture would be specific to the affected SPN in nfvPPA, while preserved in the spared default mode network (DMN). Topological configuration was quantified by hub location and global network metrics. Our findings showed a less efficiently wired and less optimally clustered SPN, while no changes were detected in the DMN. The SPN in the nfvPPA group showed a loss of hubs in the left fronto-parietal-temporal area and new critical nodes in the anterior left inferior-frontal and right frontal regions. Behaviorally, speech production score and rule violation errors correlated with the strength of functional connectivity of the left (lost) and right (new) regions respectively. This study shows that focal neurodegeneration within the SPN in nfvPPA is associated with network-specific topological alterations, with the loss and gain of crucial hubs and decreased global efficiency that were better accounted for through functional rather than structural changes. These findings support the hypothesis of selective network vulnerability in nfvPPA and may offer biomarkers for future behavioral intervention

Liberalization, globalization and the dynamics of democracy in India

In the closing decades of the twentieth century there has been an almost complete intellectual triumph of the twin principles of marketization (understood here as referring to the liberalization of domestic markets and freer international mobility of goods, services, financial capital and perhaps, more arguably, labour) and democratization . A paradigm shift of this extent and magnitude would not have occurred in the absence of some broad consensus among policymakers and (sections of) intellectuals around the globe on the desirability of such a change. There seems to be a two-fold causal nexus between marketization and democracy. The first is more direct, stemming from the fact of both systems sharing certain values and attitudes in common. But there is also a second more indirect chain from marketization to democracy, which is predicated via three sub-chains (i) from marketization to growth, (ii) from growth to overall material development welfare and (iii) from material development to social welfare and democracy. We examine each of these sub-links in detail with a view to obtaining a greater understanding of the hypothesized role of free markets in promoting democracies. In the later part of the paper we examine the socio-economic outcomes governing the quality of democracy in a specifically Indian context

Nanostructures, Technology, Research, and Applications

Contains reports on twenty research projects and a list of publications.Joint Services Electronics Program Grant DAAH04-95-1-0038National Science Foundation Grant ECS-94-07078Semiconductor Research CorporationU.S. Army Research Office Grant DAAH04-95-1-0564Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Naval Air Systems Command Contract N00019-95-K-0131National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract NAS8-38249National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-2003IBM Corporation Contract 1622National Science Foundation Graduate FellowshipU.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-95-1-1297U.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAH04-94-G-0377U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-92-J-0064U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-95-1-0311National Science Foundation Contract DMR 94-0034U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Contract F49620-96-0126Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Contract SV630304National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAG5-5105Los Alamos National Laboratory Contract E57800017-9

Phosphatidylserine Increases IKBKAP Levels in Familial Dysautonomia Cells

Familial Dysautonomia (FD) is an autosomal recessive congenital neuropathy that results from abnormal development and progressive degeneration of the sensory and autonomic nervous system. The mutation observed in almost all FD patients is a point mutation at position 6 of intron 20 of the IKBKAP gene; this gene encodes the IκB kinase complex-associated protein (IKAP). The mutation results in a tissue-specific splicing defect: Exon 20 is skipped, leading to reduced IKAP protein expression. Here we show that phosphatidylserine (PS), an FDA-approved food supplement, increased IKAP mRNA levels in cells derived from FD patients. Long-term treatment with PS led to a significant increase in IKAP protein levels in these cells. A conjugate of PS and an omega-3 fatty acid also increased IKAP mRNA levels. Furthermore, PS treatment released FD cells from cell cycle arrest and up-regulated a significant number of genes involved in cell cycle regulation. Our results suggest that PS has potential for use as a therapeutic agent for FD. Understanding its mechanism of action may reveal the mechanism underlying the FD disease

Development of Gene Expression Markers of Acute Heat-Light Stress in Reef-Building Corals of the Genus Porites

Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to increased incidence of climate-induced coral bleaching, which will have widespread biodiversity and economic impacts. A simple method to measure the sub-bleaching level of heat-light stress experienced by corals would greatly inform reef management practices by making it possible to assess the distribution of bleaching risks among individual reef sites. Gene expression analysis based on quantitative PCR (qPCR) can be used as a diagnostic tool to determine coral condition in situ. We evaluated the expression of 13 candidate genes during heat-light stress in a common Caribbean coral Porites astreoides, and observed strong and consistent changes in gene expression in two independent experiments. Furthermore, we found that the apparent return to baseline expression levels during a recovery phase was rapid, despite visible signs of colony bleaching. We show that the response to acute heat-light stress in P. astreoides can be monitored by measuring the difference in expression of only two genes: Hsp16 and actin. We demonstrate that this assay discriminates between corals sampled from two field sites experiencing different temperatures. We also show that the assay is applicable to an Indo-Pacific congener, P. lobata, and therefore could potentially be used to diagnose acute heat-light stress on coral reefs worldwide

SCIPP: An Expanded Community of Practice - Community Publishing

SCIPP redefines and expands the existing notions about what makes for a vibrant and robust community of practice by partnering CSUSB students and professors with K-12 students, parents, and educators, along with committed community partners. SCIPP encourages curiosity in ways that leads to critical thinking, exploration, risk taking , confidence building, open-mindedness, and other personal traits that equip them with the softskills to be active, critical, and creative contributors to our communities. SCIPP pedagogy embraces our students\u27 collective wisdom and focuses on relational building where multi-directional communication is promoted and students are viewed as equal stakeholders in their own educations. SCIPP puts collaboration into action which in turn fosters community-based lifelong learning. SCIPP provides the open intellectual space for future university students (our K-12 students) to engage with existing university students in meaningful ways so as to sustain interconnected partnerships facilitating community engagement. It supports parents as experts in the education of their children and acknowledges parents as the first conduits to spark their children’s imagination while they actively participate in education enriching activities and programs. Everyone involved is committed to creating a secure and open atmosphere for dreaming, sharing, and learning. Together we explore the aspects of community publishing through collaborative learning in formal and informal settings relating to digital and printed medias

Nanostructures Technology, Research, and Applications

Contains reports on twenty-four research projects and a list of publications.Joint Services Electronics Program Grant DAAHO4-95-1-0038Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Semiconductor Research Corporation SA1645-25508PGU.S. Army Research Office Grant DAAHO4-95-1-0564Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Navy - Naval Air Systems Command Contract N00019-95-K-0131Suss Advanced Lithography P. O. 51668National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract NAS8-38249National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-2003Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Army Research Office Grant DAAHO4-951-05643M CorporationDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Contract N66001-97-1-8909National Science Foundation Graduate FellowshipU.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAHO4-94-G-0377National Science Foundation Contract DMR-940034National Science Foundation Grant DMR 94-00334Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Contract F49620-96-1-0126Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Contract SV630304National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAG5-5105Los Alamos National Laboratory Contract E57800017-9GSouthwest Research Institute Contract 83832MIT Lincoln Laboratory Advanced Concepts ProgramMIT Lincoln Laboratory Contract BX-655

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality