Using 23S rDNA to identify contaminations of Escherichia coli in Agrobacterium tumefaciens cultures

Cross contamination of Agrobacterium tumefaciens stocks with Escherichia coli are difficult to identify by microbiological techniques, leading to false negative results in transformation experiments. We have developed a genotyping assay for A. tumefaciens and E. coli lab strains based on amplification of 23S rDNA by PCR. Agrobacterium strains LBA 4404, C58 and EHA105 and E. coli DB3.1, DH5α and XL1-Blue can be identified separating the corresponding PCR amplicons in 2.5% agarose gels. However in crossed contaminations, interpretation of results is improved using melting point analysis on a quantitative PCR machine.This work was financed by the Fundación Séneca de la Región de Murcia and BIOCARM

Aplicación de diseño social a la mejora de las instalaciones del patio de infantil del colegio público CEIP María Moliner

El Diseño Social surge como evolución del concepto de diseño tradicional, para alejarse de la producción industrial y centrarse en resolver los problemas de un colectivo a través de la participación de éste en todo el proceso de diseño. Este proyecto recoge una investigación en este concepto y otras metodologías de diseño como Design Thinking, para realizar una aplicación de las mismas en el rediseño del patio de infantil del colegio público CEIP María Moliner de Zaragoza.Esta nueva interpretación del diseño experimenta un momento de auge y varias comunidades comienza a aplicarla para resolver las necesidades de su contexto. Es éste otro de los motivos por los que se plantea el proyecto, para documentar todo el proceso realizado en la aplicación dentro del ámbito educativo y así quede disponible como un ejemplo para otras comunidades interesadas en proyectos de Diseño Social.Además, en el ámbito educativo se dan los distintos factores que favorecen el surgimiento de proyectos de diseño social, ya que cuenta con una comunidad receptiva a la innovación y comprometida, pero que encuentra distintos obstáculos para resolver sus necesidades de forma autónoma al no disponer de los recursos necesarios. Éste es también el caso del CEIP María Moliner, por lo que resulta de gran interés realizar el proyecto de Diseño Social en este entorno, más específicamente en la mejora de las instalaciones de su patio de recreo infantil.<br /

Dynamic heat flux experiments in Cu67.64Zn 16.71Al15.65: Separating the time scales of fast and ultra-slow kinetic processes in martensitic transformations

Crackling noise and avalanches during the martensite phase transformation of Cu67.64Zn16.71Al15.65 were investigated. Heat flux measurements with extremely slow heating rates of 0.005 Kh -1 allowed sufficient separation between the continuous background and the avalanche jerks. The jerk enthalpy is below 3 of the total transformation enthalpy. The crackling noise follows power law behavior with an energy exponent near ε=1.8. The jerks are almost uncorrelated with approximately a Poisson distribution of the waiting times between jerks. Quantitative analysis showed a scaling behavior with p(wt) ∼ wt (γ-1)exp(-wt/τ)n with γ=0.7 and n ≈ 1.Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia FIS2006-0404

Avalanche criticality in the martensitic transition of Cu67.64Zn16.71Al15.65 shape-memory alloy: a calorimetric and acoustic emission study

The first-order diffusionless structural transition in Cu67.64Zn16.71Al15.65 is characterized by jerky propagation of phase fronts related to the appearance of avalanches. In this paper, we describe a full analysis of this avalanche behavior using calorimetric heat-flux measurements and acoustic emission measurements. Two different propagation modes, namely, smooth front propagation and jerky avalanches, were observed in extremely slow measurements with heating and cooling rates as low as a few 10−3 K/h. Avalanches show criticality where each avalanche leads to a spike in the heat flux. Their statistical analysis leads to a power law [P(E)∼E−ε, where P(E)dE is the probability to observe an avalanche with energy E in an interval between E and E+dE] with an energy exponent of ε=2.15±0.15 in excellent agreement with the results of acoustic emission measurements. Avalanches appear to be more common for heating rates faster than 5×10−3 K/h whereas smooth front propagation occurs in all calorimetric measurements and (almost) exclusively for slower heating rates. Repeated cooling runs were taken after a waiting time of 1 month (and an intermediate heating run). Correlations between the avalanche sequences of the two cooling runs were found for the strongest avalanche peaks but not for the full sequence of avalanches. The memory effect is hence limited to strong avalanches

Acute physiological responses on performance of Choy Lee Fut forms in amateur practitioners

Background and Study Aim: Martial arts’ forms are established sequences of offensive and defensive techniques representing simulated fights against fictitious opponents. Research has studied different acute physiological responses of form performance in other combat sports. However, in Choy Lee Fut (CLF) style, these responses remain unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was the knowledge about acute physiological responses in the performance of CLF form training session on the heart rate (HR), blood lactate concentration ([La‒]) and serum creatine kinase concentration ([CK]) in amateur practitioners. Material and Methods: Ten male volunteers from a CLF amateur team participated in this study. HR, La‒, and CK were measured in basal conditions, right after the empty-hand and bag forms performance and 3-min after. CK post-exercise and 24 hours after CK24h were also registered. HR was measured through a cardio-tachometer, La‒ using a lactate analyzer, and CK using a single-test clinical chemistry system. Results: Study findings showed significant differences in HR responses between basal HR vs. mean work HR, (p=0.000) and maximal work HR, (p=0.000). Likewise, significant differences were found in La‒ responses between basal La‒ vs. post-exercise La‒, (p=0.000) and 3-min after exercise La‒, (p=0.000). Finally, data also showed significant differences in CK 24-hour after exercise vs. post-exercise (p=0.004) and basal values (p=0.000); and between CK basal vs. post-exercise values (p=0.000). Conclusions: Trial conditions elicited high HR and La‒ responses, which indicate that a session of the performance of CLF forms conforms to a high intensity cardio-metabolic training session. Additionally, mild CK responses suggest small muscle damage. Therefore, this session could be recommended as an optimal exercise option for amateur practitioners seeking to improve their cardiorespiratory fitness.Miguel García-Jaén participated in this study supported by a pre-doctoral grant ACIF/2016/048 from the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain

K 1-6: an asymmetric planetary nebula with a binary central star

We present new imaging data and archival multiwavelength observations of the little studied emission nebula K 1-6 and its central star. Narrow-band images in H-alpha (+ [NII]) and [OIII] taken with the Faulkes Telescope North reveal a stratified, asymmetric, elliptical nebula surrounding a central star which has the colours of a late G- or early K-type subgiant or giant. GALEX ultraviolet images reveal a very hot subdwarf or white dwarf coincident in position with this star. The cooler, optically dominant star is strongly variable with a period of 21.312 +/- 0.008 days, and is possibly a high amplitude member of the RS CVn class, although an FK Com classification is also possible. Archival ROSAT data provide good evidence that the cool star has an active corona. We conclude that K 1-6 is most likely an old bona fide planetary nebula at a distance of ~1.0 kpc, interacting with the interstellar medium, and containing a binary or ternary central star. The observations and data analyses reported in this paper were conducted in conjunction with Year 11 high school students as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant science education project, denoted Space To Grow, conducted jointly by professional astronomers, educational researchers, teachers, and high-school students.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA

Informes - II Reunión plenaria de mitad del proyecto "Fastos, simulacros y saberes en la América Virreinal"

Estos informes son resultado del proyecto «Fastos, simulacros y saberes en la América Virreinal» (PID2020-113841GB-I00), han participado: WP AGENCIA FEMENINA. Coordina Beatriz Ferrús. EQUIPO: Julia Lewandowska, Beatriz Colombi, Sarah Serrano y Sara Poot Herrera WP ESPACIO Y CARTOGRAFÍA SIMBÓLICA. Coordina Eva Valero. EQUIPO: María José Rodilla y Jorge Mojarro WP ALTERIDADES, IDENTIDAD Y DEVOCIONES. Coordina Alberto Baena. EQUIPO: Antonio Rubial, Elena Manchado y Alejandro Cañeque WP CULTURA MATERIAL Y VISUAL. Coordina Francisco Montes. EQUIPO: Andreia Martins, Roberto Junco y Renata Schneider WP FASTO Y SIMULACRO. Coordina Judith Farré Vidal Este DATASET está sujeto a una licencia CC BY-NC-ND 4.0Los informes que se presentan son resultado de las sesiones que conformaron la reunión plenaria de mitad del proyecto «Fastos, simulacros y saberes en la América Virreinal» (PID2020-113841GB-I00) celebrada en 2023 (https://www.archivocolonial.csic.es/nuestra-actividad/ii-reunion-plenaria-del-proyecto/) . Todos los miembros del proyecto se organizaron en grupos de trabajo (WP) para previamente trazar un estado de la cuestión de cada una de las líneas transversales del proyecto (ver infografía en los documentos). El coordinador de cada línea de investigación se encargó de recoger, elaborar y unificar la información de cada WP, que ahora presentamos como un conjunto de informes de trabajo.N

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

pcrEfficiency: a Web tool for PCR amplification efficiency prediction

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Relative calculation of differential gene expression in quantitative PCR reactions requires comparison between amplification experiments that include reference genes and genes under study. Ignoring the differences between their efficiencies may lead to miscalculation of gene expression even with the same starting amount of template. Although there are several tools performing PCR primer design, there is no tool available that predicts PCR efficiency for a given amplicon and primer pair.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have used a statistical approach based on 90 primer pair combinations amplifying templates from bacteria, yeast, plants and humans, ranging in size between 74 and 907 bp to identify the parameters that affect PCR efficiency. We developed a generalized additive model fitting the data and constructed an open source Web interface that allows the obtention of oligonucleotides optimized for PCR with predicted amplification efficiencies starting from a given sequence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>pcrEfficiency provides an easy-to-use web interface allowing the prediction of PCR efficiencies prior to web lab experiments thus easing quantitative real-time PCR set-up. A web-based service as well the source code are provided freely at <url>http://srvgen.upct.es/efficiency.html</url> under the GPL v2 license.</p

Final Targeting Strategy for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2N Survey

APOGEE-2 is a dual-hemisphere, near-infrared (NIR), spectroscopic survey with the goal of producing a chemo-dynamical mapping of the Milky Way Galaxy. The targeting for APOGEE-2 is complex and has evolved with time. In this paper, we present the updates and additions to the initial targeting strategy for APOGEE-2N presented in Zasowski et al. (2017). These modifications come in two implementation modes: (i) "Ancillary Science Programs" competitively awarded to SDSS-IV PIs through proposal calls in 2015 and 2017 for the pursuit of new scientific avenues outside the main survey, and (ii) an effective 1.5-year expansion of the survey, known as the Bright Time Extension, made possible through accrued efficiency gains over the first years of the APOGEE-2N project. For the 23 distinct ancillary programs, we provide descriptions of the scientific aims, target selection, and how to identify these targets within the APOGEE-2 sample. The Bright Time Extension permitted changes to the main survey strategy, the inclusion of new programs in response to scientific discoveries or to exploit major new datasets not available at the outset of the survey design, and expansions of existing programs to enhance their scientific success and reach. After describing the motivations, implementation, and assessment of these programs, we also leave a summary of lessons learned from nearly a decade of APOGEE-1 and APOGEE-2 survey operations. A companion paper, Santana et al. (submitted), provides a complementary presentation of targeting modifications relevant to APOGEE-2 operations in the Southern Hemisphere.Comment: 59 pages; 11 Figures; 7 Tables; 2 Appendices; Submitted to Journal and Under Review; Posting to accompany papers using the SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 Data Release 17 scheduled for December 202