Las agrociencias, una escuela de pensamiento para la nueva ruralidad

La participación de la agricultura tropical en la economía constituye un foco de atención para la investigación y la formulación de políticas para el sector rural. De dicho sector se esperan las respuestas para la lucha contra el hambre, la pobreza y la búsqueda de la transformación social y productiva del país. La agricultura colombiana requiere innovaciones para los modelos económicos y productivos en los valores, las culturas y los modos de vida rural. Ciencia, tecnología e innovación que contribuyan al desarrollo humano sustentable, la apropiación de valor en las comunidades rurales y la generación de espacios para el bienestar de las generaciones futuras en el contexto de la nueva ruralidad constituyen el reto para las instituciones que se ocupan de la educación superior y la investigación. En el presente escrito, se señalan argumentos, cifras y hechos que justifican una nueva mirada a lo rural desde la generación de conocimiento, a lo tropical desde las bioeconomías y la nueva ruralidad, haciendo énfasis en las agrociencias como escuela de pensamiento y apuesta para el desarrollo científico y tecnológico para los países tropicales

Application of work study to process improvement: fruit nectar case

Work study is an extensively used technique for examining the methods to carry out activities in a company and proposing actions for productivity improvement. This paper presents a work-study application to a fruit nectar process inside a food company using 5W1H and ECRS techniques. A critical analysis was conducted in three previously selected activities, according to its improvement potential. Results allowed optimizing distances along the process and improving ergonomic conditions for workers. Savings included a total distance of 10.2 m, two transportation activities and two delays activities per production cycle. Also, the standard time was determined in one of the prioritized activities. Our results demonstrated that work study techniques are tools suitable to be implemented in most economic sectors for productivity improvements. However, the technique itself will not be effective without a commitment from top-level management for implementing the corrective actions proposed

Propuesta de un modelo para la implementación de los ODS como polí­tica de innovación transformativa : caso Cotecmar /

Las empresas son agentes de cambio, buscando espacios en los que fomentar la investigación interdisciplinar para lograr estilos de vida sostenibles encaminados al cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de la Agenda 2030. En este artí­culo se realiza una propuesta de un modelo, de la contribución de Coctemar, al cumplimiento de los ODS a partir dela situación actual de la gestión de investigación en Ciencia, Tecnologí­a e Innovación (CTI) y sus otras dependencias. En el que se utilizó un procedimiento que utiliza análisis cualitativo a través de análisis de documentos oficiales de Coctemar, entrevistas, observaciones. Los resultados obtenidos es un modelo que permite a la corporación identificar cuáles son los ODS en los que está trabajando e identificar a cuáles apuntarles en un mayor grado y desde la innovación la empresa puede hallar nuevos mercados, nuevos negocios, así­ como estrategias de colaboración e impacto social.Incluye referencias bibliográficas (página 9)

Correction: Muñoz-Fernández et al. A new ultrasound-guided percutaneous electrolysis and exercise treatment in patellar tendinopathy: three case reports. Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark. 2021; 26: 1166–1175

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A new ultrasound-guided percutaneous electrolysis and exercise treatment in patellar tendinopathy: three case reports.

Purpose: To present preliminary clinical results of the effects of a new treatment with percutaneous electrolysis directed to peripheral tendon and therapeutic resistance exercise, with or without the presence of degenerative zone. Methods: 3 patients with patellar tendinopathy aged 37-45 years with diagnostic of patellar tendinopathy with pain since 5-8 weeks were treated with a novel, less invasive electrolysis technique. Pain severity was measured by Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). Lower limb functionality was measured by a Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment questionnaire (VISA-P). A clinical interview and ultrasonography assesment were performed before study protocol were carried out. Each participants received 4 to 7 sessions of percutaneous electrolysis (350 μA, 80 s) leaving at least one week between sessions during a total of 8 weeks. During this time, subjects also were undergone a therapeutic exercise protocol of lower limbs resistance training. Results: Pain severity decreased after 3 weeks treatment (p = 0.01) and was practically abolished after 4-7 sessions at 8 weeks (p = 0.2). The lower limb functionality (VISA-P) increased after 3 weeks treatment and the major difference was found at 8 weeks post-intervention (p = 0.001). Thickness of the patellar tendon decreased after 8 weeks treatment (p = 0.01). Conclusions: The present work provides the first evidence that percutaneous electrolysis with a least invasive physiotherapy treatment targeted to peripheral tendon in combination with therapeutic resistance exercise diminished pain, improved funcitonality and showed a tendency to decreased thickness in subjects with patelallar tendinopathy

Distance-decay effect on willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation: The case of a megadiverse protected area

[ES] Este estudio aborda el caso del Parque Nacional Manu (PNM) en Perú, una de las áreas más megadiversas del mundo. Aplicando el método experimentos de elección (EE), en base a 1.164 encuestas en este país, se determinó que el efecto distancia es positivo en la disposición a pagar (DAP) para la conserva-ción de biodiversidad del PNM, al menos para la mayor parte de los atributos analizados. Esto evidencia que en áreas megadiversas, la DAP puede no estar inversamente relacionada con la distancia del entrevistado ya que el efecto del interés por conservación de biodiversidad superaría al desinterés asociado a la distancia.[EN] This research addresses the case of Manu National Park (PNM) in Peru, one of the most biodiverse protected areas worldwide. Applying the choice experiments (CE) method, based on 1.164 surveys in this country, the positive decay effect on the willingness to pay (WTP) was determined for the conservation of the PNM, at least for most of the attributes analyzed. This suggests that in cases of megadiverse areas, WTP for conservation may not be inversely related to the interviewee’s distance since the effect of biodiversity conservation interest would exceed the effect of disinterest associated with distance.Esta investigación se desprende del Convenio de Financiamiento 175-2015-FONDECYT Proyecto Círculo “Valorizando la biodiversidad en el Perú”, cuyo apoyo se agradece. Además, agradecemos al Servicio Nacional de Áreas Protegidas por el Estado (SERNANP) por su colaboración en esta investigación, y a los dos revisores anónimos de la revista por sus valiosos comentarios y sugerencias.Orihuela Romero, CE.; Minaya, CA.; Mercado, W.; Jiménez, LA.; Estrada, M.; Gómez, HJ.; Mercado (2020). Efecto distancia en la disposición a pagar por la conservación de la biodiversidad: el caso de un área protegida megadiversa. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales - Agricultural and Resource Economics. 20(1):169-190. https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2020.01.08OJS16919020

Types and Distribution of Bioactive Polyunsaturated Aldehydes in a Gradient from Mesotrophic to OligotrophicWaters in the Alborán Sea (Western Mediterranean)

Polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs) are bioactive molecules suggested as chemical defenses and infochemicals. In marine coastal habitats, diatoms reach high PUA production levels during bloom episodes. Two fractions of PUA can usually be analyzed: pPUA obtained via artificial breakage of collected phytoplankton cells and dissolved PUA already released to the environment (dPUA). In nature, resource supply arises as a main environmental controlling factor of PUA production. In this work, we monitored the vertical distribution and daily variation of pPUA associated with large-size phytoplankton and dPUA, at three sites located in the Alboran Sea from mesotrophic to oligotrophic waters. The results corroborate the presence of large-size PUA producers in oligotrophic and mesotrophic waters with a significant (58%-85%) diatom biomass. In addition to diatoms, significant correlations between pPUA production and dinoflagellate and silicoflagellate abundance were observed. 2E,4E/Z-Heptadienal was the most abundant aldehyde at the three sites with higher values (17.1 fg center dot cell(-1)) at the most oligotrophic site. 2E,4E/Z-Decadienal was the least abundant aldehyde, decreasing toward the oligotrophic site. For the first time, we describe the daily fluctuation of pPUA attributable to cellular physiological state and not exclusively to taxonomical composition. Our results demonstrate the persistence of threshold levels of dPUA deep in the water column, as well as the different chromatographic profiles of dPUA compared with pPUA. We propose different isomerization processes that alter the chemical structure of the released PUAs with unknown effects on their stability, biological function, and potential bioactivity

Furanoditerpenes from Spongia (Spongia) tubulifera Display Mitochondrial-Mediated Neuroprotective Effects by Targeting Cyclophilin D

Neuroprotective properties of five previously described furanoditerpenes 1–5, isolated from Spongia (Spongia) tubulifera, were evaluated in an in vitro oxidative stress model in SH-SY5Y cells. Dose–response treatments revealed that 1–5 improved cell survival at nanomolar concentrations through the restoration of mitochondrial membrane potential and the reduction of reactive oxygen species. Their ability to prevent the mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening was also assessed, finding that 4 and 5 inhibited the channel at 0.001 μM. This inhibition was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of cyclophilin D, the main regulator of the pore, which was also reduced by 1 and 2. However, the activation of ERK and GSK3β, upstream modulators of the channel, was not affected by compounds. Therefore, their ability to bind cyclophilin D was evaluated by surface plasmon resonance, observing that 2–5 presented equilibrium dissociation constants in the micromolar range. All compounds also showed affinity for cyclophilin A, being 1 selective toward this isoform, while 2 and 5 exhibited selectivity for cyclophilin D. When the effects on the intracellular expression of cyclophilins A–C were determined, it was found that only 1 decreased cyclophilin A, while cyclophilins B and C were diminished by most compounds, displaying enhanced effects under oxidative stress conditions. Results indicate that furanoditerpenes 1–5 have mitochondrial-mediated neuroprotective properties through direct interaction with cyclophilin D. Due to the important role of this protein in oxidative stress and inflammation, compounds are promising drugs for new therapeutic strategies against neurodegenerationThe research leading to these results has received funding from the following FEDER cofunded grants: from Conselleria de Cultura, Educacion e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia, GRC (ED431C 2021/01), and GRC2018/039; from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación IISCIII/PI19/001248 and PID 2020-11262RB-C21; from European Union Interreg AlertoxNet EAPA-317-2016 and Interreg Agritox EAPA-998-2018 and H2020 778069-EMERTOX; and from BLUEBIOLAB (0474_BLUEBIOLAB_1_E), Programme INTERREG V A of Spain-Portugal (POCTEP). R.A. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Xunta de Galicia (ED481B-2021-038), Spain. D.P-P. received a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) of MexicoS

Spreadsheet for the simulation of artificial neural networks (ANNs)

La utilización de Redes de Neuronas Artificiales (RNA) en problemas de predicción de series de tiempo, clasificación y reconocimiento de patrones ha aumentado considerablemente en los últimos años. Programas informáticos de matemáticas de propósito general tales como MATLAB, MATHCAD y aplicaciones estadísticas como SPSS y S-PLUS incorporan herramientas que permiten implementar RNAs. A esta oferta de software hay que añadir programas específicos como NeuralWare, EasyNN o Neuron. Desde un punto de vista educativo, el acceso de los estudiantes a estos programas puede ser difícil dado que no están pensadas como herramientas didácticas. Por otro lado, las hojas de cálculo como Excel y Gnumeric incorporan utilidades que permiten implementar RNAs y son de fácil acceso para los estudiantes. El objetivo de este trabajo es proporcionar un pequeño tutorial sobre la utilización de Excel para implementar una RNA que nos permita ajustar los valores de una serie de tiempo correspondiente a actividad cerebral alfa y que permita al alumno entender el funcionamiento de estos dispositivos de cálculo.In recent years, the use of Artificial Neural Networks or ANNs has increased considerably to solve prediction problems in time series, classification and recognition of patterns. General-purpose mathematical programs such as MATLAB, MATHCAD and mathematical and statistical programs such as SPSS and S-PLUS incorporate tools that allow the implementation of ANNs. In addition to these, specific programs such as NeuralWare, EasyNN, or Neuron, complete the software offer using ANNs. From an educational point of view, an aspect that concerns the authors of this work, student access to these programs can be expensive or, in sorne case, unadvisable given the few possibilities they provide as didactic instruments. These programs are usually easy to use but do not facilitate the understanding of the technique used. On the other hand, spreadsheets like Excel or Gnumeric incorporate tools that allow all of the necessary calculations to implement an ANN. These programs are user-friendly to the point that they are used by university laboratories, as well as psychology, economic science, and engineering students, to mention a few. This paper provides a small tutorial on the use of a spreadsheet, specifically Excel, to implement an ANN to adjust the values of a time series corresponding to cerebral alpha activity

The implications of the foot health status in Parkinson patients: A case–control study

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects bothhealth of the feet, as to gait patterns. This study aimed to find out about footproblems and their impact on self-perceived quality of life and related to foothealth in Parkinson's patients compared to a group of healthy subjects and tomeasure it with Spanish Podiatry Health Questionnaire (PHQ-S). It is about acase–control study in a sample of Parkinson's patients n=62, healthy controlsn=62. The PHQ-S was reported, it describes perception the subject has ineach of podiatric 6 dimensions consulted, assessing appreciation of health sta-tus of interviewee's feet and a self-rated the foot health score on the visual ana-log scale (VAS). There were statistically significant differences (P< 0.05) inthe dimensions that assessed problems with walking and moving, nail trim-ming, concern feet state, and affectation of quality of life related foot health.Regarding the self-perception of state of their feet, Parkinson's patientsperceive a worse state of health of their feet than healthy subjects. The meanvalue was 4.8 (SD 2.2) for Parkinson's patients and 3.8 (SD 2.3) for healthysubjects. In conclusion, patients with PD have problems in walking or moving,foot pain, difficulties in foot hygiene and in cutting for their nails, as well asthe concern they suffer from deterioration in state of their feet affect them anddecrease their quality of life. Podiatric problems in Parkinson's patients have agreat impact in reducing quality of life related to foot health.Parkinson Association's of Malaga. Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag