Effects of ripening stages and of plant vegetative vigor on the phenolic composition of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) cv. Cabernet Sauvignon in the Maipo Valley (Chile)

Quantitative changes in the composition of phenolic compounds in skins and seeds were determined during ripening of grape of Cabernet Sauvignon vines growing with low, medium or high vigor. Compounds in the skins were gallic and syringic acid, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, quercetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-3-rutinoside, quercetin-3-arabinglucoside, quercetin-3-glucoside, and quercetin-3-rhamnoside, kaempferol-3-rutinoside and kaempferol-3-glucoside. The following compounds were identified in seeds: gallic acid, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, and procyanidins B1, B2, B3 and B4. The composition of compounds depended on the stage of ripening and vigor. No clear relationship was found between groups of compounds.

Ising Model Partition Function Computation as a Weighted Counting Problem

While the Ising model remains essential to understand physical phenomena, its natural connection to combinatorial reasoning makes it also one of the best models to probe complex systems in science and engineering. We bring a computational lens to the study of Ising models, where our computer-science perspective is two-fold: On the one hand, we consider the computational complexity of the Ising partition-function problem, or #Ising, and relate it to the logic-based counting of constraint-satisfaction problems, or #CSP. We show that known dichotomy results for #CSP give an easy proof of the hardness of #Ising and provide new intuition on where the difficulty of #Ising comes from. On the other hand, we also show that #Ising can be reduced to Weighted Model Counting (WMC). This enables us to take off-the-shelf model counters and apply them to #Ising. We show that this WMC approach outperforms state-of-the-art specialized tools for #Ising, thereby expanding the range of solvable problems in computational physics.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

Bioprinting as a food production technique: Conceptual and ethical aspects, advantages and disadvantages, and applications

3D bioprinters present techniques that have various applications in the food industry. For this reason, this work aims to compile and review various research works focused on the utilities and advantages of this type of machinery. Where we first mention the basis of these bioprinting techniques and then proceed to highlight the bioethical issues that surround their application in the food industry, analyze the current advantages and disadvantages, the user that has been given in the production of food for astronauts, and also mention some of the research that has been taking place in Latin America and the world. The greatest advantage of 3D bioprinting of food is the speed of production compared to traditional manufacturing methods, allowing one to obtain food with various geometric shapes; it allows control of the nutritional value, and the texture of the product, reduces environmental pollution and has the advantage of being able to take advantage of the greater performance of the materials required for production. Additionally, this technology is considered an alternative production technique that will be used to solve the problem of feeding in places of scarce resources such as space and areas not suitable for animal husbandry

Gene Expression Analyses in Non Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Reveals a Role for Alternative Splicing and Tp53 Status

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) represents a crucial problem for the national health care systems due to its high rates of recurrence and the consequent need of frequent follow-ups. Here, gene expression analyses in patients diagnosed as NMIBC were performed to determine those molecular pathways involved in tumor initiation, finding that both MYC and E2F are up regulated and helps to tumor initiation and progression. Our results also support an important involvement of alternative splicing events, modifying key pathways to favour bladder tumor evolution. Finally, since MDM2 showed differential exon usage, mutations in TP53 and its protein expression have been also studied in the same patients. Our data support that recurrence is epigenetically mediated and favoured by an increase protein expression of TP53, which appears more frequently mutated in advanced stages and grades, being associated to a worse prognosis. Therefore, TP53 mutational status could be used as a potential biomarker in the first stages of NMIBC to predict recurrence and prognosis.We express our deepest acknowledgement to patients and their families. The authors also acknowledge the computing resources and technical support provided by Abel Paz-Gallardo and Alfonso Pardo from Extremadura Research Centre for Advanced Technologies (CETA−CIEMAT). This work was supported FEDER cofounded MINECO grant SAF2015-66015-R, ISCIII-RETIC RD12/0036/0009, and PIE15/00076 and CB/16/00228 (to J.M. Paramio); MMF was supported by a Jose Castillejo Fellowship (CAS16/00115)

Wild felid species richness affected by a corridor in the Lacandona forest, Mexico

Los efectos de la presencia de un corredor en la selva Lacandona, en México, en la riqueza de especies de félidos silvestres Los félidos silvestres se encuentran entre las especies más vulnerables ante la pérdida de hábitat causada por la fragmentación de los ecosistemas. Se analizó el efecto de la presencia de un corredor estructural, definido como una franja de vegetación que conecta dos fragmentos de hábitat, en la riqueza y ocupación de félidos en tres sitios de Marqués de Comillas, en Chiapas: uno comprende dos fragmentos de bosque aislados, otro presenta un corredor estructural y el último se encuentra dentro de la reserva de la biosfera Montes Azules. Se encontraron cuatro especies en el interior de la Reserva, cinco en el corredor estructural y únicamente dos (L. pardalis y H. yagouaroundi) en los fragmentos de bosque aislados. La presencia del corredor no afectó de forma significativa a la ocupación, pero debido a la baja tasa de detección, se necesita seguir investigando para descartar diferencias. Nuestros resultados resaltan la necesidad de manejar la conectividad del hábitat en los bosques remanentes para lograr la conservación de la comunidad de félidos en Marqués de Comillas, en Chiapas, México.Los efectos de la presencia de un corredor en la selva Lacandona, en México, en la riqueza de especies de félidos silvestres Los félidos silvestres se encuentran entre las especies más vulnerables ante la pérdida de hábitat causada por la fragmentación de los ecosistemas. Se analizó el efecto de la presencia de un corredor estructural, definido como una franja de vegetación que conecta dos fragmentos de hábitat, en la riqueza y ocupación de félidos en tres sitios de Marqués de Comillas, en Chiapas: uno comprende dos fragmentos de bosque aislados, otro presenta un corredor estructural y el último se encuentra dentro de la reserva de la biosfera Montes Azules. Se encontraron cuatro especies en el interior de la Reserva, cinco en el corredor estructural y únicamente dos (L. pardalis y H. yagouaroundi) en los fragmentos de bosque aislados. La presencia del corredor no afectó de forma significativa a la ocupación, pero debido a la baja tasa de detección, se necesita seguir investigando para descartar diferencias. Nuestros resultados resaltan la necesidad de manejar la conectividad del hábitat en los bosques remanentes para lograr la conservación de la comunidad de félidos en Marqués de Comillas, en Chiapas, México.Wild felids are one of the most vulnerable species due to habitat loss caused by fragmentation of ecosystems. We analyzed the effect of a structural corridor, defined as a strip of vegetation connecting two habitat patches, on the richness and habitat occupancy of felids on three sites in Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, one with two isolated forest patches, the second with a structural corridor, and the third inside the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. We found only two species (L. pardalis and H. yagouaroundi) in the isolated forest patches, five species in the structural corridor, and four species inside the Reserve. The corridor did not significantly affect occupancy, but due to the low detection rates, further investigation is needed to rule out differences. Our results highlight the need to manage habitat connectivity in the remaining forests in order to preserve the felid community of Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, México

Probabilistic Expert System based on Bayesian Networks for the prediction of cervical cancer

El cáncer de cuello uterino es el cuarto cáncer más frecuente en la mujer. Una gran variedad de técnicas utilizadas en la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) como las Redes Neuronales, las Máquinas de Vectores de Soporte (SVM), los Árboles de Decisión y otros; han abordado el problema de la predicción de esta enfermedad. El siguiente artículo muestra la predicción de riesgo de cáncer de cuello uterino usando un modelo probabilístico basado en Redes Bayesianas; donde de un total de 322 registros se pudo obtener 15 atributos o características diferentes que correspondan a la información de una paciente. Las pruebas fueron realizadas utilizando el 40% de los datos, matrices de confusión y el indicador AUC. Los resultados le otorgan al trabajo desarrollado una tasa de éxito del 96% así como un valor de 0.9864 en términos del indicador AUC, además, sugieren que las Redes Bayesianas alcanzan un alto rendimiento, así como también ofrecen transparencia durante el proceso de inferencia, algo que no sucede con muchas otras técnicas, y que son ideales para afrontar problemas de predicción.Cervical cancer is currently the fourth most frequent type of cancer in women. A large number of techniques from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as Neuronal Networks, Support Vector Machines (SVM), Decision Trees and others; have been used to deal with the problem of predicting this disease. The following paper shows the cervical cancer risk prediction, by implementing a probabilistic model based on Bayesian Networks and using 322 instances where we could retrieve 15 different features that are known information from each patient. The tests were made using the 40% of the whole dataset, confusion matrix and AUC indicator. The results show that this work has raised a 96% of success rate as well as 0.9864 in terms of the AUC indicator, in addition to this, the results suggest that Bayesian Networks are able to reach a high performance and provide transparency during the inference process at the same time, something that does not happen in many other techniques, and that they are really efficient to face this sort of prediction problems

Fat-specific FUS-DDIT3-transgenic mice establish PPARgamma inactivation is required to liposarcoma development.

Peer reviewe

Accelerated detectors in Dirac vacuum: the effects of horizon fluctuations

We consider an Unruh-DeWitt detector interacting with a massless Dirac field. Assuming that the detector is moving along an hyperbolic trajectory, we modeled the effects of fluctuations in the event horizon using a Dirac equation with random coefficients. First, we develop the perturbation theory for the fermionic field in a random media. Further we evaluate corrections due to the randomness in the response function associated to different model detectors.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Solid polymer electrolytes based on lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide/poly(vinylidene fluoride -co-hexafluoropropylene) for safer rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

The increasing use of electronic portable systems and the consequent energy demand, leads to the need to improve energy storage systems. According to that and due to safety issues, high-performance non-flammable electrolytes and solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) are needed.SPE containing different amounts of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (LiTFSI) into a poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene), PVDF-HFP, polymer matrix have been prepared by solvent casting. The addition of LiTFSI into PVDF-HFP allows to tailor thermal, mechanical and electrical properties of the composite.In particular, the ionic conductivity of the composites increases with LiTFSI content, the best ionic conductivities of 0.0011 mS/cmat 25 degrees C and 0.23 mS/cmat 90 degrees C were obtained for the PVDF-HFP/LiTFSI composites with 80 wt % of LiTFSI.This solid electrolyte allows the fabrication of Li metallic/SPE/C-LiFePO4 half-cells with a discharge capacity of 51.2 mAh/ g at C/20. Further, theoretical simulations show that the discharge capacity value depends on the lithium concentration and percentage of free ions and is independent of the solid polymer electrolyte thickness. On the other hand, the voltage plateau depends on the SPE thickness. Thus, a solid electrolyte is presented for the next generation of safer solid-state batteries.The authors thank the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) for financial support under the framework of Strategic Funding grants UID/FIS/04650/2013, UID/EEA/04436/2013 and UID/QUI/0686/2016; and project no. PTDC/FIS-MAC/28157/2017. The authors also thank the FCT for financial support under grant SFRH/BPD/112547/2015 (C.M.C.). Financial support from the Basque Government Industry Department under the ELKARTEK and HAZITEK programs is also acknowledged. JMMD and JLGR acknowledge funding by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) through the project MAT2016-76039-C4-1 and 3-R (including the FEDER financial support) CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&i Plan 2008–2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund