Análisis de la superficie de cultivo para la producción de bioplásticos

El presente trabajo establece el potencial de mercado de los Bioplásticos (BPL), en tres escenarios: Escenario CB (crecimiento bajo), Escenario CM (crecimiento medio) y Escenario CR (crecimiento rápido). El objetivo final es Obtener las superficies de cultivo necesarias para satisfacer la demanda de las empresas productoras de BPL, según los tres escenarios. Las regiones geográficas estudiadas son: La Unión Europea (UE-27), Estados Unidos (EE.UU) y la región de Asia-Pacífico, entendiéndose, que esta última región comprende la parte del Centro, Este y Sur de Asia, además de Australia y Nueva Zelanda. Son las principales zonas donde se encuentran las empresas productoras de los BPL estudiados. Más del 95% de los BPL son elaborados en estas regiones. Se han realizado tres proyecciones para los años 2010, 2015 y 2020

Identification of Degraded Land in the Canary Islands; Tests and Reviews

Degraded Land is an area that either by natural causes (fires, floods, storms or volcanic eruptions) or more by direct or indirect causes of human action, has been altered or modified from its natural state. Restoration is an activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem. It can be defined as the set of actions taken in order to reverse or reduce the damage caused in the territory. In the case of the Canary Islands there is a high possibility for the territory to suffer processes that degrade the environment, given that the islands are very fragile ecosystems. Added to this they are territories isolated from the continent, which complicates the process of restoring them. In this paper, the different types of common degraded areas in the Canary Islands are identified, as well as the proposed solutions for remediation, such as afforestation of agricultural land or landfill closure and restoration

PREPARATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE MSc PROGRAME IN ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

Authors proposed an MSc Program related to Environmental Security and Management. This program endeavors to prepare students for the regional and global postgraduate job market

TEACHING STRATEGIES IN THE MSc PROGRAME IN CLIMATE CHANGE AND RESTORATION ON DEGRADED LAND

UPM is a leader on landslide assessment and environmental restoration, as well as in waste management. The study of climate change and degraded land requires innovative techniques in teaching that will be analyzed and discussed in the following paper

Analysis and Potential of Use of Biomass Energy in Canary Islands, Spain

Biomass has always been associated with the development of the population in the Canary Islands as the first source of elemental energy that was in the archipelago and the main cause of deforestation of forests, which over the years has been replaced by forest fossil fuels. The Canary Islands store a large amount of energy in the form of biomass. This may be important on a small scale for the design of small power plants with similar fuels from agricultural activities, and these plants could supply rural areas that could have self-sufficiency energy. The problem with the Canary Islands for a boost in this achievement is to ensure the supply to the consumer centers or power plants for greater efficiency that must operate continuously, allowing them to have a resource with regularity, quality and at an acceptable cost. In the Canary Islands converge also a unique topography with a very rugged terrain that makes it greater difficult to use and significantly more expensive. In this work all these aspects are studied, giving conclusions, action paths and theoretical potentials

Tutoring and mentoring project for foreign students of forest engineering degrees

We present an innovative educational project dedicated to improve the academic performance of foreign students by enhancing the integration of international students during their academic attendance in the programs offered at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid?s School of Forest Engineering (Spain)

Bioactividad de las esponjas marinas Cliona varians y Cinachyrella kuekenthali provenientes de Isla Larga, Bahía de Mochima, Estado Sucre, Venezuela / Bioactivity of Cliona varians and Cinachyrella kuekenthali marine sponges from Isla Larga, Mochima Bay, Sucre state, Venezuela

Las esponjas marinas Cliona varians y Cinachyrella kuekenthali, fueron recolectadas en Isla Larga, Bahía de Mochima, estado Sucre, Venezuela, para su estudio sobre bioactividad. Se procedió a realizar extracciones con acetato de etilo (AcOEt) a cada esponja, y posteriormente un screening químico y las pruebas biológicas señaladas a continuación: antibacteriana, antifúngica y letalidad contra nauplios I del crustáceo Artemia salina. Para ambas esponjas se detectó la presencia de alcaloides, esteroles insaturados y cumarinas, y además taninos y metilencetonas para C. varians. Los bioensayos demostraron que los extractos poseen actividad letal o tóxica muy fuerte contra el crustáceo A. salina, con valores de CL50 inferiores a 103 μg/ml a 24 h de exposición de las larvas. Posterior al fraccionamiento cromatográfico de la fracción soluble en AcOEt de cada esponja, se observó que se magnificó el efecto tóxico de las subfracciones provenientes de C. varians, obteniéndose valores de CL50 por debajo de 4 μg/ml. Los extractos en AcOEt de dichas esponjas no presentaron actividad contra las bacterias y hongos ensayados; al fraccionar C. varians, se mantuvo este comportamiento; sin embargo, la subfracción CV1 presentó actividad antibacteriana leve contra Listeria monocitogenes. Las subfracciones de C. kuekenthali no mostraron actividad antifúngica; sin embargo, esta especie aumentó su actividad antibacteriana actuando contra Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteristiti, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella ephimurium y Enterococus fecalis. Estos resultados perfilan a dichas esponjas como una fuente promisoria en futuras investigaciones de fármacos con actividad antitumoral, especialmente C. varians.  ABSTRACTThe marine sponges Cliona varians and Cinachyrella kuekenthali, were collected in Isla Larga, Mochima Bay, Sucre state, Venezuela, to study their bioactivity. Each sponge was extracted with ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and then a chemical screening and the following biological tests were performed: antibacterial, antifungal and lethality against nauplii I of Artemia salina crustacean. The presence of alkaloids, unsaturated sterols and coumarins was detected for both sponges, and also tannins and metilenketones for C. varians. Bioassays showed that extracts have very strong lethal or toxic activity against A. salina nauplii, with LC50 values less than 103 μg/ml at 24 h of larvae exposure. After chromatographic fractionation of the EtOAc soluble fraction from each sponge, the toxic effect of the C. varians subfractions was magnified, obtaining LC50 values below to 4 μg/ml. EtOAc extracts of these sponges showed no activity against fungi and bacteria used in this study; this behavior was maintained when fractioning C. varians; however, CV1 subfraction showed mild antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes. The C. kuekenthali subfractions did not show antifungal activity, but showed antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteristiti, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella ephimurium and Enterococcus faecalis. These results suggest these sponges as a promising source for future investigations of drugs with antitumoral activity, especially C. varians

Albendazole solid dispersions against alveolar echinococcosis: a pharmacotechnical strategy to improve the efficacy of the drug

Alveolar echinococcosis is a neglected parasitic zoonosis caused by Echinococcus multilocularis. The pharmacological treatment is based on albendazole (ABZ). However, the low water solubility of the drug produces a limited dissolution rate, with the consequent failure in the treatment of the disease. Solid dispersions are a successful pharmacotechnical strategy to improve the dissolution profile of poorly water-soluble drugs. The aim of this work was to determine the in vivo efficacy of ABZ solid dispersions using poloxamer 407 as a carrier (ABZ:P407 solid dispersions (SDs)) in the murine intraperitoneal infection model for secondary alveolar echinococcosis. In the chemoprophylactic efficacy study, the ABZ suspension, the ABZ:P407 SDs and the physical mixture of ABZ and poloxamer 407 showed a tendency to decrease the development of murine cysts, causing damage to the germinal layer. In the clinical efficacy study, the ABZ:P407 SDs produced a significant decrease in the weight of murine cysts. In addition, the SDs produced extensive damage to the germinal layer. The increase in the efficacy of ABZ could be due to the improvement of water solubility and wettability of the drug due to the surfactant nature of poloxamer 407. In conclusion, this study is the basis for further research. This pharmacotechnical strategy might in the future offer novel treatment alternatives for human alveolar echinococcosis.Fil: Fabbri, Julia. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Zoonosis Parasitarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pensel, Patricia Eugenia. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Zoonosis Parasitarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Albani, Clara Maria. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Zoonosis Parasitarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Lurdes Milagros. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Zoonosis Parasitarias; ArgentinaFil: Simonazzi, Analía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bermudez, José María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Palma, Santiago Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Elissondo, María Celina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Zoonosis Parasitarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; Argentin

Biomass and essential oil yields of cornmint (Mentha arvensis L.) grown in the irrigation area of Río Dulce, Santiago del Estero, Argentina.

The aim of this study is to determine the yield and composition of the essential oil of cornmint (Mentha arvensis L.) grown in the irrigation area of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Field tests were carried out under irrigation conditions, harvesting when 70% flowering was reached (in the summer and at the end of the winter seasons). Essential oil yields were 2% in the first cut and 1.6% in the second cut, respectively, the major constituents of the essential oil being menthol, menthone, isomenthone and menthofuran. In both cases, a high concentration of menthol was obtained, although during the winter the content decreased, increasing the concentration of menthofuran. It is concluded that during the summer a higher yield and better quality of essential oil are produced

Farmacovigilancia en pacientes polimedicados en el municipio de Guachucal Nariño

Cuadro de preguntas de investigación, GraficasEl objetivo del presente trabajo fue evaluar la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en adultos mayores polimedicados residentes en el municipio de Guachucal Nariño. La dinámica consistió en tomar a 20 ancianos quienes se les aplicó una encuesta diseñada para recolectar datos sobre aspectos relacionados con los medicamentos que consumen y su salud. La edad media fue de 60 años en adelante. La dimensión más afectada fue la falta de información por parte de los profesionales de salud con respecto al número de medicamentos que se estaban recetando sin tener en cuenta que estas personas ya consumían otro tipo de medicamentos para otras enfermedades. Se encontraron resultados muy altos a la falta de información de la polimedicación y los problemas que conlleva. La encuesta reveló grandes puntajes y fue muy eficiente a la hora de ser aplicada ya que las personas de edades avanzadas podían responder fácilmente sin confundirse. Los pacientes polimedicados presentaron puntuaciones menores en el tema de polimedicación, siendo estadísticamente significativas para un buen funcionamiento físico, buena salud, funcionamiento social, rol emocional y vida plena.The objective of this work was to evaluate the health-related quality of life in polymedicated older adults residing in the municipality of Guachucal Nariño. The dynamic consisted of taking 20 elderly people to whom a survey designed to collect data on aspects related to the medications they consume, and their health was applied. The average age was 60 years and older. The most affected dimension was the lack of information on the part of health professionals regarding the number of medications that were being prescribed without taking into account that these people were already consuming other types of medications for other diseases. Very high results were found due to the lack of information on polypharmacy and the problems it entails. The survey revealed high scores and was very efficient when administered since elderly people could respond easily without getting confused. Polypharmacy patients presented minor differences in the issue of polypharmacy, being statistically significant for good physical functioning, good health, social functioning, emotional role and full life