The elimination of an adult segment by the Hox gene Abdominal-B

Hox gene activity leads to morphological diversity of organs or structures in different species. One special case of Hox function is the elimination of a particular structure. The Abdominal-B Hox gene of Drosophila melanogaster provides an example of such activity, as this gene suppresses the formation of the seventh abdominal segment in the adult. This elimination occurs only in males, and is characteristic of more advanced Diptera. The elimination requires the differential expression or activity of genes that are downstream Abdominal-B, or that work togetherwith it, andwhich regulate cell proliferation or cell extrusion. Here,we reviewthe mechanisms responsible for such elimination and provide some new data on processes taking place within this segment. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BFU2008-00632 and BFU2011-26075), the Consolider Program (CSD2007-0008) and an Institutional Grant from the Ramon Areces FoundationPeer Reviewe

Unsupervised and scalable low train pathology detection system based on neural networks

Currently, there exist different technologies applied in the world of medicine dedicated to the detection of health problems such as cancer, heart diseases, etc. However, these technologies are not applied to the detection of lower body pathologies. In this article, a Neural Network (NN)-based system capable of classifying pathologies of the lower train by the way of walking in a non-controlled scenario, with the ability to add new users without retraining the system is presented. All the signals are filtered and processed in order to extract the Gait Cycles (GCs), and those cycles are used as input for the NN. To optimize the network a random search optimization process has been performed. To test the system a database with 51 users and 3 visits per user has been collected. After some improvements, the algorithm can correctly classify the 92% of the cases with 60% of training data. This algorithm is a first approach of creating a system to make a first stage pathology detection without the requirement to move to a specific place

QRS Differentiation to Improve ECG Biometrics under Different Physical Scenarios Using Multilayer Perceptron

This article belongs to the Special Issue Electrocardiogram (ECG) Signal and Its Applications.Currently, machine learning techniques are successfully applied in biometrics and Electrocardiogram (ECG) biometrics specifically. However, not many works deal with different physiological states in the user, which can provide significant heart rate variations, being these a key matter when working with ECG biometrics. Techniques in machine learning simplify the feature extraction process, where sometimes it can be reduced to a fixed segmentation. The applied database includes visits taken in two different days and three different conditions (sitting down, standing up after exercise), which is not common in current public databases. These characteristics allow studying differences among users under different scenarios, which may affect the pattern in the acquired data. Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) is used as a classifier to form a baseline, as it has a simple structure that has provided good results in the state-of-the-art. This work studies its behavior in ECG verification by using QRS complexes, finding its best hyperparameter configuration through tuning. The final performance is calculated considering different visits for enrolling and verification. Differentiation in the QRS complexes is also tested, as it is already required for detection, proving that applying a simple first differentiation gives a good result in comparison to state-of-the-art similar works. Moreover, it also improves the computational cost by avoiding complex transformations and using only one type of signal. When applying different numbers of complexes, the best results are obtained when 100 and 187 complexes in enrolment, obtaining Equal Error Rates (EER) that range between 2.79–4.95% and 2.69–4.71%, respectively

Effect of grafting on phenology, susceptibility to Phytophthora cinnamomi and hormone profile of chestnut

Ink disease caused by the root-rot pathogen P. cinnamomi (Pc) threatens European sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) orchards, and growers increasingly graft susceptible C. sativa traditional varieties on Pc-resistant hybrid commercial rootstocks. The influence of the scion, the rootstock, and grafting per se on the vegetative budburst, growth, susceptibility to Pc and defence-related hormone profile of Castanea spp. are unknown. In a greenhouse experiment, these effects were evaluated by reciprocally grafting two Pc resistant C. crenata x C. sativa clones and two Pc susceptible C. sativa clones. Resistance to Pc and the hormone content of leaves and roots were rootstock-dependent, and survival rates of susceptible chestnuts strongly increased when grafted on resistant rootstocks. The scion had no effect on the resistance to Pc and the hormone profile of leaves and roots of grafted trees, but influenced vegetative budburst and primary growth. Grafting per se increased susceptibility to Pc and altered the defence-related phytohormone content of trees, especially in resistant rootstocks, but did not influence budburst and growth of trees. Grafting-induced alteration of the constitutive defense-related hormone profile could explain the increased susceptibility of resistant rootstocks to Pc. Nine days after infection, a dynamic hormonal response consisting of decreased jasmonates (JA and JA-Ile) in leaves and increased ABA and JA-Ile in roots was observed in resistant chestnuts. This is the first study addressing the role of grafting in modulating resistance to the soil-borne pathogen Pc in chestnut trees

Determination of the Composition of Bio-Oils from the Pyrolysis of Orange Waste and Orange Pruning and Use of Biochars for the Removal of Sulphur from Waste Cooking Oils

Waste generated in the agri-food sector is a potential source of biomass and other products of high added value. In this work, the pyrolysis of orange waste and orange pruning was carried out to produce adsorbent biochars and characterise the bio-oils aiming for high-added-value compounds. Pyrolysis was carried out in a vertical tubular furnace on the laboratory scale modifying the temperature (400–600 °C), the heating ramp (5–20 °C·min−1) to reach the previous temperature and the inert gas flow rate (30–300 mL Ar·min−1) throughout the furnace. The most suitable conditions for obtaining biochar were found to be 400 °C, 5 °C·min−1, and 150 mL Ar·min−1 for orange waste, and 400 °C, 10 °C·min−1, and 150 mL Ar·min−1 for orange pruning. Thermogravimetric analysis showed higher thermal stability for orange pruning due to its higher lignin content (20% vs. 5% wt. on a wet basis). The bio-oil composition was determined by GC-MS. Toluene and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were the main compounds found in orange waste bio-oils, while orange pruning bio-oils were composed mainly of 4-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-pentanone. Finally, the removal of the sulphur content from waste cooking oil was assayed with the biochars from both orange waste and orange pruning, whose BET surface areas were previously determined. Despite their low specific surface areas (≤1 m2·g−1 for orange waste biochars and up to 24.3 m2·g−1 for orange pruning biochars), these biochars achieved a reduction of the initial sulphur content of the waste cooking oil between 66.4% and 78.8%.European Union under the LIFE 13 BIOSEVILLE Programme ENV/ES/1113 (analysis, materials and salaries)European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the CARBOENERGY project (materials and salaries) granted by the FEDER INNTERCONECT

Production of Bio-Oils and Biochars from Olive Stones: Application of Biochars to the Esterification of Oleic Acid

Olive stones are a by-product of the olive oil industry. In this work, the valorisation of olive stones through pyrolysis was attempted. Before pyrolysis, half of the samples were impregnated with sulphuric acid. Pyrolysis was carried out in a vertical tubular furnace with a ceramic support. The pyrolysis conditions assayed were: temperature between 400 and 600 °C, heating ramp between 5 and 20 °C∙min−1, and inert gas flow rate between 50 and 300 mL Ar∙min−1. Among them, temperature was the only parameter that influenced the pyrolysis product distribution. The most suitable temperature for obtaining biochar was 400 °C for both non-treated and pre-treated raw material, while for obtaining bio-oil, it was 600 °C for impregnated olive stones and 400 °C for the raw material. The impregnated olives stones led to bio-oils with much higher amounts of high-added-value products such as levoglucosenone and catechol. Finally, the biochars were impregnated with sulphuric acid and assayed as biocatalysts for the esterification of oleic acid with methanol in a stirred tank batch reactor at 60 °C for 30 min. Biochars from non-treated olive stones, which had lower specific surfaces, led to higher esterification yields (up to 96.2%).European Union under grant LIFE 13-Bioseville ENV/1113FEDER funds through the CARBOENERGY project FEDER INNTERCONECTA 2018 cal

Três experiencia religiosa dos enfermeiros na formação: um cuidado além do corpo

La presencia de las religiosas en el cuidado enfermero es un fenómeno presente en la historia desde la antigüedad, pero en actual desaparición. Sin embargo, siguen existiendo congregaciones dedicadas a ello así como a la profesionalización de sus cuidados. El presente estudio pretende indagar sobre esta realidad centrándose, fundamentalmente, en conocer las vivencias y experiencias de tres religiosas estudiantes de enfermería en su relación con los enfermos y su entorno y su proceso de adaptación a la nueva vida a la que se enfrentan cuando comienzan dichos estudios. El estudio, de corte cualitativo, recoge a través del testimonio directo de las religiosas lo que constituye su experiencia vivida, donde el cuidado al enfermo no es meramente físico, llegando a ser un cuidado en su máxima plenitud. Se evidencia el carácter afectivo y relacional del cuidado, las aportaciones positivas y negativas de estas religiosas y su más íntima visión del cuidado desde su comienzo como estudiantes de enfermería, pasando por la convivencia con el resto de alumnos y profesores y finalizando con sus vivencias en el mundo hospitalario.The presence of the religious orders in the nursing care is a phenomenon present in history since ancient times, but in current disappearance. However, there are congregations that still continue with this task and they are turning professional their cares. This article aim to show the study of this situation. This qualitative study is focus on the testimony of the experience of three nursing religious students and their relationship with the patients and their enviroment, in addition to their adaptation when it comes to face their new studies. The cares provides by the learners are not purely physical but an absolute cares. The study evidence the affective and relational character of the students, the positives and negatives supports of them and their vision of the cares since the beginning of their studies, the coexistence with their classmates and teachers and their experience in the clinical practices.A presença das religiosas no cuidado do doente é um fenómeno presente na história desde a Antiguidade, mas que está atualmente em desaparição. No entanto, ainda existem diversas congregações religiosas dedicadas a esta atividade assim como à profissionalização dos cuidados. O presente estudo pretende indagar nesta realidade, conhecer as vivências e experiências de três religiosas estudantes de enfermagem na sua relação com os doentes e com seu ambiente familiar, e a sua adapatação à nova vida quando começaram tais estudos. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo que recolhe o testemunho direto das religiosas sobre a experiência vivida, onde o cuidado do doente não se limita a uma questão de saúde física, sendo antes um cuidado multidisciplinar: o laço afetivo do cuidado, as contribuições positivas e negativas das religiosas e a sua visão mais íntima do cuidado desde o seu início como estudantes de enfermagem, a sua convivência com os outros alunos e professores até as suas vivências no ambiente hospitalar

Energetic Valorisation of Olive Biomass: Olive-Tree Pruning, Olive Stones and Pomaces

Olive oil industry is one of the most important industries in the world. Currently, the land devoted to olive-tree cultivation around the world is ca. 11 106 ha, which produces more than 20 106 t olives per year. Most of these olives are destined to the production of olive oils. The main by-products of the olive oil industry are olive-pruning debris, olive stones and di erent pomaces. In cultures with traditional and intensive typologies, one single ha of olive grove annually generates more than 5 t of these by-products. The disposal of these by-products in the field can led to environmental problems. Notwithstanding, these by-products (biomasses) have a huge potential as source of energy. The objective of this paper is to comprehensively review the latest advances focused on energy production from olive-pruning debris, olive stones and pomaces, including processes such as combustion, gasification and pyrolysis, and the production of biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel. Future research e orts required for biofuel production are also discussed. The future of the olive oil industry must move towards a greater interrelation between olive oil production, conservation of the environment and energy generation

Seasonal and interannual changes in Ca and Mg of dripping waters in Kaite Cave (Spain)

Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEpu