CARACTERÃSTICAS DE LA PRODUCCIÓN Y COMERCIALIZACIÓN DE LECHE BOVINA EN SISTEMAS DE DOBLE PROPÓSITO EN DOBLADERO, VERACRUZ

The objective of the present study was to make a diagnostic and characterization of the production and marketing of bovine milk in double purpose production systems, also known as tropical dairy, in the premises of Dobladero in José Azueta Veracruz, Mexico. Thirty Milk producers from the Local Livestock Association (Asociación Ganadera Local) were interviewed from May to July 2010. The results show that the production units are common parcels, with traditional pasturage on rain-fed conditions in a dry tropical weather, and supplementary feeding during dry seasons. A mixture of Zebu and Swiss cattle breeds predominate along with other europeans; the cow milking takes place daily in the morning and manually by the same producer and with the help of their families in most of the cases. Two forms were detected to market fluid milk: 1) Selling it to local cheese producers and 2) Selling it to Nestlé gatherer. It is concluded that tropical dairy in these premises fulfills different functions: a) sources of self-employment and incomes, b) provision of raw materials to the dairy agro-industry, c) generation of extra incomes from selling calves at weaning, d) use of by-products of agriculture and agribusiness in the region and e) development of roots and pride of being a farmer in the zone.Bovine, milk, production, marketing, double purpose cattle raising., Agribusiness,

Diversity of Phytophthora Species Associated with Quercus ilex L. in Three Spanish Regions Evaluated by NGS

[EN] The diversity of Phytophthora species in declining Fagaceae forests in Europe is increasing in the last years. The genus Quercus is one of the most extended Fagaceae genera in Europe, and Q. ilex is the dominant tree in Spain. The introduction of soil-borne pathogens, such as Phytophthora in Fagaceae forests modifies the microbial community present in the rhizosphere, and has relevant environmental and economic consequences. A better understanding of the diversity of Phytophthora spp. associated with Q. ilex is proposed in this study by using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in six Q. ilex stands located in three regions in Spain. Thirty-seven Phytophthora phylotypes belonging to clades 1 to 12, except for clades 4, 5 and 11, are detected in this study, which represents a high diversity of Phytophthora species in holm oak Spanish forests. Phytophthora chlamydospora, P. citrophthora, P. gonapodyides, P. lacustris, P. meadii, P. plurivora, P. pseudocryptogea, P. psychrophila and P. quercina were present in the three regions. Seven phylotypes could not be associated with known Phytophthora species, so they were putatively named as Phytophthora sp. Most of the detected phylotypes corresponded to terrestrial Phytophthora species but aquatic species from clades 6 and 9 were also present in all regions.We would like to thank M. Leon from the Instituto Agroforestal Mediterraneo-UPV (Spain) for its technical assistance. This research was supported by funding from the project AGL2011-30438-C02-01 (Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spain) and Euphresco [Instituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Agroalimentaria (EUPHESCO-CEP: "Current and Emerging Phytophthoras: Research Supporting Risk Assesssment and Risk Management")].Mora-Sala, B.; Gramaje Pérez, D.; Abad Campos, P.; Berbegal Martinez, M. (2019). Diversity of Phytophthora Species Associated with Quercus ilex L. in Three Spanish Regions Evaluated by NGS. Forests. 10(11):1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/f10110979S1161011Mideros, M. F., Turissini, D. A., Guayazán, N., Ibarra-Avila, H., Danies, G., Cárdenas, M., … Restrepo, S. (2018). Phytophthora betacei, a new species within Phytophthora clade 1c causing late blight on Solanum betaceum in Colombia. Persoonia - Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi, 41(1), 39-55. doi:10.3767/persoonia.2018.41.03Tremblay, É. D., Duceppe, M.-O., Bérubé, J. A., Kimoto, T., Lemieux, C., & Bilodeau, G. J. (2018). Screening for Exotic Forest Pathogens to Increase Survey Capacity Using Metagenomics. Phytopathology®, 108(12), 1509-1521. doi:10.1094/phyto-02-18-0028-rBrasier, C. M. (1992). Oak tree mortality in Iberia. Nature, 360(6404), 539-539. doi:10.1038/360539a0Jung, T., Blaschke, H., & Neumann, P. (1996). 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Environmental constraints including climate change. Annales des Sciences Forestières, 53(2-3), 347-358. doi:10.1051/forest:19960217Jung, T., Orlikowski, L., Henricot, B., Abad-Campos, P., Aday, A. G., Aguín Casal, O., … Chavarriaga, D. (2015). WidespreadPhytophthorainfestations in European nurseries put forest, semi-natural and horticultural ecosystems at high risk of Phytophthora diseases. Forest Pathology, 46(2), 134-163. doi:10.1111/efp.12239Vannini, A., Bruni, N., Tomassini, A., Franceschini, S., & Vettraino, A. M. (2013). Pyrosequencing of environmental soil samples reveals biodiversity of thePhytophthoraresident community in chestnut forests. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 85(3), 433-442. doi:10.1111/1574-6941.12132Jankowiak, R., Stępniewska, H., Bilański, P., & Kolařík, M. (2014). Occurrence of Phytophthora plurivora and other Phytophthora species in oak forests of southern Poland and their association with site conditions and the health status of trees. 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Bioinformatics and Biology Insights, 9, BBI.S12462. doi:10.4137/bbi.s12462Vettraino, A. M., Bonants, P., Tomassini, A., Bruni, N., & Vannini, A. (2012). Pyrosequencing as a tool for the detection ofPhytophthoraspecies: error rate and risk of false Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 55(5), 390-396. doi:10.1111/j.1472-765x.2012.03310.xCatalà, S., Berbegal, M., Pérez-Sierra, A., & Abad-Campos, P. (2016). Metabarcoding and development of new real-time specific assays revealPhytophthoraspecies diversity in holm oak forests in eastern Spain. Plant Pathology, 66(1), 115-123. doi:10.1111/ppa.12541Prigigallo, M. I., Abdelfattah, A., Cacciola, S. O., Faedda, R., Sanzani, S. M., Cooke, D. E. L., & Schena, L. (2016). Metabarcoding Analysis of Phytophthora Diversity Using Genus-Specific Primers and 454 Pyrosequencing. Phytopathology®, 106(3), 305-313. doi:10.1094/phyto-07-15-0167-rScibetta, S., Schena, L., Chimento, A., Cacciola, S. O., & Cooke, D. E. L. (2012). A molecular method to assess Phytophthora diversity in environmental samples. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 88(3), 356-368. doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2011.12.012Burgess, T. I., McDougall, K. L., Scott, P. M., Hardy, G. E. S., & Garnas, J. (2018). Predictors of Phytophthora diversity and community composition in natural areas across diverse Australian ecoregions. Ecography, 42(3), 565-577. doi:10.1111/ecog.03904Mora-Sala, B., Berbegal, M., & Abad-Campos, P. (2018). The Use of qPCR Reveals a High Frequency of Phytophthora quercina in Two Spanish Holm Oak Areas. Forests, 9(11), 697. doi:10.3390/f9110697Altschul, S. (1997). Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs. Nucleic Acids Research, 25(17), 3389-3402. doi:10.1093/nar/25.17.3389Park, J., Park, B., Veeraraghavan, N., Jung, K., Lee, Y.-H., Blair, J. E., … Kang, S. (2008). Phytophthora Database: A Forensic Database Supporting the Identification and Monitoring of Phytophthora. 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Conversión del sistema de alimentación de un vehículo para su funcionamiento con GLP

Conversión del sistema de alimentación de un vehículo para su funcionamiento con GL

Mannanase hydrolysis of spruce galactoglucomannan focusing on the influence of acetylation on enzymatic mannan degradation

Background: Galactoglucomannan (GGM) is the most abundant hemicellulose in softwood, and consists of a backbone of mannose and glucose units, decorated with galactose and acetyl moieties. GGM can be hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars, or used as a polymer in films, gels, and food additives. Endo-β-mannanases, which can be found in the glycoside hydrolase families 5 and 26, specifically cleave the mannan backbone of GGM into shorter oligosaccharides. Information on the activity and specificity of different mannanases on complex and acetylated substrates is still lacking. The aim of this work was to evaluate and compare the modes of action of two mannanases from Cellvibrio japonicus (CjMan5A and CjMan26A) on a variety of mannan substrates, naturally and chemically acetylated to varying degrees, including naturally acetylated spruce GGM. Both enzymes were evaluated in terms of cleavage patterns and their ability to accommodate acetyl substitutions. Results: CjMan5A and CjMan26A demonstrated different substrate preferences on mannan substrates with distinct backbone and decoration structures. CjMan5A action resulted in higher amounts of mannotriose and mannotetraose than that of CjMan26A, which mainly generated mannose and mannobiose as end products. Mass spectrometric analysis of products from the enzymatic hydrolysis of spruce GGM revealed that an acetylated hexotriose was the shortest acetylated oligosaccharide produced by CjMan5A, whereas CjMan26A generated acetylated hexobiose as well as diacetylated oligosaccharides. A low degree of native acetylation did not significantly inhibit the enzymatic action. However, a high degree of chemical acetylation resulted in decreased hydrolyzability of mannan substrates, where reduced substrate solubility seemed to reduce enzyme activity. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that the two mannanases from C. japonicus have different cleavage patterns on linear and decorated mannan polysaccharides, including the abundant and industrially important resource spruce GGM. CjMan26A released higher amounts of fermentable sugars suitable for biofuel production, while CjMan5A, producing higher amounts of oligosaccharides, could be a good candidate for the production of oligomeric platform chemicals and food additives. Furthermore, chemical acetylation of mannan polymers was found to be a potential strategy for limiting the biodegradation of mannan-containing materials.This work was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation through the Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC), which is gratefully acknowledged. FV and AMA also thank the Swedish Research Council (Project 621-2014-5295 to FV) for the financial support

Invernadero hidropónico automatizado

En este trabajo se desarrolla la creación e implementación de un invernadero, así como su automatización y monitorización vía radio en tiempo real. Para ello, se ha llevado el estudio de sus diferentes partes, tanto a nivel mecánico, electrónico como informático. En cuanto a su estructura se han analizado diversos tipos de invernaderos y se ha elegido el más óptimo, a dos aguas, y se ha calculado dicha estructura con CYPE. Para su automatización, se han elegido diversos sensores y actuadores que permitan controlar las condiciones dentro del invernadero de modo que no se ponga en peligro nuestro cultivo, todo ello usando un microcontrolador Arduino. Y para su monitorización, se han transmitido todos los datos capturados por nuestro microcontrolador a LabView, con el fin de mostrarlos de una manera gráfica, todo ello vía radio y vía web. A su vez, se ha llevado a cabo la construcción de un prototipo con el fin de comprobar el correcto funcionamiento del proyecto

Superabsorbent food packaging bioactive cellulose-based aerogels from Arundo donax waste biomass

A. donax waste biomass has been valorized for the extraction of cellulosic fractions with different purification degrees, as well as aqueous bioactive extracts, which were then combined to develop superabsorbent bioactive aerogels. All the developed aerogels presented excellent water and oil sorption capacities; however, the presence of hemicelluloses yielded more porous and hydrophilic aerogels, capable of absorbing more water. With regards to the aqueous extracts, the hot water treatment (HW) of A. donax stems promoted the extraction of polysaccharides and polyphenols, producing the extract (S-HW) with the highest antioxidant capacity. This extract was then incorporated into the aerogels produced from the less purified stem fractions (F2A and F3A), which were chosen due to their good water sorption capacity, higher antioxidant potential and lower production costs and environmental impact. The hybrid aerogels showed a great potential to be used as bioactive pads for food packaging. In particular, the F2A + S-HW aerogel would be the most optimum choice since it provides a complete release of the extract in hydrophilic media, as demonstrated by in-vitro release and β-carotene bleaching inhibition studies, and it is able to reduce the colour loss and lipid oxidation in red meat upon refrigerated storage to a greater extent.Marta Martinez-Sanz is recipient of a Juan de la Cierva (IJCI-2015-23389) contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. Cynthia Fontes-Candia is recipient of a pre-doctoral grant from CONACYT (MEX/Ref. 306680)

Evaluation of the Variables that Influence Mercury Capture in Solid Sorbents

Newly obtained results on mercury retention in fly ashes and activated carbons during coal combustion are compared with previous findings. The influence of different variables on mercury capture, including the composition and nature of the sorbents, the composition of the flue gas and the mercury species in gas phase is investigated. Coal-fired utility boilers are currently the largest single-known source of mercury emissions. According to the USEPA’s Information Collection Request (ICR), on average, only 40% of the mercury entering a coal-fired power plant is captured, while 60% is emitted into the atmosphere. Several solid materials, including activated carbons, are considered to be effective sorbents for Hg control in flue gases from coal combustion. However, more economical alternatives to retain mercury such as the optimization of conditions for improving mercury capture in fly ashes in the installation also need to be studied. In this work, the mercury retention capacity of different fly ashes was compared with retention by commercial activated carbons in different experimental conditions. As might be expected, the results obtained indicate that the quantity of mercury captured depends on the characteristics of the fly ashes and on the mode of occurrence of mercury in gas phase. The retention of elemental mercury in the fly ashes, unlike activate carbons, was greatly influenced by the gas composition. Although the efficiency of the mercury retention was higher in activated carbons than in fly ashes, some activated carbon showed a lower retention capacity for elemental mercury than some fly ashes in the simulated flue gas

Dynamics and heterogeneity of brain damage in multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease driving inflammatory and degenerative processes that damage the central nervous system (CNS). However, it is not well understood how these events interact and evolve to evoke such a highly dynamic and heterogeneous disease. We established a hypothesis whereby the variability in the course of MS is driven by the very same pathogenic mechanisms responsible for the disease, the autoimmune attack on the CNS that leads to chronic inflammation, neuroaxonal degeneration and remyelination. We propose that each of these processes acts more or less severely and at different times in each of the clinical subgroups. To test this hypothesis, we developed a mathematical model that was constrained by experimental data (the expanded disability status scale [EDSS] time series) obtained from a retrospective longitudinal cohort of 66 MS patients with a long-term follow-up (up to 20 years). Moreover, we validated this model in a second prospective cohort of 120 MS patients with a three-year follow-up, for which EDSS data and brain volume time series were available. The clinical heterogeneity in the datasets was reduced by grouping the EDSS time series using an unsupervised clustering analysis. We found that by adjusting certain parameters, albeit within their biological range, the mathematical model reproduced the different disease courses, supporting the dynamic CNS damage hypothesis to explain MS heterogeneity. Our analysis suggests that the irreversible axon degeneration produced in the early stages of progressive MS is mainly due to the higher rate of myelinated axon degeneration, coupled to the lower capacity for remyelination. However, and in agreement with recent pathological studies, degeneration of chronically demyelinated axons is not a key feature that distinguishes this phenotype. Moreover, the model reveals that lower rates of axon degeneration and more rapid remyelination make relapsing MS more resilient than the progressive subtype. Therefore, our results support the hypothesis of a common pathogenesis for the different MS subtypes, even in the presence of genetic and environmental heterogeneity. Hence, MS can be considered as a single disease in which specific dynamics can provoke a variety of clinical outcomes in different patient groups. These results have important implications for the design of therapeutic interventions for MS at different stages of the disease