Characterization of the biochemical and nutritional content in simple white grain maize (Zea mays L.) crosses

Our research focused on the characterization of the nutritional and biochemical content of 25 genotypes: 5 S4 inbred lines and the 20 possible single crosses formed between them, due to the lack of knowledge about the nutritional composition and its variation within the germplasm of the white corn breeding program. In kernels of each genotype we determined the content of oil, starch, protein, ash and phytic acid. Results showed that for the parents and the crosses, correspondingly, the intervals of the substances under study were: a) Oil: from 5.99 to 3.84 and 6.40 to 3.55 g ? 100 g-1, b) Protein:  from 8.26 to 5.43 and 9.83 to 5.56 g ? 100 g-1, c) Starch: from 88.25 to 74.48 and 96.64 to 72.57 g ? 100 g-1, d) Ash: from 1.90 to 1.20 and 2.0 to 0.89 g ? 100 g-1, e) Phytic acid: from 2.40 to 1.08 and 2.29 to 1.11 g ? 100 g-1. We observed that in comparison to the parents, the crosses only were significantly superior in the content of starch; although, within each group there were statistical differences of the contents. The crosses that showed higher contents for a nutritional component were those in which at least one parent had a high composition of the nutrient. The variation in the nutritional and biochemical content showed that there is diversity among genotypes, which is linked to the contrasting genetic origin of the inbred lines and is feasible to be used. This research showed the potential of taking advantage of the nutritional components of white corn through crosses (specially its starch content).E Objective: To characterize the nutritional and biochemical content of 25 genotypes: 5 S4 inbred lines and the 20 possible single crosses formed between them. Design/Methodology/Approach: The content of oil, starch, protein, ash and phytic acid was determined in kernels of each genotype, using the American Association of Cereal Chemists’ methods; the information obtained was analyzed by a complete randomized experimental design and Tukey’s means tests. Results: For the parents and the crosses, correspondingly, the intervals of the substances under study were: a) Oil: from 5.99 to 3.84 and 6.40 to 3.55 g ∙ 100 g-1, b) Protein:  from 8.26 to 5.43 and 9.83 to 5.56 g ∙ 100 g-1, c) Starch: from 88.25 to 74.48 and 96.64 to 72.57 g ∙ 100 g-1, d) Ash: from 1.90 to 1.20 and 2.0 to 0.89 g ∙ 100 g-1, e) Phytic acid: from 2.40 to 1.08 and 2.29 to 1.11 g ∙ 100 g-1. Study Limitations/Implications: The study shows that in comparison to the parents, the crosses were only significantly superior in the content of starch, although there were statistical differences of the contents within each group. The crosses that showed higher contents for a nutritional component were those in which at least one parent had a high composition of the nutrient. Findings/Conclusions: The variation in the nutritional and biochemical content showed that there is diversity among genotypes, which is linked to the contrasting genetic origin of the inbred lines and is feasible to be used. This research showed the potential of taking advantage of the nutritional components of white maize through crosses (specially its starch content)

Genetic potential of S1 lines derived from native maize populations of Tamaulipas, Mexico

This study is designed to evaluate and select the best S1 maize top cross lines to continue their process of inbreeding. Nineteen top crosses samples were examined from three contrasting environments (two places from Tamaulipas and one place from the Central High Valleys of Mexico) during 2008. These S1 lines were derived from native populations of four ecological zones of Tamaulipas; one tester from the High Valleys was used. Some top crosses had high yield as well as favorable agronomic traits, though these varied between environments. Some had better performance in Northern Tamaulipas, mainly the tropical groups 1 and 2 that are from hot and dry climates. In the High Valleys these groups had lower yields compared with the top crosses groups 3 and 4. Group 1, the top cross of I-C3001-2915-2 with high yield in the Central and Northern Tamaulipas environments (2.4 and 5.8 t ha-1, respectively) was outstanding. In the High Valleys, the top crosses from group 3 (from the Tamaulipas Huasteca, a hot, and humid climate zone) had yields of 7.4 to 8.5 t ha-1 and from group 4, the top cross of IV-C4031-2939-5(C) yielded 8.8 t ha-1. The S1 lines being evaluated show potential for those top crosses with better grain yield and earliness, indicating good combining ability. It has been suggested that the S1 lines are better to continue the inbreeding process, planning test crosses and field assessments in the environments where they had better performance

Effect of universal MODS access on pulmonary tuberculosis treatment outcomes in new patients in Peru.

SETTING: Primary health care centres in Callao, Peru. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of universal access to the microscopic-observation drug susceptibility (MODS) assay on treatment outcomes in new and primary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients and on the process of drug susceptibility testing (DST). DESIGN: Retrospective review of tuberculosis (TB) registers and clinical records before (2007) and after (2009) the introduction of MODS in 2008. RESULTS: There were 281 patients in each cohort. Favourable treatment outcomes for 2007 (81%) and 2009 (77%) cohorts were similar. There was an increase in loss to follow-up (from 6% to 10%, P = 0.04) and a reduction in failure rates (from 4% to 0.4%, P = 0.01) in the 2009 compared with the 2007 cohort. In new MDR-TB cases (n = 22), a favourable treatment outcome was improved (from 46% to 82%, P = 0.183) in the 2009 cohort. DST coverage improved (from 24% to 74%, P < 0.001), and a significant reduction in time to diagnosis of drug-susceptible (from 118 to 33 days, P < 0.001) and MDR-TB (from 158 to 52 days, P =30.003) was observed in the 2009 cohort. CONCLUSION: Universal access to MODS increased DST coverage, reduced the time required to obtain DST results and was associated with reduced failure rates. MODS can make an important contribution to TB management and control in Peru

2D-cadmium MOF and gismondine-like zinc coordination network based on the N-(2-tetrazolethyl)-4′-glycine linker

We have designed and synthesized two new metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs) using the novel N-(2-tetrazolethyl)-4′-glycine spacer (TeGly)2−. These materials exhibit intense photoluminescence.This work was supported by the MEC of Spain (Project CTQ2011-24478) and the Junta de Andalucía (FQM-1484). D. F.-J. thanks the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society of Chemistry via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5NJ00011

Cuantificación de antioxidantes en plantas de tomate (Solanum lycopersicon L. Mill) enriquecida con selenio.

Con el propósito de analizar la capacidad del selenito de sodio para incrementar la concentración de Selenio y modificar la actividad antioxidante en plantas de tomate. Se aplicaron tres tratamientos de selenito de sodio utilizando como vehículo el agua de riego. Se llevaron a cabo tres muestreos 40, 80 y 120 días después del tras plante y cuantificaron la acumulación de selenio en frutos. Se obtuvo una cuantificación del potencial oxido reducción y de la actividad de antioxidante como la catalasa, glutatión peroxidasa, el ácido ascórbico y licopeno. Para cada variable se llevó a cabo un análisis de varianza. Los resultados mostraron un incremento en la acumulación de selenio, hasta un 53.1% con el tratamiento 5 mg L-1en comparación con el testigo. Los valores del potencial oxido-reducción se redujeron desde -41.4 mV para el testigo y hasta -68.0 mV con el mayor tratamiento. La concentración de Se influyó en los parámetros de calidad incluyendo el ácido ascórbico hasta un 50% de aumento y el licopeno (66.9%). La actividad de las enzimas antioxidantes aumentó notablemente en el fruto con el tratamiento 5 mg L-1de selenito encontrándose 60.9% de aumento para CAT, 33.4% para GPX y 26.0% para SOD

Aperture effects on the oxygen abundance determinations from CALIFA data

This paper aims at providing aperture corrections for emission lines in a sample of spiral galaxies from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area Survey (CALIFA) database. In particular, we explore the behavior of the log([OIII]5007/Hbeta)/([NII]6583/Halpha) (O3N2) and log[NII]6583/Halpha (N2) flux ratios since they are closely connected to different empirical calibrations of the oxygen abundances in star forming galaxies. We compute median growth curves of Halpha, Halpha/Hbeta, O3N2 and N2 up to 2.5R_50 and 1.5 disk R_eff. The growth curves simulate the effect of observing galaxies through apertures of varying radii. The median growth curve of the Halpha/Hbeta ratio monotonically decreases from the center towards larger radii, showing for small apertures a maximum value of ~10% larger than the integrated one. The median growth curve of N2 shows a similar behavior, decreasing from the center towards larger radii. No strong dependence is seen with the inclination, morphological type and stellar mass for these growth curves. Finally, the median growth curve of O3N2 increases monotonically with radius. However, at small radii it shows systematically higher values for galaxies of earlier morphological types and for high stellar mass galaxies. Applying our aperture corrections to a sample of galaxies from the SDSS survey at 0.02<=z<=0.3 shows that the average difference between fiber-based and aperture corrected oxygen abundances, for different galaxy stellar mass and redshift ranges, reaches typically to ~11%, depending on the abundance calibration used. This average difference is found to be systematically biased, though still within the typical uncertainties of oxygen abundances derived from empirical calibrations. Caution must be exercised when using observations of galaxies for small radii (e.g. below 0.5R_eff) given the high dispersion shown around the median growth curves.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Antioxidant activity, photosynthetic rate, and Spectral mass in bean Plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Response to Stress Defense Activators

An increase in antioxidant activity is a common response in plants as a defense mechanism against biotic and abiotic stress factors, such response is also generated with the exogenous application of "defense activators", which have negative effects on plant metabolism. In this work, bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cv. Pinto Nacional were treated with jasmonic acid (0.5 mM), salicylic acid (2 mM), Trichoderma asperellum (105 spores/ml), and Bacillus pumilus (105 CFU / mL), in order to determine the level of structural and metabolic response of the plants. On the seventh day after the application of the treatments, it was measured the enzymatic activity of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). In addition, leaf impressions were taken to measure the stomatal opening and conductance, photosynthetic rate, and the mass spectrum (mass/charge, m/z). The antioxidant activity increased in plants treated with jasmonic acid and T. asperellum, which in turn significantly increased the stomatal opening and conductance, and photosynthetic rate. The mass profile showed that the plants treated with T. asperellum have a greater quantity of masses/charge, of which some had statistically highly significant difference according to the means test Tukey (