Inspección de frutas y hortalizas mediante videocámara, estado actual de la técnica (II)

En los últimos años hemos asistido a cambios notables en el ámbito de la inspección automatizada de frutas y hortalizas. En este artículo repasamos algunos conceptos y avances en relación con la clasificación de productos hortofrutícolas mediante videocámara. Hace una década la detección de defectos externos no estaba conseguida, mientras que sí lo estaba la clasificación por tamaño y color. Actualmente podemos decir que la clasificación en base a defectos externos funciona bien: los equipos comerciales son capaces de detectar dichos defectos, separando los frutos de la máxima calidad comercial de aquellos de calidad inferior. El problema tradicional de la confusión del cáliz o el pedúnculo del fruto con un defecto se puede considerar superado. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los equipos actualmente instalados en las centrales hortofrutícolas no son capaces de discernir el tipo de defecto. Conseguir esto sería interesante, ya que permitiría conocer qué defectos son los más frecuentes, y se podría actuar de cara a la campaña siguiente en relación con el manejo del cultivo o del producto en postcosecha. Recientemente se han desarrollado sistemas de clasificación mediante videocámara capaces de discernir el tipo de defecto y de identificar podredumbre

Beneficial effects of karate on the proprioception and coordination of young people with Down syndrome: a two-year follow up

Resumen Objetivos: establecer el impacto de las artes marciales en el desarrollo de habilidades motoras, específicamente sobre la propiocepción, en jóvenes afectados por síndrome de Down. Diseño: en este estudio participan 7 adolescentes en los que se evalúa secuencialmente el control postural antes, durante y después de 2 años de entrenamiento de karate. Se adaptaron tres pruebas (prueba de sentadillas, del flamenco y de velocidad del movimiento del brazo) para realizar un análisis de la propiocepción. Resultados: concluimos que la incorporación del karate en la rutina deportiva de jóvenes afectados por síndrome de Down conlleva una mejora en su equilibrio y coordinación general

Water harvesting for young trees using Peltier modules powered by photovoltaic solar energy

Young trees transplanted from nursery into open field require a minimum amount of soil moisture to successfully root in their new location, especially in dry-climate areas. One possibility is to obtain the required water from air moisture. This can be achieved by reducing the temperature of a surface below the air dew point temperature, inducing water vapor condensation on the surface. The temperature of a surface can be reduced by applying the thermoelectric effect, with Peltier modules powered by electricity. Here, we present a system that generates electricity with a solar photovoltaic module, stores it in a battery, and finally, uses the electricity at the moment in which air humidity and temperature are optimal to maximize water condensation while minimizing energy consumption. Also, a method to reduce the evaporation of the condensed water is proposed. The objective of the system is to sustain young plants in drier periods, rather than exclusively irrigating young plants to boost their growth

Resistencia bacteriana a los antibióticos: mecanismos de transferencia

Antimicrobial resistance bacteria have drawn the interest of researches because their adaptive ability has hampered treatment and therefore, the eradication of diseases that stem from their pathogenic action. This was observed soon after the successful beginning of pharmacological therapy around the world that later proved to be inefficient. This is currently a challenge for science. Continuing study of antimicrobial resistance has made it possible to understand how bacteria can overcome therapeutic strategy by means of genetic transference. Diverse mechanisms have been identified for transferring resistance between bacterium of the same species and different species through exchanges of genes that imply the participation of elements such as plasmids, sequence insertion, integrons, transposons and bacteriophages. These permit gene recombination, where genetic elements with two different origins come together in one unit, through such mechanisms as transformation, transduction and conjugation. This review discusses the three transfer mechanisms mentioned above and the participation of genetic exchange elements for the transfer of bacterial resistance to antibiotics with the aim of facilitating understanding of the processes of defense of these microorganisms that directly or indirectly affect animal and human health.La resistencia a los antimicrobianos que han desarrollado las bacterias despertó el interés de los investigadores, ya que esta habilidad adaptativa dificulta el tratamiento y, por ende, la erradicación de enfermedades que se derivan de su acción patógena. Este hecho se comprobó poco tiempo después del inicio exitoso y luego ineficiente de la terapéutica farmacológica en el mundo, situación que actualmente demuestra ser un reto para la ciencia. El continuo estudio sobre este fenómeno ha permitido entender cómo las bacterias pueden superar la estrategia terapéutica mediante intercambio genético. Se han identificado diversos mecanismos para transferir la resistencia entre bacterias de la misma especie y a especies diferentes, gracias al intercambio de genes, que implica la participación de elementos tales como los plásmidos, las secuencias de inserción, los integrones, los transposones y los bacteriófagos, los cuales permiten la recombinación genética, de tal forma que elementos genéticos de dos orígenes diferentes se reúnan en una sola unidad, a través de tres mecanismos: la transformación, la transducción y la conjugación. El presente artículo de revisión aborda los tres mecanismos mencionados y la participación de los elementos de intercambio genético para la transferencia de la resistencia bacteriana a los antibióticos, con el fin de facilitar la comprensión de los procesos de defensa de estos microorganismos que afectan directa o indirectamente la salud de los animales y de las personas. &nbsp

Arsenic distribution in a pasture area impacted by past mining activities

[EN]Former mine exploitations entail a serious threat to surrounding ecosystems as after closure of mining activities their unmanaged wastes can be a continuous source of toxic trace elements. Quite often these mine sites are found within agricultural farming areas, involving serious hazards as regards product (feed/food) quality. In this work a grazing land impacted by the abandoned mine exploitation of an arsenical deposit was studied so as to evaluate the fate of arsenic (As) and other trace elements and the potential risks involved. With this aim, profile soil samples (0–50 cm) and pasture plant species (Agrostis truncatula, Holcus annus and Leontodon longirostris) were collected at different distances (0–100 m) from the mine waste dump and analyzed for their trace element content and distribution. Likewise, plant trace element accumulation from impacted grazing soils and plant trace element translocation were assessed. The exposure of livestock grazing animals to As was also evaluated, establishing its acceptability regarding food safety and animal health. International soil guideline values for As in grazing land soils (50 mg kg−1) resulted greatly exceeded (up to about 20-fold) in the studied mining-affected soils. Moreover, As showed a high mobilization potential under circumstances such as phosphate application or establishment of reducing conditions. Arsenic exhibited relatively high translocation factor (TF) values (up to 0.32–0.89) in pasture plant species, reaching unsafe concentrations in their above-ground tissues (up to 32.9, 16.9 and 9.0 mg kg−1 in Agrostis truncatula, Leontodon longirostris and Holcus annus, respectively). Such concentrations represent an elevated risk of As transfer to the high trophic-chain levels as established by international legislation. The limited fraction of arsenite found in plant roots should play an important role in the relatively high As root-to-shoot translocation shown by these plant species. Both soil ingestion and pasture intake resulted important entrance pathways of As into livestock animals, showing quite close contribution levels. The cow acceptable daily intake (ADI) of As regarding food safety was surpassed in some locations of the study area when the species Agrostis truncatula was considered as the only pasture feed. Restrictions in the grazing use of lands with considerable As contents where this plant was the predominant pasture species should be established in order to preserve food quality. Therefore, the exposure of livestock animals to As via both soil ingestion and pasture consumption should be taken into account to establish the suitability of mining-impacted areas for gazing

Batimetría multihaz del noreste de Gran Canaria (Islas Canarias)

The ZEE99 oceanographic cruise was carrided out aboard B.I.O. Hespérides by the Instituto Español de Oceanografía and the Instituto Hidrográfico de la Marina, and was located in Canary Islands. In order to study the bathymetry o f the Gran Canaria northeast ocean floor; a Simrad EMI 2 multi beam echosounder was used. These data allow us to produce a detailed bathymetric map and make it possible to infer the caracteristics and geologic processes that led to a major development in the investigation o f submarine geomorphology around the Canary Islands

Transmisión eficiente en modo multicast en redes HomePlug-AV

With the appearance of P2P networks and the rapid progress in the technologies used to set up in-home networks, these will have an important part to play in the Future Internet and the so-called Information Society. Among the different technologies that could be used to set up an in-home network, PLC (Power-line Communications) technology is the one that is eliciting most interest in the industry and the scientific community. However the leader standard in this technology (Homeplug AV) imposes major limitations when it comes to multicast transmissions. Multicast communications are extremely useful in applications which are especially popular in in-home networks so this paper proposes a new method for implementing multicast transmissions in HPAV networks

Association between GNRHR, LHR and IGF1 polymorphisms and timing of puberty in male Angus cattle

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In bovines, there are significant differences within and among beef breeds in the time when bulls reach puberty. Although the timing of puberty is likely to be a multigenic trait, previous studies indicate that there may also be single genes that exert major effects on the timing of puberty within the general population. Despite its economic importance, there are not many SNPs or genetic markers associated with the age of puberty in male cattle. In the present work, we selected three candidate genes, <it>GNRHR</it>, <it>LHR </it>and <it>IGF1</it>, and associated their polymorphisms with the age of puberty in Angus male cattle.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After weaning, 276 Angus males were measured every month for weight (W), scrotal circumference (SC), sperm concentration (C) and percentage of motility (M). A total of 4 SNPs, two within <it>GNRHR</it>, one in <it>LHR </it>and one in <it>IGF1 </it>were genotyped using the pyrosequencing technique. <it>IGF1-SnaBI SNP </it>was significant associated (P < 0.01) with age at SC 28 cm, but it were not associated with age at M 10% and C 50 million. Genotype <it>CC </it>exhibited an average age at SC 28 cm of 7 and 11 days higher than <it>CT </it>(p = 0.037) and <it>TT </it>(p = 0.012), respectively. This SNP explained 1.5% of the genetic variance of age of puberty at SC28. <it>LHR-I499L</it>, <it>GNRHR-SNP5 </it>and <it>GNRHR-SNP6 </it>were not associated with any of the measurements. However, <it>GNRHR </it>haplotypes showed a suggestive association with age at SC 28 cm.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings presented here could support the hypothesis that <it>IGF1 </it>is a regulator of the arrival to puberty in male calves and is involved in the events that precede and initiate puberty in bull calves. Given that most studies in cattle, as well as in other mammals, were done in female, the present results are the first evidence of markers associated with age at puberty in male cattle.</p

Determination of the background neutral density from passive Balmer alpha CX emission at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

EUROfusion Consortium 63305

Gz mediates the long-lasting desensitization of brain CB1 receptors and is essential for cross-tolerance with morphine

Abstract Background Although the systemic administration of cannabinoids produces antinociception, their chronic use leads to analgesic tolerance as well as cross-tolerance to morphine. These effects are mediated by cannabinoids binding to peripheral, spinal and supraspinal CB1 and CB2 receptors, making it difficult to determine the relevance of each receptor type to these phenomena. However, in the brain, the CB1 receptors (CB1Rs) are expressed at high levels in neurons, whereas the expression of CB2Rs is marginal. Thus, CB1Rs mediate the effects of smoked cannabis and are also implicated in emotional behaviors. We have analyzed the production of supraspinal analgesia and the development of tolerance at CB1Rs by the direct injection of a series of cannabinoids into the brain. The influence of the activation of CB1Rs on supraspinal analgesia evoked by morphine was also evaluated. Results Intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of cannabinoid receptor agonists, WIN55,212-2, ACEA or methanandamide, generated a dose-dependent analgesia. Notably, a single administration of these compounds brought about profound analgesic tolerance that lasted for more than 14 days. This decrease in the effect of cannabinoid receptor agonists was not mediated by depletion of CB1Rs or the loss of regulated G proteins, but, nevertheless, it was accompanied by reduced morphine analgesia. On the other hand, acute morphine administration produced tolerance that lasted only 3 days and did not affect the CB1R. We found that both neural mu-opioid receptors (MORs) and CB1Rs interact with the HINT1-RGSZ module, thereby regulating pertussis toxin-insensitive Gz proteins. In mice with reduced levels of these Gz proteins, the CB1R agonists produced no such desensitization or morphine cross-tolerance. On the other hand, experimental enhancement of Gz signaling enabled an acute icv administration of morphine to produce a long-lasting tolerance at MORs that persisted for more than 2 weeks, and it also impaired the analgesic effects of cannabinoids. Conclusion In the brain, cannabinoids can produce analgesic tolerance that is not associated with the loss of surface CB1Rs or their uncoupling from regulated transduction. Neural specific Gz proteins are essential mediators of the analgesic effects of supraspinal CB1R agonists and morphine. These Gz proteins are also responsible for the long-term analgesic tolerance produced by single doses of these agonists, as well as for the cross-tolerance between CB1Rs and MORs.</p