The Discovery of New Export Products in Ecuador

This paper examines export diversification in Ecuador in the cases of fresh cut flowers, canned tuna, palm heart, broccoli and mangoes, using the theoretical framework on “pioneers” and “discoveries” developed by Hausmann and Rodrik(2003), as well as work by Sánchez and Butler (2006) on export costs and related uncertainties. It is found that the discoveries were mainly of traditional competitive advantage, with various degrees of technology adoption. The following policy implications are derived: i) innovative mechanisms to share the costs of new discoveries must be found and intellectual property rights strengthened; ii) cooperation among industry experts needs to improve; iii) deeper collective action to promote public-private partnerships should be undertaken; iv) relevant information and knowledge should be made available to all interested parties; and v) a national-level agenda should be undertaken to increase private investment in promising sectors while promoting the creation of public goods and minimizing rent-seeking behavior.Export diversification, Ecuador

Production of ent-kaurene from lignocellulosic hydrolysate in Rhodosporidium toruloides.

BACKGROUND:Rhodosporidium toruloides has emerged as a promising host for the production of bioproducts from lignocellulose, in part due to its ability to grow on lignocellulosic feedstocks, tolerate growth inhibitors, and co-utilize sugars and lignin-derived monomers. Ent-kaurene derivatives have a diverse range of potential applications from therapeutics to novel resin-based materials. RESULTS:The Design, Build, Test, and Learn (DBTL) approach was employed to engineer production of the non-native diterpene ent-kaurene in R. toruloides. Following expression of kaurene synthase (KS) in R. toruloides in the first DBTL cycle, a key limitation appeared to be the availability of the diterpene precursor, geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP). Further DBTL cycles were carried out to select an optimal GGPP synthase and to balance its expression with KS, requiring two of the strongest promoters in R. toruloides, ANT (adenine nucleotide translocase) and TEF1 (translational elongation factor 1) to drive expression of the KS from Gibberella fujikuroi and a mutant version of an FPP synthase from Gallus gallus that produces GGPP. Scale-up of cultivation in a 2 L bioreactor using a corn stover hydrolysate resulted in an ent-kaurene titer of 1.4 g/L. CONCLUSION:This study builds upon previous work demonstrating the potential of R. toruloides as a robust and versatile host for the production of both mono- and sesquiterpenes, and is the first demonstration of the production of a non-native diterpene in this organism

COMPARISON OF TWO PREPARATION PROCEDURES (HARROWING VS. ROLLING) APPLIED TO AN EQUESTRIAN SPORT ARENA: EFFECTS ON THE DYNAMIC VARIABLES IN 3 HORSES LANDING AFTER A JUMP

The purpose of this study was to compare the dynamic variables recorded on 3 horses landing after a jump on an arena surface (sand & fibre mix) after application of two classical preparation procedures: harrowing and rolling. Each horse, equipped with a dynamometric horseshoe and an accelerometer on its right forehoof, performed 6 jumps alternatively on each prepared surface, landing alternatively at right and left lead. The maximal vertical deceleration and the energy of vibrations (>50Hz) at impact significantly decreased with harrowing, on both limbs. The braking force and braking loading rate were greater on the rolled surface but only in the leading limb. The vertical loading rate and, in the leading limb only, the maximal vertical force, were significantly larger on the rolled surface, which suggests that preparation affected the surface deeper than expected

Large-scale gene discovery in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera)

Aphids are the leading pests in agricultural crops. A large-scale sequencing of 40,904 ESTs from the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was carried out to define a catalog of 12,082 unique transcripts. A strong AT bias was found, indicating a compositional shift between Drosophila melanogaster and A. pisum. An in silico profiling analysis characterized 135 transcripts specific to pea-aphid tissues (relating to bacteriocytes and parthenogenetic embryos). This project is the first to address the genetics of the Hemiptera and of a hemimetabolous insect.Beatriz Sabater-Muñoz... et al

Morphological, genotypic and metabolomic signatures confirm interfamilial hybridization between the ubiquitous kelps Macrocystis (Arthrothamnaceae) and Lessonia (Lessoniaceae)

We thank the support from G. Millne (UoA), M. Rateb (UoA) and D. Zagal (UACh) in the histological preparations, mass spectrometry set-up and the cultivation of the hybrid progeny, respectively. PM and LM developed part of this work with BecasChile (Fondecyt) funding, specifically grants No. 72130422 (PM) and No. 73140389 (LM). We would like to acknowledge the British Council Newton Fund Institutional Links, project No. 261781172 for funding SS a postdoctoral research fellow. We are also grateful to the UK Natural Environment Research Council for their support to FCK (program Oceans 2025–WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/ J023094/1). This work also received support from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. RW thanks financial support from Gobierno Regional de Los Lagos (grants FIC 2012 E7259-2 and FIC 2013 BIP30234872-0) and Fondef, Conicyt (HUAM AQ12I0010), which allows the sampling expeditions at Chiloe Island by PM, LM, DJP.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Outflow Legacy Accretion Survey: unveiling the wind driving mechanism in BHXRBs

Transient black-hole X-ray binaries viewed at high inclinations display blue-shifted absorption lines in their X-ray spectra. These features are the signatures of powerful, hot and equatorial accretion disk winds being driven from these systems in their luminous soft states. Remarkably, blue-shifted absorption lines have recently also been discovered in optical and NIR recombination lines and ultraviolet resonance features. These features must also be produced in an outflow, but the physical conditions traced by these outflows are different. Despite this, the characteristic Doppler velocities of all three types of signatures are comparable, yet they have never been observed simultaneously. It is therefore completely unclear if they are associated with distinct outflows (e.g. driven by different mechanisms) or simply with different regions/phases within the same outflow. Here, we propose to answer this question by carrying out simultaneous time-resolved spectroscopy of a high-inclination system in the X-ray, ultraviolet and optical bands, in its two distinct physical configurations (hard- and soft-states). This will allow us to test if the three types of wind features are present simultaneously, and, if so, whether they display correlated variability and/or velocity structure

Standardization of in vitro digestibility and DIAAS method based on the static INFOGEST protocol

Background: The FAO recommends the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) as the measure for protein quality, for which the true ileal digestibility needs to be assessed in humans or pigs. However, due to high costs and ethical concerns, the FAO strongly encourages as well the development of validated in vitro methods, which complement the in vivo experiments. Method: Recently, an in vitro workflow, based on the validated static INFOGEST protocol, was developed and compared towards in vivo data. In parallel to the validation with in vivo data, the repeatability and reproducibility of the in vitro protocol were tested in an international ring trial (RT) with the aim to establish an international ISO standard method within the International Dairy Federation (IDF). Five different dairy products (skim milk powder, whole milk powder, whey protein isolate, yoghurt, and cheese) were analyzed in 32 different laboratories from 18 different countries, across 4 continents. Results: in vitro protein digestibilities based on Nitrogen, free R-NH2, and total amino acids as well as DIAAS values were calculated and compared to in vivo data, where available. Conclusion: The in vitro method is suited for quantification of digestibility and will be further implemented to other food matricesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio