Desarrollo del esquema nacional de mejora genética de la cabra murciano-granadina en la Comunidad Valenciana

La colaboración estrecha entre la Asociación de Ganaderos de Caprino de Raza Murciano-Granadina de la Comunidad Valenciana (AMURVAL) y el Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Animal del Istituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (CITA-IVIA) ha permitido el desarrollo en la Comunidad Valenciana del esquema nacional de mejora genética de la cabra Murciano-Granadina gestionado por el Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) e impulsado por la Asociación Española de Criadores de la Cabra Murciano Granadina (ACRIMUR). Dado que no se conocen las genealogías con mínima certeza, se han realizado evaluaciones intrarrebaño en los años 2003 y 2004 a partir de los datos del Control Lechero Oficial, enviando a los ganaderos información para la toma de decisiones sobre reposición y, lo que es más importante, sobre hembras candidatas a madres de machos para el Centro de Inseminación. La ordenación de la primera campaña de testaje de 6 machos ha permitido la conexión entre los rebaños de la Comunidad Valenciana, la incrustación de sus explotaciones en el esquema nacional, así como disponer de un número de al menos 80 cabras inseminadas por macho en testaje

Mejoras operativas en la valoración genética del ganado caprino lechero de raza murciano-granadina

Se compararon diferentes modelos para la evaluación de cabras lecheras para su uso en un programa de mejora genética establecido entre la Asociación de Ganaderos de Caprino de Raza Murciano-Granadina de la Comunidad Valenciana y el Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Animal del Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias. Se compararon en primer lugar dos modelos mixtos con diferente estructura de covarianzas. También se realizaron comparaciones entre modelos que incluyeron otros efectos sistemáticos: edad de la hembra en el momento del parto y días desde el parto hasta el primer control de la lactación. Se consideraron los caracteres estandarizados producción de leche y porcentajes de grasa y proteína. Las comparaciones se realizaron considerando criterios estadísticos de información. Los resultados indican que el modelo de repetibilidad es el más adecuado al tener en cuenta las covarianzas entre medidas de una cabra. La inclusión del efecto edad de la hembra al parto sólo fue ventajosa para el carácter producción de leche. La consideración del efecto tiempo desde el parto al primer control lechero fue positiva para los caracteres de producción de leche y de porcentaje de proteína. Ninguno de los efectos incluidos mejoró el modelo actualmente utilizado para porcentaje de grasa

Posturography using the Wii Balance Board. A feasibility study with healthy adults and adults post-stroke

[EN] Background: Posturography systems that incorporate force platforms are considered to assess balance and postural control with greater sensitivity and objectivity than conventional clinical tests. The Wii Balance Board (WBB) system has been shown to have similar performance characteristics as other force platforms, but with lower cost and size. Objectives: To determine the validity and reliability of a freely available WBB-based posturography system that combined the WBB with several traditional balance assessments, and to assess the performance of a cohort of stroke individuals with respect to healthy individuals. Methods: Healthy subjects and individuals with stroke were recruited. Both groups were assessed using the WBB-based posturography system. Individuals with stroke were also assessed using a laboratory grade posturography system and a battery of clinical tests to determine the concurrent validity of the system. A group of subjects were assessed twice with the WBB-based system to determine its reliability. Results: A total of 144 healthy individuals and 53 individuals with stroke participated in the study. Concurrent validity with another posturography system was moderate to high. Correlations with clinical scales were consistent with previous research. The reliability of the system was excellent in almost all measures. In addition, the system successfully characterized individuals with stroke with respect to the healthy population. Conclusions: The WBB-based posturography system exhibited excellent psychometric properties and sensitivity for identifying balance performance of individuals with stroke in comparison with healthy subjects, which supports feasibility of the system as a clinical tool. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This study was funded by project NeuroVR (TIN2013-44741-R) of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Madrid, Spain).Llorens Rodríguez, R.; Grau Latorre, J.; Noe, E.; Keshner, EA. (2015). Posturography using the Wii Balance Board. A feasibility study with healthy adults and adults post-stroke. Gait and Posture. 43:228-232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2015.10.002S2282324

Elucidating the real-time Ag nanoparticle growth on a-Ag2WO4 during electron beam irradiation: experimental evidence and theoretical insights

Why and how Ag is formed when electron beam irradiation takes place on α-Ag2WO4 in a vacuum transmission electron microscopy chamber? To find an answer, the atomic-scale mechanisms underlying the formation and growth of Ag on α-Ag2WO4 have been investigated by detailed in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) studies, density functional theory based calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The growth process at different times, chemical composition, size distribution and element distribution were analyzed in depth at the nanoscale level using FE-SEM, operated at different voltages (5, 10, 15, and 20 kV), and TEM with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) characterization. The size of Ag nanoparticles covers a wide range of values. Most of the Ag particles are in the 20–40 nm range. The nucleation and formation of Ag on α-Ag2WO4 is a result of structural and electronic changes in the AgOx (x = 2,4, 6, and 7) clusters used as constituent building blocks of this material, consistent with metallic Ag formation. First principle calculations point out that Ag-3 and Ag-4-fold coordinated centers, located in the sub-surface of the (100) surface, are the most energetically favorable to undergo the diffusion process to form metallic Ag. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and the nudged elastic band (NEB) method were used to investigate the minimum energy pathways of these Ag atoms from positions in the first slab layer to outward sites on the (100) surface of α-Ag2WO4. The results point out that the injection of electrons decreases the activation barrier for this diffusion step and this unusual behavior results from the presence of a lower energy barrier process.Generalitat-Valenciana: Prometeo/2009/053 Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Spain): CTQ2012-36253-C03-02 Spanish Brazilian program: PHB2009-0065-PC FAPESP : 2013/07296-2, 2012/14468-1, 2010/16970-0, 2013/02032-7. CAPES CNPq : 573636/2008-7, 150753/2013-6. CAPES : 088/201

111 oriented gold nanoplatelets on multilayer graphene as visible light photocatalyst for overall water splitting

[EN] Development of renewable fuels from solar light appears as one of the main current challenges in energy science. A plethora of photocatalysts have been investigated to obtain hydrogen and oxygen from water and solar light in the last decades. However, the photon-to-hydrogen molecule conversion is still far from allowing real implementation of solar fuels. Here we show that 111 facet-oriented gold nanoplatelets on multilayer graphene films deposited on quartz is a highly active photocatalyst for simulated sunlight overall water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen in the absence of sacrificial electron donors, achieving hydrogen production rate of 1.2 molH2 per gcomposite per h. This photocatalytic activity arises from the gold preferential orientation and the strong gold–graphene interaction occurring in the composite system.Financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Severo Ochoa and CTQ2012-32315) and Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo 2013-019) is gratefully acknowledged. D.M. and I.E.-A. thank to Spanish Ministry of Science for PhD scholarships.Mateo Mateo, D.; Esteve Adell, I.; Albero Sancho, J.; Sánchez Royo, JF.; Primo Arnau, AM.; García Gómez, H. (2016). 111 oriented gold nanoplatelets on multilayer graphene as visible light photocatalyst for overall water splitting. Nature Communications. 2016(7):1-8. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11819S1820167Lv, X. J., Zhou, S., Huang, X., Wang, C. & Fu, W. F. Photocatalytic overall water splitting promoted by SnOx-NiGa2O4 photocatalysts. Appl. Cat. B: Environ. 182, 220–228 (2016).Xu, J., Wang, L. & Cao, X. 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J. & Sorensen, C. M. Graphene supported plasmonic photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution in photocatalytic water splitting. Nanotechnology 25, 265701 (2014).Wang, M., Han, J., Xiong, H. & Guo, R. Yolk@shell nanoarchitecture of Au@r-GO/TiO2 hybrids as powerful visible light photocatalysts. Langmuir 31, 6220–6228 (2015).Luo, Z. et al. Modulating the electronic structures of graphene by controllable hydrogenation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 233111 (2010).Sridhara Rao, D. V., Muraleedharan, K. & Humphreys, C. J. in Microscope Science, Technology, Applications and Education 3, 1232–1244Formatec (2010)

Carbon Dioxide Utilisation -The Formate Route

UIDB/50006/2020 CEEC-Individual 2017 Program Contract.The relentless rise of atmospheric CO2 is causing large and unpredictable impacts on the Earth climate, due to the CO2 significant greenhouse effect, besides being responsible for the ocean acidification, with consequent huge impacts in our daily lives and in all forms of life. To stop spiral of destruction, we must actively reduce the CO2 emissions and develop new and more efficient “CO2 sinks”. We should be focused on the opportunities provided by exploiting this novel and huge carbon feedstock to produce de novo fuels and added-value compounds. The conversion of CO2 into formate offers key advantages for carbon recycling, and formate dehydrogenase (FDH) enzymes are at the centre of intense research, due to the “green” advantages the bioconversion can offer, namely substrate and product selectivity and specificity, in reactions run at ambient temperature and pressure and neutral pH. In this chapter, we describe the remarkable recent progress towards efficient and selective FDH-catalysed CO2 reduction to formate. We focus on the enzymes, discussing their structure and mechanism of action. Selected promising studies and successful proof of concepts of FDH-dependent CO2 reduction to formate and beyond are discussed, to highlight the power of FDHs and the challenges this CO2 bioconversion still faces.publishersversionpublishe