Emergence of CWD strains

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) strains present a novel challenge to defining and mitigating this contagious prion disease of deer, elk, moose, and reindeer. Similar to strains of other prion diseases (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, sheep scrapie), CWD strains can affect biochemical and neuropathological properties of the infectious agent, and importantly interspecies transmission. To date, ten CWD strains have been characterized. The expanding range of CWD in North America and its presence in South Korea as well as Scandinavian countries will potentially result in millions of cervids infected with CWD; thus, novel strains will continue to emerge. In this review, we will summarize the characteristics of known CWD strains and describe the impact of prion protein gene polymorphisms on the generation of strains. We will also discuss the evidence that individual cervids can harbor more than one CWD strain, complicating strain analysis, and affecting selection and adaptation of strains in new hosts

Evolución del product placement: del cine de Hollywood a las redes sociales

El marketing de contenidos (brandedcontent), en el sentido más genérico de “influencia comercial que se refleja en la realidad”, existe desde los inicios de la Publicidad, e incluso antes, pero su aplicación ha ido evolucionando paralelamente a la convergencia de tres factores fundamentales: el contexto de la sociedad líquida, la tecnología y la saturación del consumidor ante la publicidad convencional. No es casual por tanto que los distintos informes profesionales, como los de Niesel (López, 2015) concluyan que los formatos alrededor de este concepto como es el product placement resulten los más "afortunados", porque consiguen que las marcas sean tanvisibles como amigables. Dicha técnica publicitaria ha estado presente desde los orígenes del cine hasta la actualidad, encontrándonos con antecedentes de la actual técnica desde 1896 en la película Défilé de 8e Batallion de los Hermanos Lumiere con el jabón Sunlight, pasando por el famoso Aston Martín de James Bond, Reese's Pieces en ET o los desayunos de Médico de Familia. Esta práctica ha sabido adaptarse e integrarse de manera exitosa en las nuevas estrategias digitales, encontrando las mismas marcas que históricamente han utilizado esta práctica publicitaria a grandes aliados en los cotizados influencers de las redes sociales. Esta investigación realiza una revisión de la evolución del product placement y adaptación a los nuevos formatos a través de técnicas de investigación cuantitativas y cualitativas, siendo una de las principales conclusiones que el poder sugestivo que la imagen de celebrities e influencers tienen, se convierte en el complemento perfecto al clásico product placement de cine y televisión

Cuánto pueden representar las pérdidas en el silo de maíz

El silo de maíz ocupa un lugar estratégico en las dietas de los rodeos lecheros y es un componente importante del costo de alimentación. Dicho costo varía mucho en función de los rindes obtenidos y del nivel de pérdidas que ocurren en el tiempo que transcurre desde que el cultivo está en condiciones de ser picado hasta su transformación en carne o leche.EEA General VillegasFil: Otero, Alicia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria General Villegas; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Ruben Manuel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria General Villegas; Argentin

Acoustic Localization of Bragg Peak Proton Beams for Hadrontherapy Monitoring

[EN] Hadrontherapy makes it possible to deliver high doses of energy to cancerous tumors by using the large energy deposition in the Bragg-peak. However, uncertainties in the patient positioning and/or in the anatomical parameters can cause distortions in the calculation of the dose distribution. In order to maximize the effectiveness of heavy particle treatments, an accurate monitoring system of the deposited dose depending on the energy, beam time, and spot size is necessary. The localized deposition of this energy leads to the generation of a thermoacoustic pulse that can be detected using acoustic technologies. This article presents different experimental and simulation studies of the acoustic localization of thermoacoustic pulses captured with a set of sensors around the sample. In addition, numerical simulations have been done where thermo-acoustic pulses are emitted for the specific case of a proton beam of 100 MeV.This research was funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, grant number FPA2015-65150-C3-2-P (MINECO/FEDER).Otero-Vega, JE.; Felis-Enguix, I.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Herrero Debón, A. (2019). Acoustic Localization of Bragg Peak Proton Beams for Hadrontherapy Monitoring. Sensors. 19(9):1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19091971S113199Kundu, T. (2014). Acoustic source localization. Ultrasonics, 54(1), 25-38. doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2013.06.009Bortfeld, T. (1997). An analytical approximation of the Bragg curve for therapeutic proton beams. Medical Physics, 24(12), 2024-2033. doi:10.1118/1.598116Ahmad, M., Xiang, L., Yousefi, S., & Xing, L. (2015). Theoretical detection threshold of the proton-acoustic range verification technique. Medical Physics, 42(10), 5735-5744. doi:10.1118/1.4929939Knapp, C., & Carter, G. (1976). The generalized correlation method for estimation of time delay. IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, 24(4), 320-327. doi:10.1109/tassp.1976.1162830Adrián-Martínez, S., Bou-Cabo, M., Felis, I., Llorens, C. D., Martínez-Mora, J. A., Saldaña, M., & Ardid, M. (2015). Acoustic Signal Detection Through the Cross-Correlation Method in Experiments with Different Signal to Noise Ratio and Reverberation Conditions. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 66-79. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-46338-3_7Felis, I., Martínez-Mora, J., & Ardid, M. (2016). Acoustic Sensor Design for Dark Matter Bubble Chamber Detectors. Sensors, 16(6), 860. doi:10.3390/s16060860Bragg, W. H., & Kleeman, R. (1905). XXXIX. On the α particles of radium, and their loss of range in passing through various atoms and molecules. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 10(57), 318-340. doi:10.1080/14786440509463378Janni, J. F. (1982). Energy loss, range, path length, time-of-flight, straggling, multiple scattering, and nuclear interaction probability. Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables, 27(2-3), 147-339. doi:10.1016/0092-640x(82)90004-3Jones, K. C., Seghal, C. M., & Avery, S. (2016). How proton pulse characteristics influence protoacoustic determination of proton-beam range: simulation studies. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 61(6), 2213-2242. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/61/6/2213Lai, H. M., & Young, K. (1982). Theory of the pulsed optoacoustic technique. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 72(6), 2000-2007. doi:10.1121/1.388631Sigrist, M. W. (1986). Laser generation of acoustic waves in liquids and gases. Journal of Applied Physics, 60(7), R83-R122. doi:10.1063/1.337089Tam, A. C. (1986). Applications of photoacoustic sensing techniques. Reviews of Modern Physics, 58(2), 381-431. doi:10.1103/revmodphys.58.381Xiang, L., Han, B., Carpenter, C., Pratx, G., Kuang, Y., & Xing, L. (2012). X-ray acoustic computed tomography with pulsed x-ray beam from a medical linear accelerator. Medical Physics, 40(1), 010701. doi:10.1118/1.4771935Assmann, W., Kellnberger, S., Reinhardt, S., Lehrack, S., Edlich, A., Thirolf, P. G., … Parodi, K. (2015). Ionoacoustic characterization of the proton Bragg peak with submillimeter accuracy. Medical Physics, 42(2), 567-574. doi:10.1118/1.4905047De Bonis, G. (2009). Acoustic signals from proton beam interaction in water—Comparing experimental data and Monte Carlo simulation. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 604(1-2), S199-S202. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2009.03.072Kraan, A. C., Battistoni, G., Belcari, N., Camarlinghi, N., Cirrone, G. A. P., Cuttone, G., … Rosso, V. (2014). Proton range monitoring with in-beam PET: Monte Carlo activity predictions and comparison with cyclotron data. Physica Medica, 30(5), 559-569. doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2014.04.003Patch, S. K., Hoff, D. E. M., Webb, T. B., Sobotka, L. G., & Zhao, T. (2017). Two-stage ionoacoustic range verification leveraging Monte Carlo and acoustic simulations to stably account for tissue inhomogeneity and accelerator-specific time structure - A simulation study. Medical Physics, 45(2), 783-793. doi:10.1002/mp.12681Lehrack, S., Assmann, W., Bertrand, D., Henrotin, S., Herault, J., Heymans, V., … Parodi, K. (2017). Submillimeter ionoacoustic range determination for protons in water at a clinical synchrocyclotron. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 62(17), L20-L30. doi:10.1088/1361-6560/aa81f8Hickling, S., Lei, H., Hobson, M., Léger, P., Wang, X., & El Naqa, I. (2017). Experimental evaluation of x-ray acoustic computed tomography for radiotherapy dosimetry applications. Medical Physics, 44(2), 608-617. doi:10.1002/mp.12039Ardid, M., Felis, I., Martínez-Mora, J. A., & Otero, J. (2017). Optimization of Dimensions of Cylindrical Piezoceramics as Radio-Clean Low Frequency Acoustic Sensors. Journal of Sensors, 2017, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2017/817967

Acoustic Bragg Peak Localization in Proton Therapy Treatment: Simulation Studies

[EN] A full chain simulation of the acoustic hadron therapy monitoring for brain tumors is presented in this work. For the study, a proton beam of 100 MeV was considered. In the first stage, Geant4 was used to simulate the energy deposition and to study the behavior of the Bragg peak. The energy deposition in the medium produced local heating that can be considered instantaneous with respect to the hydrodynamic time scale producing a sound pressure wave. The resulting thermoacoustic signal was subsequently obtained by solving the thermoacoustic equation. The acoustic propagation was simulated by the Finite Element Method (FEM) in the brain and the skull, where a set of piezoelectric sensors were placed. Lastly, the final received signals in the sensors were processed in order to reconstruct the position of the thermal source and, thus, to determine the feasibility and accuracy of acoustic beam monitoring in hadron therapy.Otero, J.; Felis, I.; Ardid Ramírez, M.; Herrero Debón, A.; Merchán, JA. (2019). Acoustic Bragg Peak Localization in Proton Therapy Treatment: Simulation Studies. MDPI. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecsa-6-06533S1

Endoplasmic reticulum stress and ubiquitin-proteasome system impairment in natural scrapie

Chronic accumulation of misfolded proteins such as PrPSc can alter the endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis triggering the unfolded protein response (UPR). In this pathogenic event, the molecular chaperones play an important role. Several reports in humans and animals have suggested that neurodegeneration is related to endoplasmic reticulum stress in diseases caused by the accumulation of misfolded proteins. In this study, we investigated the expression of three endoplasmic reticulum stress markers: PERK (protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase), BiP (binding immunoglobulin protein), and PDI (Protein Disulfide Isomerase). In addition, we evaluated the accumulation of ubiquitin as a marker for protein degradation mediated by the proteasome. These proteins were studied in brain tissues of sheep affected by scrapie in clinical and preclinical stages of the disease. Results were compared with those observed in healthy controls. Scrapie-infected sheep showed significant higher levels of PERK, BiP/Grp78 and PDI than healthy animals. As we observed before in models of spontaneous prion disease, PDI was the most altered ER stress marker between scrapie-infected and healthy sheep. Significantly increased intraneuronal and neuropil ubiquitinated deposits were observed in certain brain areas in scrapie-affected animals compared to controls. Our results suggest that the neuropathological and neuroinflammatory phenomena that develop in prion diseases cause endoplasmic reticulum stress in brain cells triggering the UPR. In addition, the significantly higher accumulation of ubiquitin aggregates in scrapie-affected animals suggests an impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in natural scrapie. Therefore, these proteins may contribute as biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets for prion diseases

Bragg Peak Localization with Piezoelectric Sensors for Proton Therapy Treatment

[EN] A full chain simulation of the acoustic hadrontherapy monitoring for brain tumours is presented in this work. For the study, a proton beam of 100 MeV is considered. In the first stage, Geant4 is used to simulate the energy deposition and to study the behaviour of the Bragg peak. The energy deposition in the medium produces local heating that can be considered instantaneous with respect to the hydrodynamic time scale producing a sound pressure wave. The resulting thermoacoustic signal has been subsequently obtained by solving the thermoacoustic equation. The acoustic propagation has been simulated by FEM methods in the brain and the skull, where a set of piezoelectric sensors are placed. Last, the final received signals in the sensors have been processed in order to reconstruct the position of the thermal source and, thus, to determine the feasibility and accuracy of acoustic beam monitoring in hadrontherapy.This research received was funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, grant numbers FPA2015-65150-C3-2-P (MINECO/FEDER) and PGC2018-096663-B-C43 (MCIU/FEDER).Otero-Vega, JE.; Felis-Enguix, I.; Herrero Debón, A.; Merchán, JA.; Ardid Ramírez, M. (2020). Bragg Peak Localization with Piezoelectric Sensors for Proton Therapy Treatment. Sensors. 20(10):1-12. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20102987S1122010A population-based assessment of proton beam therapy utilization in California. (2020). The American Journal of Managed Care, 26(2), e28-e35. doi:10.37765/ajmc.2020.42398Dutz, A., Agolli, L., Bütof, R., Valentini, C., Baumann, M., Lühr, A., … Krause, M. (2020). Neurocognitive function and quality of life after proton beam therapy for brain tumour patients. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 143, 108-116. doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2019.12.024Lesueur, P., Calugaru, V., Nauraye, C., Stefan, D., Cao, K., Emery, E., … Thariat, J. (2019). Proton therapy for treatment of intracranial benign tumors in adults: A systematic review. Cancer Treatment Reviews, 72, 56-64. doi:10.1016/j.ctrv.2018.11.004Amaldi, U., Bonomi, R., Braccini, S., Crescenti, M., Degiovanni, A., Garlasché, M., … Zennaro, R. (2010). Accelerators for hadrontherapy: From Lawrence cyclotrons to linacs. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 620(2-3), 563-577. doi:10.1016/j.nima.2010.03.130Weber, D. C., Abrunhosa-Branquinho, A., Bolsi, A., Kacperek, A., Dendale, R., Geismar, D., … Grau, C. (2017). Profile of European proton and carbon ion therapy centers assessed by the EORTC facility questionnaire. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 124(2), 185-189. doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2017.07.012MIZUMOTO, M., OSHIRO, Y., YAMAMOTO, T., KOHZUKI, H., & SAKURAI, H. (2017). Proton Beam Therapy for Pediatric Brain Tumor. Neurologia medico-chirurgica, 57(7), 343-355. doi:10.2176/nmc.ra.2017-0003Sulak, L., Armstrong, T., Baranger, H., Bregman, M., Levi, M., Mael, D., … Learned, J. (1979). Experimental studies of the acoustic signature of proton beams traversing fluid media. Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 161(2), 203-217. doi:10.1016/0029-554x(79)90386-0Aso, T., Kimura, A., Tanaka, S., Yoshida, H., Kanematsu, N., Sasaki, T., & Akagi, T. (2005). Verification of the dose distributions with GEANT4 simulation for proton therapy. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 52(4), 896-901. doi:10.1109/tns.2005.852697Jones, K. C., Witztum, A., Sehgal, C. M., & Avery, S. (2014). Proton beam characterization by proton-induced acoustic emission: simulation studies. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 59(21), 6549-6563. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/59/21/6549Jones, K. C., Seghal, C. M., & Avery, S. (2016). How proton pulse characteristics influence protoacoustic determination of proton-beam range: simulation studies. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 61(6), 2213-2242. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/61/6/2213Donnelly, B. R., & Medige, J. (1997). Shear Properties of Human Brain Tissue. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 119(4), 423-432. doi:10.1115/1.2798289Gu, L., Chafi, M. S., Ganpule, S., & Chandra, N. (2012). The influence of heterogeneous meninges on the brain mechanics under primary blast loading. Composites Part B: Engineering, 43(8), 3160-3166. doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.04.014Peterson, J., & Dechow, P. C. (2003). Material properties of the human cranial vault and zygoma. The Anatomical Record, 274A(1), 785-797. doi:10.1002/ar.a.10096Fellah, Z. E. A., Chapelon, J. Y., Berger, S., Lauriks, W., & Depollier, C. (2004). Ultrasonic wave propagation in human cancellous bone: Application of Biot theory. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 116(1), 61-73. doi:10.1121/1.1755239Raffaele, L. (2016). Advances in hadrontherapy dosimetry. Physica Medica, 32, 187. doi:10.1016/j.ejmp.2016.07.323Dosanjh, M., Amaldi, U., Mayer, R., & Poetter, R. (2018). ENLIGHT: European network for Light ion hadron therapy. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 128(1), 76-82. doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2018.03.014Ahmad, M., Xiang, L., Yousefi, S., & Xing, L. (2015). Theoretical detection threshold of the proton-acoustic range verification technique. Medical Physics, 42(10), 5735-5744. doi:10.1118/1.4929939Smith, A., Gillin, M., Bues, M., Zhu, X. R., Suzuki, K., Mohan, R., … Matsuda, K. (2009). The M. D. Anderson proton therapy system. Medical Physics, 36(9Part1), 4068-4083. doi:10.1118/1.3187229Yock, T. I., & Tarbell, N. J. (2004). Technology Insight: proton beam radiotherapy for treatment in pediatric brain tumors. Nature Clinical Practice Oncology, 1(2), 97-103. doi:10.1038/ncponc0090Riva, M., Vallicelli, E. A., Baschirotto, A., & De Matteis, M. (2018). Acoustic Analog Front End for Proton Range Detection in Hadron Therapy. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, 12(4), 954-962. doi:10.1109/tbcas.2018.2828703Acoustics Module User’s Guidehttps://doc.comsol.com/5.4/doc/com.comsol.help.aco/AcousticsModuleUsersGuide.pdfArdid, M., Felis, I., Martínez-Mora, J. A., & Otero, J. (2017). Optimization of Dimensions of Cylindrical Piezoceramics as Radio-Clean Low Frequency Acoustic Sensors. Journal of Sensors, 2017, 1-8. doi:10.1155/2017/8179672Otero, Felis, Ardid, & Herrero. (2019). Acoustic Localization of Bragg Peak Proton Beams for Hadrontherapy Monitoring. Sensors, 19(9), 1971. doi:10.3390/s19091971Levenberg, K. (1944). A method for the solution of certain non-linear problems in least squares. Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, 2(2), 164-168. doi:10.1090/qam/10666Geant4 A Simulation Toolkithttp://geant4-userdoc.web.cern.ch/geant4-userdoc/UsersGuides/ForApplicationDeveloper/BackupVersions/V10.5-2.0/fo/BookForApplicationDevelopers.pdfBarber, T. W., Brockway, J. A., & Higgins, L. S. (1970). THE DENSITY OF TISSUES IN AND ABOUT THE HEAD. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 46(1), 85-92. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.1970.tb05606.xAdrián-Martínez, S., Bou-Cabo, M., Felis, I., Llorens, C. D., Martínez-Mora, J. A., Saldaña, M., & Ardid, M. (2015). Acoustic Signal Detection Through the Cross-Correlation Method in Experiments with Different Signal to Noise Ratio and Reverberation Conditions. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 66-79. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-46338-3_

Neuroimmune Response in Natural Preclinical Scrapie after Dexamethasone Treatment

A recently published report on chronic dexamethasone treatment for natural scrapie supported the hypothesis of the potential failure of astroglia in the advanced stage of disease. Herein, we aimed to extend the aforementioned study on the effect of this anti-inflammatory therapy to the initial phase of scrapie, with the aim of elucidating the natural neuroinflammatory process occurring in this neurodegenerative disorder. The administration of this glucocorticoid resulted in an outstanding reduction in vacuolation and aberrant protein deposition (nearly null), and an increase in glial activation. Furthermore, evident suppression of IL-1R and IL-6 and the exacerbation of IL-1α, IL-2R, IL-10R and IFNγR were also demonstrated. Consequently, the early stage of the disease is characterized by an intact neuroglial response similar to that of healthy individuals attempting to re-establish homeostasis. A complex network of neuroinflammatory markers is involved from the very early stages of this prion disease, which probably becomes impaired in the more advanced stages. The in vivo animal model used herein provides essential observations on the pathogenesis of natural scrapie, as well as the possibility of establishing neuroglia as potential target cells for anti-inflammatory therapy

The reciprocity principle in the ceremonial and protocol : official representations in the National and Honor Days from the Universal Exposition in Seville 1992

Análisis comparativo del sistema de representaciones oficiales en Días Nacionales y de Honor de la Exposición Universal Sevilla 1992 por parte de anfitriones e invitados para comprobar si se cumple el principio de reciprocidad en relación con la bidireccionalidad y simetría relacional. Partiendo de la utilización del método del caso (Martínez Carazo, 2006) sobre la serie cerrada de los Días Nacionales y de Honor en Expo’92, y vertida la información en una base de datos estática, se ha aplicado el análisis de contenidos (Berelson, 1993; Krippendorf, 2004) sobre tipos de días y niveles de representación de anfitriones e invitados. El análisis y la comparativa (Otero, 2005; Guisande, 2006) confirman si los niveles de representación coinciden y en qué porcentajes y variables, mostrando el cumplimiento o incumplimiento del principio de reciprocidad y revelando el interés de cada público concreto para Expo’92. Se han extraído en función de los porcentajes de coincidencia de los niveles de representatividad, de forma que resultados parciales igualitarios (1-1-1) por parte de Invitado-Gobierno-Expo, confirmarían el cumplimiento del principio de reciprocidad, mientras que resultados 2-1-1, 3-2-1 u otros lo desmentirían. En términos globales, y sin perjuicio de resultados parciales, el principio de reciprocidad se cumple estrictamente sólo en sesenta y siete de los ciento cincuenta y ocho días (42 %). De ellos, 38 Días Nacionales (38%) y 29 Días de Honor (100%). Sin embargo, por grupos, vemos como se cumple estrictamente al 100% en la relación con el público Comunidades Autónomas (1-1-1) y un 97% en Organismos Empresariales.Comparative analysis from the system of official representations from hosts and guests in National and Honor Days in Seville 1992 World Expo, to probe if we have reciprocity between them. From the case method (Wassermann, 1994) we put the information in a database, it has been applied the content analysis (Berelson, 1993; Krippendorf, 2004) about different days, host, guest and representation levels of each. The analysis and comparative (Otero, 2005; Guisande, 2006) confirm if representation levels are agree in each case. We have extracted the representation levels depending on the percentages of coincidence, so that partial results (1-1-1) on the part of Invitado-Gobierno-Expo, would confirm reciprocity in each case, whereas results 2-1-1, 3-2-1 or others would deny it. The principle of reciprocity is strictly only meets in sixty-seven of the one hundred fifty-eight days (42%). Of these, thirty-eight National Days (38%) and twenty nine Days of Honor (100%). In fact, if you treat all as a group, we see how it goes into effect in autonomus community with 100% and 97% in business institutions

Valorization of chestnut (Castanea sativa) residues: characterization of different materials and optimization of the acid-hydrolysis of chestnut burrs for the elaboration of culture broths

Four kinds of waste from the industrial processing of chestnuts (Castanea sativa), namely leaves, pruned material and burrs from chestnut tree plus chestnut shells, were characterized to determine their content in polymers and thus their potential use in biorefinery processes. Results revealed that chestnut burrs have the highest polysaccharide content being the most promising for carrying out the subsequent stages of acid hydrolysis. Treatment with diluted sulfuric acid (prehydrolysis) allowed the solubilization of xylose, glucose and arabinose, but also some toxic compounds such as furan derivatives, aliphatic acids and phenolic constituents. Xylose, the main component released in the hemicellulosic hydrolyzates, was maximized by using a 3**(2–0) full factorial design combined with desirability function. At optimum conditions set at 130 °C and 3% (w/v) H 2 SO 4 , this value was 22.6 g L −1 xylose. Three concentrations of activated charcoal (1, 2.5 and 5% w/v) were evaluated to remove certain unwanted byproducts, and it was found that under the highest dosage, 95.27 ± 0.03% of the color was removed with an almost total reduction of furan derivatives, making this liquor an appropriate basis for the development of suitable culture media for lactic acid bacteria. To validate this hypothesis three lactic acid bacteria, namely Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus pentosus and Lactococcus lactis were positively tested finding lactic acid yields of 0.89, 0.92 and 0.83 g/L·h respectively.Axencia Galega de Innovació