Spray Drying of Xoconostle Juice: Interaction of Microstructure, Function, and Drying Operation Conditions

The xoconostle fruit (Opuntia matudae) is rich in polysaccharides, soluble fiber, simple phenols, betalains, and ascorbic acid. However, its consumption is limited due to its high acidity. Spray drying could be a technological option to strengthen the sustainability of xoconostle giving a re-valorization as a possible natural additive for the food industry. The food powders have to be designed considering aspects related to the effect of processing conditions on final quality properties; in this case, the effect of different drying air temperatures was evaluated on moisture content, water activity (Aw), glass transition temperature, microstructure, antioxidant activity, phenolic, and betalain compounds. For all cases, the drying air temperature had a positive effect on physical stability, at low levels of water activity and moisture content, and glass transition temperature (Tg) was increased. The biological functionality (assessed through phenolics, betalain compounds, and antioxidant activity) was also kept constant for all processing conditions investigated. However, the most evident changes were observed at microscopic scale analyzed through morphometric parameters

First record of eucalyptus gall wasp Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in Mexico

The presence of the invader eucalyptus gall wasp Leptocybe invasa Fischer & La Salle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) is recorded for the first time in Mexico. This forest pest has been detected in northern México City, at an elevation of ≈2,240m, with an average temperature of 17.9°C. It has also been detected in the areas of Nezahualcóyotl and Texcoco, State of México; Cuautla, Morelos; Guadalajara, Jalisco and Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. In these states, L. invasa attacked Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. About 2.6% of the E. camaldulensis trees reported in México City had infestations in about 27% of the twigs. In addition, 25% of the leaves had galls, with an average of 23.5±4.8 galls per branches of 20cm in length

Biomimetic Magnetic Nanocarriers Drive Choline Kinase Alpha Inhibitor inside Cancer Cells for Combined Chemo-Hyperthermia Therapy

Choline kinase a1 (ChoKa1) has become an excellent antitumor target. Among all the inhibitors synthetized, the new compound Ff35 shows an excellent capacity to inhibit ChoKa1 activity. However, soluble Ff35 is also capable of inhibiting choline uptake, making the inhibitor not selective for ChoKa1. In this study, we designed a new protocol with the aim of disentangling whether the Ff35 biological action is due to the inhibition of the enzyme and/or to the choline uptake. Moreover, we offer an alternative to avoid the inhibition of choline uptake caused by Ff35, since the coupling of Ff35 to novel biomimetic magnetic nanoparticles (BMNPs) allows it to enter the cell through endocytosis without interacting with the choline transporter. This opens the possibility of a clinical use of Ff35. Our results indicate that Ff35-BMNPs nanoassemblies increase the selectivity of Ff35 and have an antiproliferative effect. Also, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the tandem Ff35-BMNPs and hyperthermia.This research was funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2013-46612 and CGL2016-76723 projects), Ramón y Cajal programme (RYC-2014-16901) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). Also, this research was aided by the Andalusian regional government (CTS-236)

Transposon activation is a major driver in the genome evolution of cultivated olive trees ( Olea europaea L.)

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Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

XVI International Congress of Control Electronics and Telecommunications: "Techno-scientific considerations for a post-pandemic world intensive in knowledge, innovation and sustainable local development"

Este título, sugestivo por los impactos durante la situación de la Covid 19 en el mundo, y que en Colombia lastimosamente han sido muy críticos, permiten asumir la obligada superación de tensiones sociales, políticas, y económicas; pero sobre todo científicas y tecnológicas. Inicialmente, esto supone la existencia de una capacidad de la sociedad colombiana por recuperar su estado inicial después de que haya cesado la perturbación a la que fue sometida por la catastrófica pandemia, y superar ese anterior estado de cosas ya que se encontraban -y aún se encuentran- muchos problemas locales mal resueltos, medianamente resueltos, y muchos sin resolver: es decir, habrá que rediseñar y fortalecer una probada resiliencia social existente - producto del prolongado conflicto social colombiano superado parcialmente por un proceso de paz exitoso - desde la tecnociencia local; como lo indicaba Markus Brunnermeier - economista alemán y catedrático de economía de la Universidad de Princeton- en su libro The Resilient Society…La cuestión no es preveerlo todo sino poder reaccionar…aprender a recuperarse rápido.This title, suggestive of the impacts during the Covid 19 situation in the world, and which have unfortunately been very critical in Colombia, allows us to assume the obligatory overcoming of social, political, and economic tensions; but above all scientific and technological. Initially, this supposes the existence of a capacity of Colombian society to recover its initial state after the disturbance to which it was subjected by the catastrophic pandemic has ceased, and to overcome that previous state of affairs since it was found -and still is find - many local problems poorly resolved, moderately resolved, and many unresolved: that is, an existing social resilience test will have to be redesigned and strengthened - product of the prolonged Colombian social conflict partially overcome by a successful peace process - from local technoscience; As Markus Brunnermeier - German economist and professor of economics at Princeton University - indicates in his book The Resilient Society...The question is not to foresee everything but to be able to react...learn to recover quickly.Bogot

Cooling systems under screenhouses: effects on microclime, productivity and plant response in a tomato crop

Introduction of screenhouse-grown crops as an alternative to plastichouse-grown crops on mild weather areas during summer is becoming widely spread in countries like Mexico, Italy, Israel or Spain. Use of screenhouses on the inner areas of these Mediterranean countries from May to October has proven to be a viable and complementary system to horticultural production derived from plastic greenhouses on the Mediterranean coast (from October to June). However, during summer cycle, tomato crops often fail to achieve their optimal temperature (21-27ºC) and relative humidity (RH) (about 60%) in Mediterranean greenhouses, being subjected to temperature values of 40ºC and 20% of RH at solar noon. Incorporation of fogging systems under mesh, used as a technique to reduce the temperature by converting the latent heat to sensitive, has begun recently in semi-arid Mediterranean areas.&nbsp; However, the system lacks sufficient insulation during mist operation, which results on much of the scattered water leaking out to the outside of the structure, where conditions temperature and dryness conditions are extreme. Introduction of a plastic screen could avoid such losses and maintain hygrometric conditions provided by the fogging system.To test the efficacy of these refrigerating systems complementary to the mesh cover, this study was developed at the Institute of Agricultural and Fishery Research and Training, IFAPA Centro Camino de Purchil, located in Granada, Spain, (Latitude : 37º 10' 21''N; Length: 3º 38' 10''O; Altitude: 600 m), where the screenhouse was built. The cover consisted of a black-white mono-filament mesh of polyethylene with&nbsp; 9 x 6 strands cm-2 (58% porosity). Sides of the screenhouse structure were made with black mesh of 16 x 10 strands cm-2 and plasticized raffia air-impermeable around the whole perimeter.The frequency of the fogging pulses was set at 90 seconds and the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) setpoint was 2.5 kPa, with an operating range during the day of 6 hours around solar noon (from 10: 00h to 16: 00h GMT). An expandable screen made of trilayer plastic with high transparency was installed under the fogging system, in order to prevent the loss of water droplets dispersed through the mesh´s porous coating and, thus, improving the cooling effect achieved by nebulization.For evaluation of the three proposed treatments (screenhouse (M), screenhouse with a fogging system (MN) and screenhouse with a fogging system and a plastic screen over it (MNP)) two crop cycles were conducted from May to October in 2010 and 2011, using cherry tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv Alina grafted on Maxifort.Therefore, the main objectives of this thesis were directed towards the study of microclimatic parameters generated in a screenhouse by a fogging system with and without a plastic screen, and its effect on plant development, crop yield, antioxidant response and nutritional quality of the fruits of cherry tomato crops. Another thing to consider about the greenhouse technification is the economic aspect, making it necessary to quantify extra costs from the acquisition of these refrigerated systems and from demand for hydric, material and technical resources.Finally, considering all the data obtained in this research work, it is proposed the use of cooling systems by fogging without the extension of a plastic screen during operation, for production of cherry tomato with more rentability and nutritional quality under a screenhouse during the months from May to October on areas of the Mediterranean region.La introducción del invernadero de malla como alternativa al cultivo protegido bajo plástico durante la época estival en zonas de clima templado está siendo ampliamente&nbsp; extendida en países como por ejemplo: México, Italia, Israel o España. En zonas de interior en el área Mediterránea, el uso de invernaderos de malla durante los meses de Mayo a Octubre, ha demostrado ser un sistema viable y complementario a la producción de hortícolas bajo invernadero de plástico en la costa Mediterránea (Octubre-Junio). Sin embargo, los cultivos de tomate durante el ciclo estival en invernaderos Mediterráneos, a menudo no logran sus óptimos de temperatura (21-27 ºC) y humedad relativa (HR) (alrededor del 60%), al estar sometidos a valores de 40 ºC de temperatura y de 20% de HR durante el mediodía solar. Recientemente se ha iniciado la incorporación de sistemas de nebulización bajo malla en zonas semiáridas y del Mediterráneo, como técnicas para reducir la temperatura, al convertir el calor sensible en latente. Sin embargo, el sistema adolece del aislamiento suficiente durante su funcionamiento, que hace que una gran parte del agua dispersada se pierda hacia el exterior de la estructura, donde las condiciones de temperatura y sequedad son extremas. La introducción de una pantalla plástica podría evitar dichas pérdidas y mantener las condiciones higrométricas proporcionadas por el sistema de nebulización.Para comprobar la eficacia de estos sistemas refrigerativos complementarios a la cubierta de malla se desarrolló este estudio en el Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera, IFAPA Centro Camino de Purchil, ubicado en la Vega de Granada, dentro del término municipal de Granada (Latitud: 37º 10' 21”N; Longitud: 3º 38' 10”O; Altitud: 600 m), en cuyas instalaciones se construyó el invernadero de malla. La cubierta estaba constituida por malla mono-filamento de polietileno natural blanca-negra de 9 x 6 hilos cm-2 (58% de porosidad). Las bandas de la estructura del invernadero se realizaron con malla negra de 16 x 10 hilos cm-2 en todo el perímetro y rafia plastificada impermeable al aire. Por tanto, los principales objetivos de esta tesis doctoral estuvieron dirigidos hacia el estudio de los parámetros microclimáticos generados en un invernadero de malla por un sistema de nebulización con y sin una pantalla plástica complementaria y su efecto sobre el desarrollo de la planta, el rendimiento productivo, la respuesta antioxidante y la calidad nutricional de los frutos del cultivo de tomate cherry. Otro punto de vista a tener en cuenta para la tecnificación del invernadero es el aspecto económico, por lo que sería necesario cuantificar&nbsp; los costes añadidos que supondrían la adquisición de estos sistemas refrigerativos y la demanda de recursos hídricos, materiales y técnicos que conllevan. Finalmente y considerando todos los datos obtenidos en este trabajo de investigación, se propone el uso de sistemas de refrigeración del tipo nebulización, sin la adquisición de una pantalla plástica durante su funcionamiento, debido a su alto umbral de rentabilidad, para obtener producciones de tomate cherry de mayor rentabilidad y calidad nutricional bajo un invernadero de malla durante los meses de Mayo a Octubre en zonas de la región Mediterránea.Tesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Fisiología Vegetal. Dra. Mª Teresa Soriano Vallejo (Investigadora titular del IFAPA) y la Dra. Mercedes Romero Gámez (Investigador contratada del IFAPA). Este trabajo ha sido co-financiado por el Proyecto I+D+I INIA-RTA 2009-00005-00-00 (Desarrollo de la alternativa de cultivo protegido: invernal bajo plástico en el litoral-estival bajo malla en el interior para una producción sostenible, rentable y de calidad)

Hypoalgesia Induced by Reward Devaluation in Rats.

Reduced sensitivity to physical pain (hypoalgesia) has been reported after events involving reward devaluation. Reward devaluation was implemented in a consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) task. Food-deprived Wistar rats had access to 32% sucrose during 16 sessions followed by access to 4% sucrose during 3 additional sessions. An unshifted control group had access to 4% sucrose throughout the 19 sessions. Pain sensitivity was measured using von Frey filaments (Experiment 1) and Hargreaves thermal stimuli (Experiment 2) in pretraining baseline, 5 min, and 300 min after either the first (session 17) or second (session 18) devaluation session in the cSNC situation. Sucrose consumption was lower in downshifted groups relative to unshifted groups during postshift sessions-the cSNC effect. Hypoalgesia was observed in downshifted groups relative to unshifted controls when pain sensitivity was assessed 5 min after either the first or second devaluation session, regardless of the pain sensitivity test used. Both pain sensitivity tests yielded evidence of hypoalgesia 300 min after the second downshift session, but not 300 min after the first devaluation session. Whereas hypoalgesia was previously shown only after the second devaluation session, here we report evidence of hypoalgesia after both the first and second devaluation sessions using mechanical and thermal nociceptive stimuli. Moreover, the hypoalgesia observed 300 min after the second devaluation session in both experiments provides unique evidence of the effects of reward loss on sensitivity to physical pain 5 hours after the loss episode. The underlying neurobehavioral mechanisms remain to be identified