Estudio de la actividad antibacteriana de los extractos orgánicos liquénicos obtenidos de Lobaria subdissecta y Parmotrema latissimum

The antimicrobial activity was assessed in 4 organic extracts of the lichens Lobaria subdissecta and Parmoterma latissimum by using the disc-diffusion method utilizing a microbial battery of 2 bacteria Gram positive and 2 Gram negative, all of them of human and clinical interest. We noted that the nonpolar extracts showed more activity of grown inhibition of the bacterias test.Se evaluó la actividad antimicrobiana de 4 extractos orgánicos de los líquenes Lobaria subdissecta y Parmoterma latissimum empleando el método de disco-difusión con una batería microbiana de 2 bacterias Gram positivas y 2 Gram negativas, todas de interés clínico humano. Se observó que los extractos no polares mostraron mayor actividad de inhibición del crecimiento de los microorganismos evaluados

Primer informe de Platynothrus bicarinatus (Oribatida: Camisiidae) en América Central

El género Platynothrus Berlese 1913, es registrado por Schatz (2006) para Costa Rica y Panamá, con la especie Platynothrus sibiricus Sitnikova 1975 únicamente y dos especies no identificadas. Subías (2013) considera a Platynothrus bicarinatus (Jacot 1938) con distribución Neártica y Panamá, sin embargo no se refiere una cita en la que se especifique esta distribución para América Central. Por tanto en esta nota informamos de la presencia de esta especie en los bosques de Talamanca, Costa Rica, América Central.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas (CIEMIC)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de BiologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de Medicina::Escuela de Nutrició

Dinámica del agua y fitoquímicos durante el secado de rodajas de chile habanero rojo (Capsicum chinense)

Habanero pepper (Capsicum chinense) is a source of phytochemicals or bioactive compounds that have shown benefits in human health. For phytochemicals extraction process, a prior drying is required. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of drying temperature (30, 50 and 70 degrees C) on total capsaicinoids and total carotenoids, and the coefficients of water diffusivity during drying of sliced red habanero pepper. The results show that the bioactive compounds, present a major stability at high temperature (70 degrees C), the effective diffusivity increased with drying temperature and the activation energy of the process was calculated to 39.575 kJ mol(-1) K-1. Several theoretical aspects of average water diffusivity are discussed

Reporte de sostenibilidad como herramienta de gestión - CIME Ingenieros S.R.L.

CIME Ingenieros es una empresa con más de 30 años de experiencia en el sector industrial, enfocados prioritariamente en el sector de hidrocarburos. Las principales actividades que desarrolla están orientadas al mantenimiento, fabricación de tanques de almacenamiento de hidrocarburo, montaje e instalación de equipos electromecánicos, estructuras metálicas y de gas natural, apuntando a cumplir estándares de calidad , seguridad, salud ocupacional y medio ambiente, así como también, las buenas prácticas de gestión de proyectos. El éxito que ha logrado CIME Ingenieros con el transcurrir de los años se debe a la prestación de un servicio de calidad y al cumplimiento con los plazos de entrega en la implementación de los proyectos, sin tener ninguna observación de actos de desconfianza; esto ha generado la fidelización de los clientes con los cuales la empresa mantiene relación hasta el día de hoy. Si bien es cierto, estos fuertes vínculos comerciales se generaron con los primeros clientes en el inicio del ciclo de vida de la empresa, aún no se ha podido generar un crecimiento sostenido. El principal problema que se ha identificado es la falta de implementación de un plan de Gobierno Corporativo debido a que no existen lineamientos y normas organizacionales adecuadas que, a su vez respalden y soporten las funcionalidades actuales requeridas para el crecimiento sostenible de la empresa. Por tal motivo, el presente trabajo de investigación tiene como finalidad mostrar los problemas que está atravesando la empresa en la actualidad y sus posibles alternativas de solución. Para lograr ello, se ha establecido realizar un análisis interno y externo de la organización para tener bien definido el entorno en el que se desarrolla CIME Ingenieros, sus stakeholders y sus posibilidades de mantenerse en el tiempo como una empresa sostenible. Asimismo, se ha realizado un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo de la organización, en función a determinar cómo se encuentra evolucionando en el tiempo y como va afrontando sus necesidades y las coyunturas sociales y políticas que atraviesa nuestro país. Debemos indicar que, como resultado de los análisis cualitativos y cuantitativos, se identifican los problemas claves de la organización y sus orígenes, así como también, se plantean alternativas de solución, las cuales pueden ser implementadas por la organización. La presente tesis plantea implementar un adecuado plan de gobierno corporativo, cuyo concepto hace referencia al conjunto de principios, normas y procedimientos que forman parte del funcionamiento y la estructura de la toma de decisiones en la empresa para la generación de valor. En este punto, se puede evidenciar que la empresa tiene una formación familiar y que, a lo largo de su evolución, no han tomado en cuenta la implementación de este sistema, pues se tiene la idea de que estos lineamientos solo lo deben tener las grandes empresas, dejando de lado muchas oportunidades que tiene la empresa para tener un crecimiento sostenido. La implementación de los principios de sostenibilidad ayuda a la organización a reducir costos, incrementar su productividad, tener nuevas oportunidades de negocios y crear nuevos empleos y genera una empresa más competitiva, por lo que realizar esta implementación para CIME Ingenieros, en la actualidad, es más que necesaria.CIME Ingenieros is a company which has over 30 years of experience in the industrial sector, focusing primarily on the hydrocarbons sector. The main activities are oriented to maintenance, manufacture of hydrocarbon storage tanks, assembly and installation of electromechanical equipment, metal structures and natural gas, aiming to meet standards of quality, safety, occupational health and environment, as well as good project management practices. The success that CIME Ingenieros has achieved over the years is due to the provision of a quality service and compliance with delivery times in the project’s implementation, without any observation of acts of mistrust; this has generated customer loyalty with which the company maintains a relationship until now. Although it is true that these strong trade links were generated with the first customers at the beginning of the life cycle of the company, it has not yet been possible to generate sustained growth. The main problem that has been identified is the lack of implementation of a Corporate Governance plan due to the fact that there are no adequate organizational guidelines and norms that, in turn, endorse and support the current functionalities required for the sustainable growth of the company. For this reason, the purpose of this research work is to reveal the problems that the company is currently going through and its possible solution alternatives. To achieve this, an internal and external analysis of the organization has been established in order to clearly define the environment in which CIME Ingenieros develops, its stakeholders and its possibilities of maintaining itself over time as a sustainable company. Likewise, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the organization has been carried out, in order to determine how it is evolving over time and how it is facing its needs as well as the social and political conjunctures that our country is going through. We must point out that, as a result of the qualitative and quantitative analyses, the key problems of the organization and its origins are identified, as well as alternative solutions, which can be implemented by CIME Ingenieros. This thesis proposes to implement an appropriate corporate governance plan, whose concept refers to the set of principles, standards and procedures that are part of the performance and structure of decision-making in the company to generate value. At this point, it can be evidenced that the company has a family background and that, throughout its evolution, have not considered the implementation of this system, because it has the idea that these guidelines should only have large companies, leaving aside many opportunities that the company has to achieve sustained growth. Being sustainable helps the organization to reduce costs, increase productivity, have new business opportunities as well as create new jobs and generate a better competitive company, so this implementation for CIME Ingenieros is more necessary than ever.Tesi

Simplified Interval Observer Scheme: A New Approach for Fault Diagnosis in Instruments

There are different schemes based on observers to detect and isolate faults in dynamic processes. In the case of fault diagnosis in instruments (FDI) there are different diagnosis schemes based on the number of observers: the Simplified Observer Scheme (SOS) only requires one observer, uses all the inputs and only one output, detecting faults in one detector; the Dedicated Observer Scheme (DOS), which again uses all the inputs and just one output, but this time there is a bank of observers capable of locating multiple faults in sensors, and the Generalized Observer Scheme (GOS) which involves a reduced bank of observers, where each observer uses all the inputs and m-1 outputs, and allows the localization of unique faults. This work proposes a new scheme named Simplified Interval Observer SIOS-FDI, which does not requires the measurement of any input and just with just one output allows the detection of unique faults in sensors and because it does not require any input, it simplifies in an important way the diagnosis of faults in processes in which it is difficult to measure all the inputs, as in the case of biologic reactors

Evaluación de modelos numéricos de Tercera Generación para el pronóstico del oleaje en Centroamérica y México

Artículo científico -- Universidad de Costa Rica. Centro de Investigaciones Geofísicas, 2001The evaluation and implementation of two public domain wave spectral models: SWAN and WAM to be used in hindcasting and forecasting in the Central American region are presented. The typical model characteristics are analyzed using simulations for simple bathymetric cases. The model responses are evaluated using boundary conditions in the Caribbean region including extreme meteorological conditions like hurricanes. Those natural phenomena’s are of great importance given the historical frequency impacts in the region. The SWAN model shows some difficulties to propagate wave energy in big areas generating some wave height and direction anomalies mainly around islands or in low interpolated depth values. The numerical schemes and the different model’s variable parameterizations are responsible for the different spatial energy propagation found in some applications in this study. An integrated system could be working for the whole region where the wave information is necessary in activities like fishing, marine transit and transport, port operations and tourist activities.Universidad de Costa Rica. Centro de Investigaciones GeofísicasPrograma de Intercambio Académico, CICESE, México.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigaciones Geofísicas (CIGEFI

Lupus eritematoso: enfermedad autoinmune sistémica y órgano específica

Lupus erythematosus: systemic autoimmune and organ specific disease. The immune system of patients with Lupus becomes activated and reacts against themselves, which is why it is considered an autoimmune disease. In the USA more than one million people have Lupus. The symptoms appear in a variety of forms, and half of the cases are lethal. The damage may appears in any organ of the body and can cause arthritis with inflammation, fatigue, facial o malar rash, oral ulcers, photosensitivity, serositis (inflammation of tissue around the lung and heart), renal disorders (proteinuria, cellular destruction), blood disorders (leukopenia, lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia), immunological disorders (anti-DNA, anti-Sm antibodies), and abnormal antinuclear antibody titles. Using molecular biology techniques some factors that regulate the immune system and biochemistry mechanisms of tissues damage in lupus have been discovered. In addition some genes that appear to be involved in the generation of lupus have been identified.En los pacientes que desarrollan lupus, su sistema inmune se activa y se vuelve contra el mismo huésped, por lo que es considerada una enfermedad autoinmune. En los Estados Unidos, existe más de un millón de personas que presenta Lupus. Sus síntomas aparecen en una gran variedad de formas, en los cuales la mitad de los casos es letal. El daño aparece en cualquier órgano del cuerpo y puede causar artritis con inflamación, fatiga, eritema en alas de mariposa en región malar, úlceras orales, fotosensibilidad, serositis (inflamación del tejido alrededor del corazón y pulmón), osteoporosis, desórdenes renales (proteinuria y destrucción celular), desórdenes sanguíneos (leucopenia, linfopenia, trombocitopenia, anemia hemolítica), desórdenes inmunológicos (anticuerpos anti-DNA y anti-Sm) y títulos de anticuerpos antinucleares anormales. Utilizando técnicas de biología molecular, se han descubierto algunos factores que regulan el sistema inmune, así como mecanismos bioquímicos por los cuales en el lupus se presenta daño al tejido. También se han identificado algunos genes candidato que parecen estar involucrados en el lupus

Evaluation of the Effect of Different Co-Solvent Mixtures on the Supercritical CO2 Extraction of the Phenolic Compounds Present in Moringa oleifera Lam. Leaves

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), using CO2, is a novel, sustainable and very efficient technique for the recovery of highly apolar compounds. However, the recovery of phenolic compounds requires the use of different co-solvent combinations such as water and ethanol to enhance the recovery of these compounds through the optimization of a number of variables. In this sense, the effect of pressure (100, 150 and 200 bar), temperature (50, 65 and 80 degrees C), extraction time (30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min) and the effect of the different percentages of ethanol and water as co-solvents on the composition and phenolic content of moringa leaf extracts were evaluated. Six major flavonoids were identified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UHPLC-Q-ToF-MS). Pressure and temperature had a significant effect on the phenolic composition of the extracts, as well as on their concentrations. The highest concentration of total flavonoids compounds (TFCs) was obtained by using a mixture of CO2 and water of 50:50 (v/v) at 100 bar, at 65 degrees C after a 120 min extraction time that produced a concentration of 11.66 mg +/- 0.02 mg TFC g(-1) sample, which corresponds to 89.0% of the total flavonoids of the sample, obtained by exhaustive extraction

Optimization of an Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Method Applied to the Extraction of Flavonoids from Moringa Leaves (Moringa oleifera Lam.)

Interest in phenolic compounds has recently increased due to their potential as antioxidant agents. Moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera) have a high content of phenolic compounds, which presents them as a promising source for the extraction of these compounds. However, it is necessary to use analytical techniques to identify and quantify their actual compound content to determine the quality of the raw material and the potential of the final product. Ultrasound assisted extraction is a green, rapid and environmentally friendly extraction technique that produces high quality extracts from natural products. Hence, the aim of this research is to optimize the variables of the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) process for the extraction of moringa leaves using response surface methodology (RSM) to extract the main flavonoids using methanol as the extraction solvent. A Box-Behnken design (BBD) has been used to evaluate the effect of the ultrasound extraction process variables. Finally, the optimal extraction time in the range between 2 and 30 min was determined. The results revealed that the methanol concentration was the most influential variable. The optimal extraction time was established at 15 min. Six of the main flavonoids were quantified by UHPLC-DAD and identified by UHPLC-QToF-MS. The results confirmed that UAE is an efficient method for the extraction and subsequent analysis and quality control of the flavonoids that can be found in moringa leaves

Optimization of an Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Method for the Extraction of Gingerols and Shogaols from Ginger (Zingiber officinale)

The goal of this study is to optimize a UAE method for the extraction of the main bioactive compounds present in the ginger rhizome (gingerols and shogaols). Ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale) has a considerable content of bioactive compounds, in particular gingerols and shogaols, with interesting pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and antimicrobial properties, among others. The isolation of these compounds requires an efficient extraction process with short extraction times and the employment of specific non-toxic solvents for humans. In this work, the optimization of an ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method for the extraction of the main pungent compounds in the ginger rhizome, i.e., gingerols and shogaols, has been carried out. For this purpose, a Box–Behnken design (BBD) has been used to optimize the experimental design through a response surface methodology (RSM). The percentage of ethanol in the extraction solvent, the temperature, the amplitude, and the cycle of the ultrasounds, as well as the sample-to-solvent ratio, were the variables to be studied. Thus, the percentage of ethanol in the extraction solvent was identified as the most influential factor. Once the compounds were extracted, the identification of gingerols and shogaols was performed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-ToF-MS), and the quantification by UHPLC coupled to a diode array detector (DAD) detector. Finally, the optimized UAE method required only 10 min of extraction time, presenting good repeatability and intermediate precision levels (<5%). The method was applied to extract gingerols and shogaols from diverse sources, thereby demonstrating its applicability and highlighting the potential variations in compound concentrations across different samples based on factors such as origin, and growing conditions, among others