Tracking Sensory Characteristics of Virgin Olive Oils During Storage: Interpretation of Their Changes from a Multiparametric Perspective

Virgin olive oil is inevitably subject to an oxidation process during storage that can affect its stability and quality due to off-flavors that develop before the oil surpasses its ‘best before’ date. Many parameters are involved in the oxidation process at moderate conditions. Therefore, a multiparametric study is necessary to establish a link between physico-chemical changes and sensory quality degradation in a real storage experiment. In this context, a storage experiment of 27 months was performed for four monovarietal virgin olive oils, bottled in transparent 500-mL PET bottles and subjected to conditions close to a supermarket scenario. Volatile composition, quality parameters and phenolic compounds were determined monthly. Simultaneously, an accredited sensory panel assessed their sensory characteristics. The stability of the fresh samples was also studied with the oxidative stability index (OSI) and mesh cell-FTIR. (E)-2-hexenal, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol and (E)-2-hexen-1-ol were identified as markers of the fruity attribute. Hexanal and nonanal were also identified as compounds that were associated with the rise of median of defect during storage. Some disagreements were observed between the sensory assessment and the OSI analyzed by Rancimat. However, the increase of concentration of rancid markers agreed with the increase of aldehyde band measured with mesh cell-FTIR.Spanish Research State Agency (research projects AGL2015-69320-R and RTI2018-101546-B-C21

Land use changes and spatial susceptibility in small Mediterranean basins

Soil erosion is one of the most recurrent environmental problems of public interest today. The western Mediterranean is an area sensitive to the effects of Climate Change, according to the latest IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, due to the proven increase in extreme events such as heat waves, extreme rainfall and droughts. Within this, the importance of competition in the territory between tourism and agriculture will be the result of radical changes in land use that are affecting the ecomorphological system to the point of making it even more susceptible due to the emergence and increase of high risks in the Mediterranean basins. Therefore, it will be essential to determine the levels of susceptibility of the basins under study with respect to erosive processes in order to create new mitigation measures to improve soil management and reduce these risks. Through this study we intend to analyze changes in land use and territorial susceptibility in several basins in southern Spain, in Malaga. The main objective is to determine the incidence and susceptibility of these basins and to analyse how they have been affected by land use changes through an observation of land use changes and the application of the RUSLE model. This project will look at the differences between two contrasting basins. One basin with steep slopes and the emergence of more sensitive crops, such as vineyards, which will increase the fragility of Mediterranean basins after torrential events, causing the appearance of a higher risk of erosion, while the other basin will be differentiated with the appearance of clearings that decrease the steep slopes together with changes to more competitive crops, such as subtropical crops. The results demonstrate the correlation between land use and torrential events in Mediterranean basins with respect to their susceptibility in their ecogeomorphological system.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Transversalidad de discapacidad lineamientos 2006

El Concepto de discapacidad se relaciona con la capacidad de las personas para la realización de sus actividades de la vida diaria y en la forma como interactúan con su propio entorno para la realización de las mismas. Se pasa de una visión eminentemente médica a una visión social. Por ejemplo, la Organización Panamericana de la Salud en el 2001, señala que la participación restringida de las personas con discapacidad en las actividades educativas, laborales y sociales ya no se considera como el resultado de sus limitaciones sino como producto de las barreras sociales, es decir de la relación de las personas con el entorno

Bioactive compounds content and total antioxidant activity of two savoy cabbages

Se han identificado, cuantificado y comparado los compuestos bioactivos, así como la actividad antioxidante in vitro, de dos cultivos de repollo, Dama y Leticia, cultivados en el oeste de España. Encontramos que el cv. Dama, presentado en general, mejora los resultados en comparación con el cv. Leticia. El cv. Dama presentó una mayor concentración de clorofila (2,26 mg / 100 g de peso en fresco), un contenido fenólico total (102,71 mg de equivalente de ácido clorogénico / 100 g en peso fresco) y unos glucosinolatos totales intactos (195,22 μmol de equivalente de sinigrina / 100 g de peso fresco). Así, el cv. Dama exhibió unos valores más altos de actividad antioxidante in vitro.The bioactive compounds, as well as the in vitro antioxidant activity of two Savoy cabbage cultivars, Dama and Leticia, grown in west of Spain under similar conditions were identified, quantified and compared. We found that cv. Dama presented in general betters results when compared with cv. Leticia. Cv. Dama presented higher concentrations of chlorophyll a (2.26 mg/100 g fresh weight), total phenolic content (102.71 mg of chlorogenic acid equivalent/100 g fresh weight) and total intact glucosinolates (195.22 μmol of sinigrin equivalent/100 g fresh weight). Thus, cv. Dama exhibited higher values of in vitro antioxidant activity.María Fernanda Fernández León agradece la ayuda prestada por el Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria (INIA) Trabajo parcialmente patrocinado por la Junta de Extremadura y Fondos FEDER. Proyecto GR10006 Los autores agradecen el estudio de campo realizado en la Finca La Orden-Valdesequera (Junta de Extremadura) a partir de muestras de colpeerReviewe

Fungal Diseases in Two North-West Spain Vineyards: Relationship with Meteorological Conditions and Predictive Aerobiological Model

Grey mould, powdery mildew, and downy mildew are the most frequent fungal diseases among vineyards worldwide. In the present study, we analysed the influence of the fungi causing these diseases (Botrytis, Erysiphe, and Plasmopara, respectively) on two viticulture areas from North-western (NW) Spain during three growth seasons (2016, 2017, and 2018). The obtained results showed the predominant concentration of the Botrytis airborne spores, mainly from the beginning of the Inflorescence emerge phenological stage (S-5) until the end of the Flowering phenological stage (S-6). Erysiphe and Plasmopara airborne spore peak concentrations were more localised around Flowering (S-6) and Development of fruits (S-7) phenological stages. We applied a Spearman’s correlation test and a Principal Component Analysis to determine the influence of the meteorological parameters on the concentration of airborne spores. Taking into account the variables with the highest correlation coefficient, we developed multiple regression models to forecast the phytopathogenic fungal spore concentrations. The Botrytis model regression equation explained between 59.4–70.9% of spore concentration variability. The Erysiphe equation explained between 57.6–61% and the Plasmopara explained between 39.9–55.8%. In general, we found better prediction results for mean daily concentrations than sporadic spore peaksThe authors thank to the Xunta de Galicia (Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional) the financial support for the recognition as Grupo de Referencia Competitivo de Investigación (GRC GI–1809 BIOAPLIC, ED431C 2019/07), the Agrupación Estratégica de Investigación BioReDes (ED431E 2018/09), the CITACA Strategic Partnership ED431E 2018/07 (Xunta de Galicia, Spain) and the grant number AGL2014-60412-Rofthe Economy and Competence Ministry of Spain Government. González–Fernández E. is supported by the FPU Formación de Profesorado Universitario grant from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesS

Reproductive Biology of Olive Trees (Arbequina cultivar) at the Northern Limit of Their Distribution Areas

In recent years, North-western Spain has experienced an increase in the cultivated area of olive trees. The main propitious areas for olive groves are the Miño and Sil basins, as a consequence of their Oceanic climate with Mediterranean influence. The objective of this study is to determine the characteristics of reproductive biology, phenological and aerobiological behaviour of olive trees in the most northerly new plantation areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The study was carried out in an olive grove growing Olea europaea L. cv. ‘Arbequina’ located in Quiroga (Lugo) from 2016 to 2018. The phenological observations were based upon the main growth stages following the Biologische Bundesanstalt Bundessortenamt and Chemical industry (BBCH) scale. To predict the onset of flowering, a thermal time model was used in order to quantify the chill requirements, and growing degree-days were applied to determine the heat requirement. The production, viability and germination rates of Olea pollen were evaluated from samples selected in nine individual trees for the phenological survey. The aerobiological study was conducted by means of a Hirst-type pollen trap located in the centre of the olive grove. The vegetative period of the olive tree in the study area lasted an average of 259 days. The important phenological stage 6 (flowering) was the shortest stage. An average of 704 Chilling Hours (CH) with a threshold of 2.5 °C was required to overcome the chilling period, 1139 Growing Degree Days (GDD) for the beginning of flowering, and 4463 GDD for harvest. The pollen production per anther was 82589 grains (± 14084 pollen grains), with a rate of 81% viability and 12% pollen tube germination. The main pollen season started on average on May 20th and ended on June 16th with an average duration of 27 days and an annual pollen integral of 833 pollen grains. The low pollen concentrations could be a consequence of the Northern location of the forest, in a bioclimatic transition zone between the Eurosiberian and the Mediterranean areas, at the limit of olive tree distributionThis research was funded by the Xunta de Galicia (Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional) through the recognition as Grupo de Referencia Competitivo de Investigación (GRC GI-1809 BIOAPLIC “Biodiversidad y Botánica Aplicada”, ED431C 2019/07), the Agrupación Estratégica de Investigación BioReDes (ED431E 2018/09) and the BV1 Reference Competitive Research Groups ED431C 2017/62 (Xunta de Galicia, Spain). This work was partially funded by Xunta de Galicia CITACA “Cluster de Investigación y Transferencia Agroalimentaria de Campus del Agua” Strategic Partnership (Reference: ED431E 2018/07) and the AGL2014-60412-R Economy and Competence Ministry of Spain Government projectS

Hair cortisol concentrations in a Spanish sample of healthy adults

Hair cortisol concentration (HCC), as a novel promising method to retrospectively measure hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, is being increasingly studied. We tested the relationships between HCC and a range of possible confounding variables in a Spanish sample of healthy adults and pregnant women. In this sample of healthy Spaniards, results suggested an association between HCC and physical exercise and educational level. In pregnant women, the prevalence of HCC was higher than in non-pregnant woman, and was related to educational level. This study emphasises the need to determine the relationship between HCC and confounders such as sociodemographic and lifestyle variables in the general population and specific groups formed by individuals such as pregnant women.This research is part of a doctoral thesis. It has been economically supported by the "PSI2015-63494-P" I+D Project of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and FEDE

A Complex Model via Phase-Type Distributions to Study Random Telegraph Noise in Resistive Memories

A new stochastic process was developed by considering the internal performance of macro-states in which the sojourn time in each one is phase-type distributed depending on time. The stationary distribution was calculated through matrix-algorithmic methods and multiple interesting measures were worked out. The number of visits distribution to a determine macro-state were analyzed from the respective differential equations and the Laplace transform. The mean number of visits to a macro-state between any two times was given. The results were implemented computationally and were successfully applied to study random telegraph noise (RTN) in resistive memories. RTN is an important concern in resistive random access memory (RRAM) operation. On one hand, it could limit some of the technological applications of these devices; on the other hand, RTN can be used for the physical characterization. Therefore, an in-depth statistical analysis to model the behavior of these devices is of essential importance.Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (FEDER program) MTM2017-88708-P TEC2017-84321-C4-3-RGovernment of Andalusia (Spain) FQM-307Andalusian Ministry of Economy, Knowledge, Companies and Universities A-TIC-117-UGR18 FPU18/0177

Sinorhizobium fredii Strains HH103 and NGR234 Form Nitrogen Fixing Nodules With Diverse Wild Soybeans (Glycine soja) From Central China but Are Ineffective on Northern China Accessions

Sinorhizobium fredii indigenous populations are prevalent in provinces of Central China whereas Bradyrhizobium species (Bradyrhizobium japonicum, B. diazoefficiens, B. elkanii, and others) are more abundant in northern and southern provinces. The symbiotic properties of different soybean rhizobia have been investigated with 40 different wild soybean (Glycine soja) accessions from China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. Bradyrhizobial strains nodulated all the wild soybeans tested, albeit efficiency of nitrogen fixation varied considerably among accessions. The symbiotic capacity of S. fredii HH103 with wild soybeans from Central China was clearly better than with the accessions found elsewhere. S. fredii NGR234, the rhizobial strain showing the broadest host range ever described, also formed nitrogen-fixing nodules with different G. soja accessions from Central China. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing an effective symbiosis between S. fredii NGR234 and G. soja. Mobilization of the S. fredii HH103 symbiotic plasmid to a NGR234 pSym-cured derivative (strain NGR234C) yielded transconjugants that formed ineffective nodules with G. max cv. Williams 82 and G. soja accession CH4. By contrast, transfer of the symbiotic plasmid pNGR234a to a pSym-cured derivative of S. fredii USDA193 generated transconjugants that effectively nodulated G. soja accession CH4 but failed to nodulate with G. max cv. Williams 82. These results indicate that intra-specific transference of the S. fredii symbiotic plasmids generates new strains with unpredictable symbiotic properties, probably due to the occurrence of new combinations of symbiotic signals.España, Junta de Andalucía P11-CVI-7500España Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BIO2016-78409-