Analyzing the Behavior of Cannabis Users during the COVID-19 Confinement in Spain

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our lives is unquestionable, including in the area of substance consumption. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in the pattern of cannabis use during the Spanish COVID-19 lockdown and confinement, and to analyze the variations in the reported motives for cannabis use and withdrawal symptoms. A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted between April and May 2020, using an instrument that included two time points. Time 1 collected retrospective information on the participants’ habits (N = 89; 73% male; mean age = 29.01) prior to confinement and Time 2 collected the same information during the confinement. Sociodemographic data were collected, as well as the frequency of substance use, cannabis use patterns, sources of cannabis, perceived availability of drugs and cannabis price, and the Marijuana Motives Measure questionnaire and the Cannabis Withdrawal Scale were used. Results showed a decrease in both cannabis use and consumption due to enhancement and social motives. All reported sources of cannabis experienced a reduction except for the Internet, which experienced a significant increase. There was a positive correlation between withdrawal symptoms and coping motives before and during the lockdown. These findings will allow professionals to better develop both prevention and intervention strategies

New methods of mass cultivation of nematodes

Motivation:  Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism used in biomedical research whose genome is completely sequenced, moreover, the physiology and development is well known [1]. C. elegans are usually fed with a bacterial-based medium [2].  Thanks to its rapid development by self-fertilization and its ability to be cultivated in both solid and liquid medium, C. elegans can be growth using liquid fermenters.  We want to explore new methods of massive production to use this nematode in different industrial processes.  Methods: In the laboratory, C. elegans is fed with E. coli OP50 on plate and with E. coli X1666 in liquid culture [2]. We have optimized the culture of nematodes with the bacterial strain PV333 in NGM plates. Then, they were transferred to liquid culture with S-Medium with 3% PV333. Finally, for the nematodes to be used in certain processes where high saline concentrations are required, we used an adapted strain to salt in liquid cultures with several NaCl concentrations (5 gr/L, 20 gr/L and 35gr/L).Results: Nematodes fed on PV333 showed a faster development compared to the E. coli control strain in both plate and liquid. The adaptation to salt of the nematodes was satisfactory up to the concentration of 20 gr/L and it is expected to achieve a good growth of the population at the concentration 35 gr/L NaCl. We expect to have a better nematode production yield using PV333 in liquid fermenters than using regular E. coli.Conclusions: Strain PV333 is a good substrate to produce nematodes massively and fast. In addition, the used of high concentration of salt will allow C. elegans to survive adverse conditions and to be used in diverse industrial procedures

Bacteriophages as an Up-and-Coming Alternative to the Use of Sulfur Dioxide in Winemaking

Certain acetic and lactic acid bacteria are major causes of quality defects in musts and wines, giving rise to defects such as a "vinegary," "sharp, like nail polish-remover" taste or preventing alcoholic and/or malolactic fermentation. Sulfur dioxide is the major tool currently used in the control of these bacteria in wine. The aim of this work was to isolate bacteriophages from musts and wine of different grape varieties that were able to eliminate lactic and acetic acid bacteria spoilages at the laboratory scale. Musts obtained from grape-berries of Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay and Moscatel and a red wine made with V. vinifera cv. Tintilla de Rota were used to isolate bacteriophages. Bacteriophages were obtained from each of the musts and the wine and belonged to the order Caudovirals and the family Tectivirals. They were isolated by classical virology methods and identified by electron microscopy. The host bacteria used in the study were lactic acid bacteria of the species Lactobacillus hilgardii, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Oenococcus oeni and the acetic bacteria Acetobacter aceti. A comparative study was performed by adding phage titrations and SO2 to musts and wines, which had been previously inoculated with bacteria, to study the effectiveness of bacteriophages against bacteria. The comparative study showed that some bacteriophages were as effective as sulfur dioxide at low concentration

Culturable Yeasts as Biofertilizers and Biopesticides for a Sustainable Agriculture: A Comprehensive Review

The extensive use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides has negative consequences in terms of soil microbial biodiversity and environmental contamination. Faced with this growing concern, a proposed alternative agricultural method is the use of microorganisms as biofertilizers. Many works have been focused on bacteria, but the limited literature on yeasts and their potential ability to safely promote plant growth is gaining particular attention in recent years. Thus, the objective of this review is to highlight the application of yeasts as biological agents in different sectors of sustainable agricultural practices through direct or indirect mechanisms of action. Direct mechanisms include the ability of yeasts to provide soluble nutrients to plants, produce organic acids and phytohormones (indole-3-acetic acid). Indirect mechanisms involve the ability for yeasts to act as biocontrol agents through their high antifungal activity and lower insecticidal and herbicidal activity, and as soil bioremediating agents. They also act as protective agents against extreme environmental factors by activating defense mechanisms. It is evident that all the aspects that yeasts offer could be useful in the creation of quality biofertilizers and biopesticides. Hence, extensive research on yeasts could be promising and potentially provide an environmentally friendly solution to the increased crop production that will be required with a growing populatio

Monitorización de víctimas con manipuladores aéreos en operaciones de búsqueda y rescate

En este trabajo se presenta el primer dispositivo de monitorización de víctimas para su colocación automática con robots manipuladores aéreos. Se trata de un sistema sensorial distribuido para la evaluación de forma continua del estado de salud de víctimas de catástrofes. Se describen el sensor diseñado y el sistema de comunicaciones, así como la aplicación mediante la colocación del sensor basado en el uso de sistemas aéreos no tripulados (UAS) o robots manipuladores aéreos. El dispositivo de monitorización continua ofrece ventajas sobre el sistema de triage actual ya que permite obtener datos de la evolución de cada víctima. Recoge medidas de las constantes vitales de las víctimas, que son publicadas mediante protocolos de Internet de las Cosas (IoT) que permiten su procesado de forma remota. Además, posee métodos basados en aprendizaje profundo para la detección automática de la posición relativa de la muñeca del brazo de una persona con respecto al manipulador aéreo. Se han realizado experimentos preliminares de obtención de medidas y de colocación de sensores mediante una versión preliminar del sensor, cuyos resultados se incluyenUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Early Risk Factors for Obesity in the First 1000 Days-Relationship with Body Fat and BMI at 2 Years

Background: Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of body fat. Several early developmental factors have been identified which are associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity and increased adiposity in childhood. The primary objective of the present study is to analyse the effect of various early risk factors on Body Mass Index (BMI) and body fat percentage at 2 years of age. (2) Methods: A prospective cohort study design was used, with the sample consisting of 109 mother-child pairs from whom data were collected between early pregnancy and 2 years old. Adiposity was determined based on skinfold measurements using the Brooks and Siri formulae. Mean comparison tests (Student's t-test and ANOVAs) and multiple linear regression models were used to analyse the relationship between early programming factors and dependent variables. (3) Results: Maternal excess weight during early pregnancy (beta = 0.203, p = 0.026), gestational smoking (beta = 0.192, p = 0.036), and accelerated weight gain in the first 2 years (beta = - 0.269, p = 0.004) were significantly associated with high body fat percentage. Pre-pregnancy BMI and accelerated weight gain in the first 2 years were associated with high BMI z-score (beta = 0.174, p = 0.047 and beta = 0.417, p = 0.000 respectively). The cumulative effect of these variables resulted in high values compared to the baseline zero-factor group, with significant differences in BMI z-score (F = 8.640, p = 0.000) and body fat percentage (F = 5.402, p = 0.002) when three factors were present. (4) Conclusions: The presence of several early risk factors related to obesity in infancy was significantly associated with higher BMI z-score and body fat percentage at 2 years of age. The presence of more than one of these variables was also associated with higher adiposity at 2 years of age. Early prevention strategies should address as many of these factors as possible.This study was supported by public funds, the ITI call (integrated territorial investment), developed by the Health Department of the Andalusian Government. The project has been 80% co-financed by funds from the FEDER operational program of Andalusia 2014-2020. Documen

Isolation of bacteriophages from must and wine for the elimination of contaminating bacteria as an alternative to the use of sulfurous

Acetic and some lactic acid bacteria are the main reason for the loss of quality of musts and wines, giving rise to defects such as "vinegary", "chopped" or preventing alcoholic and / or malolactic fermentation. The solution to this problem consists in the application of authorized bactericidal agents, such as sulfurous. The aim of this work is to isolate bacteriophages from musts and wines of different grape varieties, able to eliminate lactic and acetic acid bacteria spoilages. Musts obtained from grape-berries of Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay and Moscatel and a red wine made with the Tintilla de Rota variety were used to isolate bacteriophages. It were isolated by classical virology methods and identified by electron microscopy. Host bacteria used in the study were the lactic acid bacteria of the species Lactobacillus hilgardii, L. plantarum and Oenococcus oeni and the acetic bacteria Acetobacter aceti. A comparative study was performed on musts and wines, previously inoculated with bacteria, by phage titration and SO2 addition to study the effectiveness of bacteriophages against bacteria. Bacteriophages were obtained from all musts and wine, belonging to the order of Caudovirals and Tectivirals. The comparative study showed that a cocktail of bacteriophages at low concentration is as effective as sulfur

Improving an Industrial Sherry Base Wine by Yeast Enhancement Strategies

There is growing interest in yeast selection for industrial fermentation applications since it is a factor that protects a wine's identity. Although it is strenuous evaluating the oenological characteristics of yeasts in selection processes, in many cases the most riveting yeasts produce some undesirable organoleptic characteristics in wine. The aim of the present work is to improve an industrial yeast strain by reducing its hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production. To accomplish this, two different improvement approaches were used on said yeast: hybridization by mass mating and adaptive laboratory evolution, both performed through spore generation and conjugation, thus increasing genetic variability. Three evolved variants with lower H2S production were obtained and used as starters to carry out fermentation at an industrial level. Wine quality was analyzed by its principal oenological parameters and volatile aroma compounds, which were both corroborated by sensory evaluations. Significant differences between the produced wines have been obtained and a substantial improvement in aromatic quality has been achieved. Both hybrids were the most different to the control due to terpenes and esters production, while the evolved strain was very similar to the parental strain. Not only have organoleptic defects been reduced at an industrial level, more floral and fruitier wines have been produced.This research was funded by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) (grant number IDI-20141202) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (grant number FEDER-UCA18-106947)

Do Totiviruses of the veil of Flor yeasts provide an evolutionary advantage?

The main objective of this work was to isolate and characterize viruses that infect both Saccharomyces and other Flor veil-forming genera and suggest the possible consequences they can have on the processes of formation of the Flor veil of typical D.O. Jerez-Xèrés-Sherry wines. Results obtained show that different Flor veil yeast strains isolated in Fino wines and in Amontillados presented a great resistance to ethanol and all of them presented infection by Totiviruses. These were identified after the extraction of double-stranded RNA and amplified by multiplex PCR with specific primers for the most common viruses involved in the killer factor. Subsequently, the same strains of both the S. cerevisiae species and Wickerhamomyces anomalus were subjected to an antiviral treatment with ribavirin. After microbiological analysis with Methylene Blue (MB) plates and by rt-PCR, it was determined that most of them did not show killer factor and the viruses involved in it had been correctly eliminated under the treatment with ribavirin. Subsequently, competition and implantation experiments of the treated and untreated yeasts were carried out against their controls. The wines inoculated with yeasts infected by Totiviruses showed to be dominant in all cases

Culturable Yeast Diversity of Grape Berries from Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris (Gmelin) Hegi

Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris (Gmelin) Hegi is recognized as the dioecious parental generation of today's cultivars. Climatic change and the arrival of pathogens and pests in Europe led it to be included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 1997. The present work focused on the study of culturable yeast occurrence and diversity of grape berries collected from wild vines. Sampling was performed in 29 locations of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Italy, Romania, and Spain. In total, 3431 yeast colonies were isolated and identified as belonging to 49 species, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, by 26S rDNA D1/D2 domains and ITS region sequencing. Isolates of S. cerevisiae were also analyzed by SSR-PCR obtaining 185 different genotypes. Classical ecology indices were used to obtain the richness (S), the biodiversity (H'), and the dominance (D) of the species studied. This study highlights the biodiversity potential of natural environments that still represent a fascinating source of solutions to common problems in winemaking