OPCIONES DE MANEJO SOSTENIBLE DEL SUELO EN ZONAS ARIDAS: APROVECHAMIENTO DE LA HALÓFITA Salicornia bigelovii (Torr.) Y USO DE BIOFERTILIZANTES EN LA AGRICULTURA MODERNA

The study and development of plant resources in arid-saline environments is increasing. Salicornia bigelovii is a halophyte of great interest. However, the productivity of these plants is limited by nitrogen availability. An alternative to chemical fertilizers are the plant growth promoting bacteria and mycorrhizae. In the present study was evaluated the effect of Glomus intraradices, three strains of rhizobacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Azospirillum halopraeferens) and two soil types (clayey and sandy) on Salicornia under greenhouse conditions. The inoculation of bacteria under conditions of sandy soil significantly stimulated growth and nutritional factor of Salicornia (NPK). Synergism was observed between G. intraradices and rhizobacteria. When inoculated bacteria in individually form, behaved with significant differences. There was synergism between G. intraradices and Klebsiella pneumoniae and A. halopraeferens in the uptake of N, the opposite happened with G. intraradices and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens with high significant values in the absorption of P and K. The soil was a determining factor in behavior and expression of the benefit of the microorganisms. Rhizobacteria and mycorrhiza in the study have potential for use as growth promoters in salicornia

Unusual properties of a usual support: bimorphic, self-assembling and hierarchic organization of SiO2

Trabajo presentado en el 11th Intl Symposium on Scientific Bases for the Preparation of Heterogeneous Catalysts, celebrado en Louvain-la-Neuve (Bélgica) del 6 al 10 de julio de 2014.Silica is one of the most used supports in heterogeneous oxidation catalysts due to its chemical inertness for such reactions. Its low interaction with the supported active phases usually results in their low dispersion. As a way to overcome this problem, big research efforts have been done to obtain high specific surface area silicas, such as mesoporous MCM-41, SBA-15 or hexagonal mesoporous silica (HMS). This work is dedicated to preparation of new structure supports of HMS. These new structures were formed due to three simultaneously occurring phenomena: hierarchical organization, biomorphism and self-assembling. Reports in the literature [1-3] are dedicated to one of these three phenomena; however, we did not find any description of simultaneous observation of two or three of them in one system. The closest analogous materials with similar biomorphic structures were reported for mixture of SiO2 and BaCO3 [4]. In this case Ba carbonate played a role of a template; while in our work we do not apply any templating substance. Moreover, in [4] biomorphic structures with sizes ≥ 300 µm were formed; while in the present work size of biomorphic SiO2 structures is at least three orders of magnitude smaller (~ 80 nm). These unusual structures of (pure and modified) SiO2 were used as supports for preparation of gold catalysts of CO and 1-octanol oxidation.The authors acknowledge funding for this research by CONACYT Project No 79062 (Mexico), PAPIITUNAM Project IN100908 (Mexico), Russian Government Program «Science» of Tomsk Polytechnic University 3.2702.2011; Target Federal Program project 14.B37.21.0058 (Russia); CSIC project 201180E104 (Spain), MICINN project ENE2009-14522-C05 (Spain) and E. Flores, R.Velez, Sh. Sandoval, I.Gradilla, J. Mendoza, J. Diaz, J. Peralta, M. Sainz for technical assistance.Peer Reviewe

PYL8 ABA receptors of Phoenix dactylifera play a crucial role in response to abiotic stress and are stabilized by ABA.

The identification of those prevalent abscisic acid (ABA) receptors and molecular mechanisms that trigger drought adaptation in crops well adapted to harsh conditions such as date palm (Phoenix dactylifera, Pd) sheds light on plant-environment interactions. We reveal that PdPYL8-like receptors are predominantly expressed under abiotic stress, with Pd27 being the most expressed receptor in date palm. Therefore, subfamily I PdPYL8-like receptors have been selected for ABA signaling during abiotic stress response in this crop. Biochemical characterization of PdPYL8-like and PdPYL1-like receptors revealed receptor- and ABA-dependent inhibition of PP2Cs, which triggers activation of the pRD29B-LUC reporter in response to ABA. PdPYLs efficiently abolish PP2C-mediated repression of ABA signaling, but loss of the Trp lock in the seed-specific AHG1-like phosphatase PdPP2C79 markedly impairs its inhibition by ABA receptors. Characterization of Arabidopsis transgenic plants that express PdPYLs shows enhanced ABA signaling in seed, root, and guard cells. Specifically, Pd27-overexpressing plants showed lower ABA content and were more efficient than the wild type in lowering transpiration at negative soil water potential, leading to enhanced drought tolerance. Finally, PdPYL8-like receptors accumulate after ABA treatment, which suggests that ABA-induced stabilization of these receptors operates in date palm for efficient boosting of ABA signaling in response to abiotic stress

Pirfenidone Accelerates Wound Healing in Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled Trial

Background. Diabetic foot ulcers are one disabling complication of diabetes mellitus. Pirfenidone (PFD) is a potent modulator of extracellular matrix. Modified diallyl disulfide oxide (M-DDO) is an antimicrobial and antiseptic agent. Aim. To evaluate efficacy of topical PFD + M-DDO in a randomized, double-blind trial versus ketanserin in the treatment of noninfected chronic DFU. Methods. Patients received PFD + M-DDO or ketanserin for 6 months. Relative ulcer volume (RUV) was measured every month; biopsies were taken at baseline and months 1 and 2 for histopathology and gene expression analysis for COL-1α, COL-4, KGF, VEGF, ACTA2 (α-SMA), elastin, fibronectin, TGF-β1, TGF-β3, HIF-1α, and HIF-1β. Results. Reduction of median RUV in the PFD + M-DDO group was 62%, 89.8%, and 99.7% at months 1–3 and 100% from months 4 to 6. Ketanserin reduced RUV in 38.4%, 56%, 60.8%, 94%, 94.8%, and 100% from the first to the sixth month, respectively. Healing score improved 4.5 points with PFD + M-DDO and 1.5 points with ketanserin compared to basal value. Histology analysis revealed few inflammatory cells and organized/ordered collagen fiber bundles in PFD + M-DDO. Expression of most genes was increased with PFD + M-DDO; 43.8% of ulcers were resolved using PFD + M-DDO and 23.5% with ketanserin. Conclusion. PFD + M-DDO was more effective than ketanserin in RUV reduction

Examining the immune signatures of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and the impact on neurodevelopment: Protocol of the SIGNATURE longitudinal study.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a valuable opportunity to carry out cohort studies that allow us to advance our knowledge on pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases. One of these opportunities is the study of the relationships between inflammation, brain development and an increased risk of suffering neuropsychiatric disorders. Based on the hypothesis that neuroinflammation during early stages of life is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and confers a greater risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, we propose a cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women and their newborns. The main objective of SIGNATURE project is to explore how the presence of prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and other non-infectious stressors generates an abnormal inflammatory activity in the newborn. The cohort of women during the COVID-19 pandemic will be psychological and biological monitored during their pregnancy, delivery, childbirth and postpartum. The biological information of the umbilical cord (foetus blood) and peripheral blood from the mother will be obtained after childbirth. These samples and the clinical characterisation of the cohort of mothers and newborns, are tremendously valuable at this time. This is a protocol report and no analyses have been conducted yet, being currently at, our study is in the recruitment process step. At the time of this publication, we have identified 1,060 SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and all have already given birth. From the total of identified mothers, we have recruited 537 SARS-COV-2 infected women and all of them have completed the mental health assessment during pregnancy. We have collected biological samples from 119 mothers and babies. Additionally, we have recruited 390 non-infected pregnant women