Preparado alimenticio para animales que protege, vehicula oralmente y mantiene la funcionalidad de moléculas de ADN con interés en producción y sanidad animal, así como el procedimiento para su obtención

ES2641601 A1 (10.11.2017) P201600417 (09.05.2016)Preparado alimenticio para animales que protege, vehicula oralmente y mantiene la funcionalidad de moléculas de ADN con interés en producción y sanidad animal, así como el procedimiento para su obtención. Las moléculas de ADN, en particular plásmidos de ADN, se incorporan a unas nano-micro-macrocápsulas de quitosano, alginato y otros componentes, y posteriormente se incluyen en el interior de una masa de ingredientes alimenticios sometidos a extrusión, granulación o a una combinación de ambos procedimientos, bajo condiciones que garantizan la integridad del ADN dentro de los gránulos de pienso. La posterior administración oral del preparado permite una dosificación precisa de la cantidad de ADN, lo protege durante el tránsito por el tubo digestivo y mantiene su viabilidad hasta los tramos del intestino en los que ejerce su efecto fisiológico. Los plásmidos así vehiculados expresan en animales vivos los genes de interés que portan en su construcción al menos durante 60 días.UNIVERSIDAD DER ALMERÍ

Claves dicotómicas en Educación Infantil

El presente trabajo se centra en el diseño y validación de una clave dicotómica sobre frutas en un aula de cuatro años de Educación Infantil. Dicha herramienta de enseñanza-aprendizaje se introduce en una plataforma de acceso libre, lo cual nos permite enfocar la actividad planteada en torno a la validación del instrumento a través del uso de la Pizarra Digital Interactiva. El trabajo recoge la puesta en práctica de la propuesta a través de mi vivencia personal. Asimismo, se proponen una serie de actividades en relación a la clave dicotómica diseñada. La aplicación de la clave en el aula permite que los alumnos manipulen, identifiquen, comparen, discutan sobre las características de las frutas seleccionadas en el diseño de la clave y trabajen de un modo cooperativo. La utilización de las frutas como tema de clave diseñada hace que las propuestas planteadas se enfoquen desde una perspectiva de Educación para la Salud en particular y de la enseñanza de las ciencias en general

Tracing recombinant bovine somatotropin ab(use) through transcriptomics: the potential of bovine somatic cells in a multi-dose longitudinal study

In the European Union, the use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) in dairy cattle is forbidden. Monitoring rbST (ab)use by its direct detection in animal matrices still remains a challenging task. New monitoring methods based on indirect detection of the substance are necessary. A new transcriptomic system based on the use of high-throughput real-time PCR in combination with somatic cells was developed to control rbST administration in dairy animals. A total of nine cows, separated into control and rbST-treated groups, were included in the study. A subcutaneous injection containing 500 mg of rbST was administered to the treated group every 14 days, up to a total of 12 doses. Milk somatic cells (MSCs) were sampled from each animal at different time points throughout 8 months of study. It was possible to obtain the transcriptomic profile of 18 genes in MSCs of rbST-treated and control groups, and using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis control and treated animals were discriminated. The transcription of CCND1, IGF-1R, TNF and IL-1β genes resulted strongly influenced by rbST treatment. The combination of MSCs, transcriptomic tools and statistical analysis has allowed the selection of four genes as potential biomarkers that could be used in a transcriptomic panel for monitoring rbST administration in cows.Authors acknowledge the fnancial support of the Spanish Innovation Program “Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad” (project AGL2014-58881-R)S

RELAP5 Simulation of PKL Facility Experiments under Midloop Conditions

[EN] Nuclear power plant risk has to be quantified in full power and in other modes of operation. This latter situation corresponds to low power and shutdown modes of operation in which the residual heat removal (RHR) system is required to extract the heat generated in the core. These accidental sequences are great contributors to the total plant risk. Thus, it is important to analyze the plant behavior to establish the accident mitigation measures required. In this way, PKL facility experimental series were undertaken to analyze the plant behavior in other modes of operation when the RHR is lost. In these experiments, the plant configurations were changed to analyze the influence of steam generators secondary side configurations, the temperature inside the pressurizer, and the inventory level on the plant behavior. Moreover, different accident management measures were proposed in each experiment to reach the conditions to restart the RHR. To understand the physical phenomena that takes place inside the reactor, the experiments are simulated with thermal-hydraulic codes, and this makes it possible to analyze the code capabilities to predict the plant behavior. This work presents the simulation results of four experiments included in PKL experimental series obtained using RELAP5/Mod3.3.This study is part of the work developed by the Polytechnic University of Valencia within a project of the OECD, in which authors are participating under the leadership of the Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear (STN/4524/2015/640). The authors thank PKL III, especially AREVA, program organizers for the information supplied.Villanueva López, JF.; Carlos Alberola, S.; Sánchez Sáez, F.; Martón Lluch, I.; Martorell Alsina, SS. (2017). RELAP5 Simulation of PKL Facility Experiments under Midloop Conditions. Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations. 2017:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6140323S111201

Short chain fatty acids commonly produced by gut microbiota influence salmonella enterica motility, biofilm formation, and gene expression

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are commonly produced by healthy gut microbiota and they have a protective role against enteric pathogens. SCFAs also have direct antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogens by di usion across the bacterial membrane and reduction of intracellular pH. Due to this antimicrobial activity, SCFAs have promising applications in human health and food safety. In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of four SCFAs (acetic acid, butyric acid, propionic acid, and valeric acid) in Salmonella strains isolated from poultry were determined. The e ect of subinhibitory concentrations of SCFAs in Salmonella biofilm formation, motility, and gene expression was also evaluated. Butyric acid, propionic acid, and valeric acid showed a MIC of 3750 g/mL in all strains tested, while the MIC of acetic acid was between 1875 and 3750 g/mL. Subinhibitory concentrations of SCFAs significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the motility of all Salmonella strains, especially in the presence of acetic acid. Biofilm formation was also significantly (p < 0.05) lower in the presence of SCFAs in some of the Salmonella strains. Salmonella strain. Salmonella Typhimurium T7 showed significant (p < 0.05) upregulation of important virulence genes, such as invA and hilA, especially in the presence of butyric acid. Therefore, SCFAs are promising substances for the inhibition of the growth of foodborne pathogens. However, it is important to avoid the use of subinhibitory concentrations that could increase the virulence of foodborne pathogen Salmonella.S

Uncertainty analysis of PKL SBLOCA G7.1 test simulation using TRACE with Wilks and GAM surrogate methods

[EN] The Nuclear Energy Agency auspices simulation of experiments in different facilities under several programs. One on them consisted of performing a counterpart test between ROSA/LSTF and PKL facilities, with the main objective of determining the effectiveness of late accident management actions in a small break loss of coolant accident. The results obtained by TRACE code for PKL experiment SBLOCA G7.1 (a scaled model of Konvoi reactor) were in good agreement with the experiments. However, in the simulation process, uncertainty was not accounted. Uncertainty, analysis, following the principles of Best Estimate Plus Uncertainty (BEPU) approach, must be performed to measure the effect of uncertainties on the evolution of safety variables of interest, such as the maximum of the Peak Cladding Temperature (PCTmax) in the experiment. In this paper we present a comparison between two uncertainty analysis techniques. The first technique is based on order statistics that makes use of Wilks' formula. The second technique is based on a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) that substitutes the thermal-hydraulic code, without and with consideration of errors in adjusting the GAM model. The comparison of the uncertainty analysis results makes use of several performance metrics such as coverage, Coefficient of Variation and conservativeness. Based on the results of these metrics it can be concluded that the GAMPE (GAM Plus Error) provides the best performance, in particular, when using small sample size, i.e. n = 59, 93. For larger sample sizes, i.e. n = 124, 153, GAMPE and Wilks' results presents similar performance.This work has been developed partially with the support of Programa de Apoyo a la Investigacion y Desarrollo of UPV (PAID). Authors are grateful to Spanish CSN (Consejo de Seguridad Nuclear) for the financial support of these researches: (Research Project SIN/4078/2013/640; MASA Project) and (Research Project STN/4524/2015/640; CAMP Project).Sánchez Sáez, F.; Carlos Alberola, S.; Villanueva López, JF.; Sánchez Galdón, AI.; Martorell Alsina, SS. (2017). Uncertainty analysis of PKL SBLOCA G7.1 test simulation using TRACE with Wilks and GAM surrogate methods. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 319:61-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.04.037S617231

Antimicrobial Activity of Five Apitoxins from Apis mellifera on Two Common Foodborne Pathogens

Antimicrobial resistance is one of today’s major public health challenges. Infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria have been responsible for an increasing number of deaths in recent decades. These resistant bacteria are also a concern in the food chain, as bacteria can resist common biocides used in the food industry and reach consumers. As a consequence, the search for alternatives to common antimicrobials by the scientific community has intensified. Substances obtained from nature have shown great potential as new sources of antimicrobial activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of five bee venoms, also called apitoxins, against two common foodborne pathogens. A total of 50 strains of the Gram-negative pathogen Salmonella enterica and 8 strains of the Gram-positive pathogen Listeria monocytogenes were tested. The results show that the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were highly influenced by the bacterial genus. The MIC values ranged from 256 to 1024 µg/mL in S. enterica and from 16 to 32 µg/mL in L. monocytogenes. The results of this study demonstrate that apitoxin is a potential alternative agent against common foodborne pathogens, and it can be included in the development of new models to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the food chainS

An Evaluation of Alternatives to Nitrites and Sulfites to Inhibit the Growth of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes in Meat Products

In recent years, the use of nitrites and sulfites as food preservatives has been a cause for concern due to the health problems that these additives can cause in humans. Natural products have been studied as an alternative, but most of them have hardly been applied in the food industry for technological and economic reasons. In this sense, organic salts such as sodium acetate are a good alternative due to their affordability. Thus, this study evaluated the capacity of sodium nitrite, sodium sulfite, a sodium acetate product (TQI C-6000), and chitosan to inhibit two important foodborne pathogens, Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes. The MIC of each chemical was in vitro evaluated and their antibacterial action was subsequently checked in situ using minced meat as a food model. MIC values of sodium nitrite (10,000 mg/L) and sodium sulfite (50,000 mg/L) for Salmonella enterica were higher than the values allowed by legislation (450 mg/L for sulfites and 150 mg/L for nitrites). Additionally, the sodium acetate product caused the inhibition of Salmonella enterica and Listeria at a relative low quantity. The two foodborne pathogens were inhibited in the food model with 1% of the sodium acetate product. Additionally, there were no significant differences between sodium nitrite, sodium sulfite, and sodium acetate products in the inhibition of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes in the food model. Thus, products based on sodium acetate can be an alternative to traditional preservatives in food productsS

High-resolution patterns of palaeoenvironmental changes during the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Climate Anomaly in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula

ABSTRACT: A high resolution core (9.7 yr cm-1 ) from the Chao de Veiga Mol raised bog (NW Iberian Peninsula) was analyzed to identify plant macrofossils, estimate peat humification and calculate hydroclimatic indices based on current bog species, with the overall aim of determining the climate conditions associated with evolution of the bog during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age. These proxies, together with historical and climate data, proved to be good indicators of the changes in bog surface wetness. Analysis: of the core led to identification of 9 different periods: two corresponding to the so-called Medieval Climate Anomaly (930 to 1345 AD, 1075–665 calibrated years before present [cal. yr BP]); four corresponding to the Little Ice Age (1345 to 1905 AD; 665–105 cal yr BP); and three corresponding to the last century (1905 to 2000 AD). The findings revealed a generally dry climate that lasted until the 14th century, followed by a transition to a long period with a more humid, but characteristically very variable climate, which ended at the beginning of the 20th century and was followed by a rapid transition to more humid conditions and finally, a change to drier conditions. The Medieval Climate Anomaly was indicated by the abundance of dry-adapted mosses (Leucobryum glaucum, Hypnum cupressiforme) and characterized by warm dry conditions and high levels of peat humification, with alternating wet phases. The LIA period was dated by a large abundance of Sphagnum species (an indicator of wetness) and a gradual increase in the humification index. However, four different climate phases were differentiated in this period. High-resolution reconstruction of the evolution of the CVM bog and the multiproxy approach have together enabled a more detailed identification of climatic variations in this area, which are generally consistent with the global models, as well as better definition of the elusive climatic oscillations in the last millennium and confirmation of the importance of local modulation of global models. The study provides new information and a detailed chronology of climatic events that will help to refine local modulation of the climate evolution model in the still quite unexplored region of the NW Iberian Peninsula, a key area for understanding the paleoclimatic dynamics in SW Europe.This research was funded with the support of the Xunta de Galicia government (Spain) through projects INCITE09-200-019-PR and Consolidacion e Estructuracion 2018 GRC GI- 1243-GEMAP, ED431C 2018/32

Detección cuantitativa de microorganismos resistentes a la tetraciclina en carne convencional y ecológica de ternera, cerdo y pollo

The use of antimicrobials has increased the number of resistant bacteria to these drugs; however, the organic production has restricted the use of these compounds. The objectives of this work were to assess counts of tetracycline-resistant bacteria using conventional microbiology, to compare these results with those obtained for tet(A) and tet(B) genes by qPCR and to investigate both genes in conventional and organic meat. Counts of mesophilic aerobic bacteria were higher in organic beef, while chicken meat obtained higher counts for Enterobacteriaceae. Only tet(B) was higher in conventional pork and chicken meat than in their organic counterparts. The tet(A) gene was found in almost 100% of samples and tet(B) gene changed according to the type of meat. The presence of tet genes suggests that they are widely distributed, especially tet(A), in food of animal origin, even in organic meat samples obtained from animals in which the use of antimicrobials is restrictedEl uso de los antimicrobianos ha incrementado sustancialmente el número de bacterias resistentes a estos fármacos sin embargo, la producción ecológica, ha limitado el uso de estos medicamentos. Los objetivos del trabajo fueron evaluar los recuentos obtenidos de bacterias resistentes a tetraciclina mediante microbiología convencional, obtener recuentos de bacterias con los genes tet(A) y tet(B)mediante qPCR e investigar la distribución de ambos genes en carne convencional y ecológica. Los recuentos de bacterias aerobias mesófilas fueron significativamente mayores en carne ecológica de ternera, mientras que los recuentos de Enterobacteriaceae fueron superiores en carne convencional de pollo. Sólo el gen tet(B) fue significativamente mayor en carne convencional de cerdo y de pollo que en sus homólogas ecológicas. El gen tet(A) se encontró en casi todas las muestras mientras que el tet(B) varió según la especie. La presencia de los genes tet sugiere que están ampliamente distribuidos, especialmente tet(A), en alimentos de origen animal, incluso en aquellos derivados de animales en los que el uso de antimicrobianos está seriamente restringidoThe authors are grateful to the Institute Pasteur for providing the E. coli BM13 (C600 RifR)/RP4 strain (tet(A)) and to the Health Protection Agency for providing the E. coli NCTC 50365 strain (tet(B)). Xunta de Galicia (project 09MRU010261PR) supported this work. We also thank Carmen Carreira and Rodrigo García for their technical supportS