Puesta a punto del método de PCR en tiempo real para la cuantificación de Aspergillus carbonarius en uvas Vitis vinifera cv. Tannat

La ocratoxina A (OTA) es una micotoxina que ha sido detectada en uvas y vinos. Es producida por Aspergillus ochraceus, Penicillium verrucosum, Aspergillus carbonarius y especies pertenecientes al agregado Aspergillus niger. En los últimos años se ha descrito la presencia de Aspergillus aculeatus y Aspergillus japonicus en la superficie de uvas y su capacidad de producir OTA. A pesar de que la concentración detectada de cepas pertenecientes a la Sección Nigri fue < 100/g de uva, se han aislado, identificado y caracterizado 56 cepas de Aspergillus pertenecientes a la Sección Nigri. El 51 % fue identificado como A. niger, el 39 % como A. japonicus, 5 % como A. tubingensis -like y 5 % como A. foetidus. Ninguna cepa de A. carbonarius fue aislada. Debido a que esta especie ha sido descrita como la principal responsable de la presencia de OTA en uvas y vinos por su capacidad de producir altas concentraciones de OTA, se requiere un método más sensible que los métodos convencionales para detectar y cuantificar la presencia de A. carbonarius en uva. En este trabajo se optimizó la técnica de PCR en tiempo real para la detección y cuantificación de esta especie en uvas d e la variedad Tannat

A Microbial Co-Culturing System for Producing Cellulose-Hyaluronic Acid Composites

In this study, a co-culture system combining bacterial cellulose (BC) producers and hyaluronic acid (HA) producers was developed for four different combinations. AAB of the genus Komagataeibacter sp. and LAB of the Lactocaseibacillus genus were used to produce BC and HA, respectively. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction were used to investigate changes in BC-HA composites chemical and morphological structure. Water absorption, uptake, and antibacterial properties were also tested. Outcomes highlighted a higher bacterial cellulose yield and the incorporation of hyaluronic acid into the composite. The presence of hyaluronic acid increased fiber dimension-nearly doubled for some combinations-which led to a decreased crystallinity of the composites. Different results were observed based on the BC producer and HA producer combination. However, water holding capacity (WHC) in all the samples improved with the presence of HA, while water uptake worsened. A thymol-enriched BC-HA composite showed high antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli DSM 30083(T) and Staphylococcus aureus DSM 20231(T). Results could contribute to opening new applications in the cosmetics or pharmaceutical fields

Comparing Data Sources and Architectures for Deep Visual Representation Learning in Semantics

Multi-modal distributional models learn grounded representations for improved performance in semantics. Deep visual representations, learned using convolutional neural networks, have been shown to achieve particularly high performance. In this study, we systematically compare deep visual representation learning techniques, experimenting with three well-known network architectures. In addition, we explore the various data sources that can be used for retrieving relevant images, showing that images from search engines perform as well as, or better than, those from manually crafted resources such as ImageNet. Furthermore, we explore the optimal number of images and the multi-lingual applicability of multi-modal semantics. We hope that these findings can serve as a guide for future research in the field.Anita Verõ is supported by the Nuance Foundation Grant: Learning Type-Driven Distributed Representations of Language. Stephen Clark is supported by the ERC Starting Grant: DisCoTex (306920)

On the hydrolysis of the Dysprosium(III) ion

The hydrolysis of the Dysprosium (III) (Dy 3+ ) ion has been investigated at 25°C in 1, 2 and 3 molal (Na)ClO4 medium through a combined potentiometric‐coulometric methodology. At each perchlorate concentration the formation constants of the complexes DyOH 2+ , Dy2(OH)2 4+ and Dy5(OH)9 6+ have been determined. The values have then been extrapolated to zero ionic strength by using the Specific Interaction Theory. Analogies with the hydrolysis mechanism of other lanthanides are pointed out. This paper is just the first to be reported of a series of studies undertaken with the aim to prove that a single mechanism of hydrolysis applies to all the trivalent lanthanides and probably to the corresponding actinides, too radioactive to be investigated directly

Biorefinery of lemon peel waste using cold adapted yeasts from Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic regions

Cold adapted yeasts from soil samples from King George Island and Tierra del Fuego province were evaluated for their potential to produce extracellular pectinases. Pectinolytic yeasts were previously identified by 26S rDNA (D1/D2 domain) sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. Among 103 isolates, only eight showed pectinolytic activity at 20ºC, and only four -strains e9.2, 4.6, 5.9 and 8E- were capable to produce pectinolytic activity at 8ºC. Strain 8E identified as Guehomyces pullulans and the strains e9.2 and 5.9 identified as Cystofilobasidium infirmominiatum and Cryptoccocus adeliensis were selected for enzyme production under submerged fermentation. All the strains were capable to grow in presence of lemon peel. C. adeliensis 5.9 produced the highest enzyme activity at 24 h (4.8 U/ml) while C. infirmominiatum e9.2 and G. pullulans 8E showed considerable activity at 45 h (3.9 U/ml and 2.83 U/ml, respectively). It could be seen that at 10ºC enzyme/s remained active. Besides polygalacturonase (PGase), presence of other pectin-degrading enzymes in the culture supernatants was investigated. None of the strains produce neither pectin or pectate lyase activity nor rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase activity. Regarding pectin esterase activity, it was only produced by G. pullulans (0.022 U/ml). All the strains produced enzymatic pools that showed higher activity against highly esterified pectin than against pectin with 63% methoxyl. This behavior could be attributed to the presence of polymethylgalacturonase activity (PMGase) in its supernatant. β- glucosidase activity was detected in all supernatants. This is the first report on the capacity of these species to produce pectinases. Inulinase activity was detected in G. pullulans and C. infirmominiatum supernatants, while xylanase and cellulase activities were only detected in G. pullulans supernatants.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

Leuconostoc performance in soy-based fermentations – Survival, acidification, sugar metabolism, and flavor comparisons

Leuconostoc spp. is often regarded as the flavor producer, responsible for the production of acetoin and diacetyl in dairy cheese. In this study, we investigate seven plant-derived Leuconostoc strains, covering four species, in their potential as a lyophilized starter culture for flavor production in fermented soy-based cheese alternatives. We show that the process of lyophilization of Leuconostoc can be feasible using a soy-based lyoprotectant, with survivability up to 63% during long term storage. Furthermore, the storage in this media improves the subse-quent growth in a soy-based substrate in a strain specific manner. The utilization of individual raffinose family oligosaccharides was strain dependent, with Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides NFICC99 being the best consumer. Furthermore, we show that all investigated strains were able to produce a range of volatile flavor compounds found in dairy cheese products, as well as remove certain dairy off-flavors from the soy-based substrate like hexanal and 2-pentylfuran. Also here, NFICC99 was strain producing most cheese-related volatile flavor com-pounds, followed by Leuconostoc mesenteroides NFICC319. These findings provide initial insights into the development of Leuconostoc as a potential starter culture for plant-based dairy alternatives, as well as a promising approach for generation of stable, lyophilized cultures

Biorefinery of lemon peel waste using cold adapted yeasts from Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic regions

Cold adapted yeasts from soil samples from King George Island and Tierra del Fuego province were evaluated for their potential to produce extracellular pectinases. Pectinolytic yeasts were previously identified by 26S rDNA (D1/D2 domain) sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. Among 103 isolates, only eight showed pectinolytic activity at 20ºC, and only four -strains e9.2, 4.6, 5.9 and 8E- were capable to produce pectinolytic activity at 8ºC. Strain 8E identified as Guehomyces pullulans and the strains e9.2 and 5.9 identified as Cystofilobasidium infirmominiatum and Cryptoccocus adeliensis were selected for enzyme production under submerged fermentation. All the strains were capable to grow in presence of lemon peel. C. adeliensis 5.9 produced the highest enzyme activity at 24 h (4.8 U/ml) while C. infirmominiatum e9.2 and G. pullulans 8E showed considerable activity at 45 h (3.9 U/ml and 2.83 U/ml, respectively). It could be seen that at 10ºC enzyme/s remained active. Besides polygalacturonase (PGase), presence of other pectin-degrading enzymes in the culture supernatants was investigated. None of the strains produce neither pectin or pectate lyase activity nor rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase activity. Regarding pectin esterase activity, it was only produced by G. pullulans (0.022 U/ml). All the strains produced enzymatic pools that showed higher activity against highly esterified pectin than against pectin with 63% methoxyl. This behavior could be attributed to the presence of polymethylgalacturonase activity (PMGase) in its supernatant. β- glucosidase activity was detected in all supernatants. This is the first report on the capacity of these species to produce pectinases. Inulinase activity was detected in G. pullulans and C. infirmominiatum supernatants, while xylanase and cellulase activities were only detected in G. pullulans supernatants.Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Fermentaciones Industriale

Forum on Samir Gandesha - Johan Hartle (eds.), "Aesthetic Marx"

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The risk stratification of adverse neonatal outcomes in women with gestational diabetes (STRONG) study

Aims: To assess the risk of adverse neonatal outcomes in women with gestational diabetes (GDM) by identifying subgroups of women at higher risk to recognize the characteristics most associated with an excess of risk. Methods: Observational, retrospective, multicenter study involving consecutive women with GDM. To identify distinct and homogeneous subgroups of women at a higher risk, the RECursive Partitioning and AMalgamation (RECPAM) method was used. Overall, 2736 pregnancies complicated by GDM were analyzed. The main outcome measure was the occurrence of adverse neonatal outcomes in pregnancies complicated by GDM. Results: Among study participants (median age 36.8 years, pre-gestational BMI 24.8 kg/m2), six miscarriages, one neonatal death, but no maternal death was recorded. The occurrence of the cumulative adverse outcome (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.59–3.87), large for gestational age (OR 3.99, 95% CI 2.40–6.63), fetal malformation (OR 2.66, 95% CI 1.00–7.18), and respiratory distress (OR 4.33, 95% CI 1.33–14.12) was associated with previous macrosomia. Large for gestational age was also associated with obesity (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.00–2.15). Small for gestational age was associated with first trimester glucose levels (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.04–3.69). Neonatal hypoglycemia was associated with overweight (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.02–2.27) and obesity (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.04–2.51). The RECPAM analysis identified high-risk subgroups mainly characterized by high pre-pregnancy BMI (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.21–2.33 for obese; OR 1.38 95% CI 1.03–1.87 for overweight). Conclusions: A deep investigation on the factors associated with adverse neonatal outcomes requires a risk stratification. In particular, great attention must be paid to the prevention and treatment of obesity