Bioavailability of sinking organic matter in the Blanes canyon and the adjacent open slope (NW Mediterranean Sea)

Submarine canyons are sites of intense energy and material exchange between the shelf and the deep adjacent basins. To test the hypothesis that active submarine canyons represent preferential conduits of available food for the deep-sea benthos, two mooring lines were deployed at 1200 m depth from November 2008 to November 2009 inside the Blanes canyon and on the adjacent open slope (Catalan Margin, NW Mediterranean Sea). We investigated the fluxes, biochemical composition and food quality of sinking organic carbon (OC). OC fluxes in the canyon and the open slope varied among sampling periods, though not onsistently in the two sites. In particular, while in the open slope the highest OC fluxes were observed in August 2009, in the canyon the highest OC fluxes occurred in April-May 2009. For almost the entire study period, the OC fluxes in the canyon were significantly higher than those in the open slope, whereas OC contents of sinking particles collected in the open slope were consistently higher than those in the canyon. This result confirms that submarine canyons are effective conveyors of OC to the deep sea. Particles transferred to the deep sea floor through the canyons are predominantly of inorganic origin, significantly higher than that reaching the open slope at a similar water depth. Using multivariate statistical tests, two major clusters of sampling periods were identified: one in the canyon that grouped trap samples collected in December 2008, oncurrently with the occurrence of a major storm at the sea surface, and associated with increased fluxes of nutritionally available particles from the upper shelf. Another cluster grouped samples from both the canyon and the open slope collected in March 2009, concurrently with the occurrence of the seasonal phytoplankton bloom at the sea surface, and associated with increased fluxes of total phytopigments. Our results confirm the key ecological role of submarine canyons for the functioning of deep-sea ecosystems, and highlight the importance of canyons in linking episodic storms and primary production occurring at the sea surface to the deep sea floor

Enantiomeric separation of (-) and (+)- hyosciamine by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Interest in natural toxins produced by fungi or plants has grown in recent years due to its toxicity and its impact on feeding and animal feed and human food safety. Among these toxins, alkaloids and more specifically tropane alkaloids, are very significant and they are characterized by presenting anticholinergic activity. Tropane alkaloids are synthesized by the plants from Solanaceae family and in smaller quantities from plants from other families. This family of compounds involves more than 200 compounds, although the compounds most studied are scopolamine, atropine and (-)-hyoscyamine [1]. In the case of atropine, which is a racemic mixture of (-) and (+)-hyoscyamine, it is well known that (-)-hyoscyamine exhibit stronger anticholinergic effects than the (+)-hyoscyamine. Moreover, racemization occurs during the treatment process of the raw material and cooking procedures due to pH and temperature modifications, since only the (-)-hyoscyamine is naturally formed. For this reason, according to the EFSA interest in 2013 [1] it is necessary to develop methods which allows the separation of these two chiral enantiomers to elucidate the conditions that favor the transformation between both enantiomers, because there are not many studies that evaluate these processes. Therefore the aim of this study is the optimization of the enantioselective separation of (-) and (+)-hyoscyamine with a Chiralpak-AY3 (150x4.6 mm, 3 μm) analytical column in combination with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has been used. The developed method allowed the separation of the two target compounds in 10 min, using ethanol 0.1% diethanolamine as mobile phase. In addition, the influence of differents parameters, such as pH apparent or temperature, in the signal of the (-) and (+)-hyoscyamine was studied. Finally the method was applied to the determination of the target compounds in buckwheat samples. Performance characteristics, such as trueness (in terms of recovery), precision, linearity, detection limits (LODs) and quantification limits (LOQs) were studied. Suitable performance characteristics were obtained for a reliable determination of both enantiomers in the selected samples

Avaliação do impacto da formação em gerentes de instalações turísticas

Aware of the need to change their way of organizational management, the Cuban Tourism Ministry has imposed the implementation of competency management in this activity; They must recognize the impact of training currently receiving their managers in the performance of its entities which do not yet have an instrument to evaluate it. On this basis, the Ministry has selected a hotel to demonstrate the need for this in tribute to performance evaluation. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the impact of the training received by tour managers through a methodology designed to applied to a Cuban hotel upscale effect. The methodology consists of four stages and it incorporates the system of organizational competences, with indicators of efficiency,  and effectiveness that demonstrate that the evaluation of the current training received by its executives is inadequate. Conscientes de la necesidad de cambiar el modo de gestión organizacional, el Ministerio del Turismo cubano se ha impuesto la implementación de la gestión de competencias en esta actividad; para ello, deben reconocer el impacto de la capacitación que reciben actualmente sus directivos en el desempeño de sus  entidades para lo cual aún no cuentan con un instrumento para evaluarlo. Sobre esta base, dicho Ministerio ha seleccionado un hotel para demostrar la necesidad de esta evaluación en tributo de su desempeño. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo es: evaluar el impacto de la capacitación recibida por directivos turísticos mediante una metodología diseñada al efecto aplicada a un hotel cubano de alta categoría. La metodología aplicada consta de cuatro etapas e incorpora el sistema de competencias organizacionales, con indicadores de eficiencia, eficacia y efectividad. Se demuestra que la  capacitación actual recibida por los directivos de la instalación turística estudiada es deficiente.Conscientes da necessidade de mudar o modo de gestão organizacional, o Ministério de Turismo de Cuba impôs a implementação da gestão de competências nessa atividade; eles devem reconhecer o impacto da formação que recebem atualmente os seus gerentes no desempenho de suas entidades e que ainda não têm um instrumento para avaliá-lo. Com base nisso, o Ministério selecionou um hotel para demonstrar a necessidade desta avaliação em tributo de seu desempenho. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho é: avaliar o impacto da formação recebida por gestores turísticos utilizando uma metodologia especialmente desenhada aplicada a um hotel cubano de alta categoria. A metodologia consiste em quatro etapas e incorpora o sistema de competências organizacionais, com indicadores de eficiência, eficácia e efetividade. Eles demonstram que a formação atual recebida pelos gestores da instalação turística estudada é deficiente

Planetary system detection by estimating the covariance of coronagraphic lucky images

In this paper, we review two different methods to increase image contrast and propose the combination of both to detect faint companions surrounding a host star. Coronagraphy allows us to block light coming from the host star so that the residual star light can be reduced by several orders of magnitude. On the other hand, estimating the Covariance of Lucky Images (COELI) is a proven method to detect faint companions from ground-based telescope images. The dynamic range of the detection camera limits this technique. Hence, the application of COELI to coronagraphic images may increase the magnitude range of the detectable companions. COELI only requires the existence of a reference, which can be obtained using an existing stellar companion or using a coronagraphic mask designed to create a faint image of the host star.We provide an analysis of the combination of the techniques by processing coronagraphic images obtained by the William Herschel Telescope.We acknowledge funding from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, project AYA2016-78773-C2-1-P

Compuesto deuterados de flonicamida, procedimiento de preparación y uso de los mismos

ES2644163 A1 (27.11.2017) P201600466 (27.05.2016)Compuestos deuterados de flonicamida, procedimiento de preparación y uso de los mismos. La invención se refiere a un compuesto deuterado de flonicamida, de fórmula (I) en la que R1 es un grupo seleccionado entre -CH2-CN y -CH2-COOH; y R2 es H, y en la que al menos un átomo de hidrógeno en R1 o en R2 está sustituido por deuterio; a su procedimiento de obtención y a su uso como patrón para la detección y cuantificación de flonicamida y derivados mediante técnicas cromatográficas acopladas a espectrometría de masas.UNIVERSIDAD DE ALMERÍ

Tratamiento del Síndrome Diarreico en la preceba porcina utilizando Medicina Natural y Bioenergética

A phase II, open, non-sequential and randomized clinical trial was conducted with 45 preceba pigs suffering from diarrheal syndrome. The sample was divided into three groups with 15 animals each, a first group that was treated with acupuncture application (A), a second group (B) in which homeopathy was used and the third group as a control (C), which was administered enrocillin with the aim of assessing its therapeutic action, with respect to the natural medicine techniques that were applied in the remaining groups, and that allow reducing the use of antimicrobials in production. The statistical results prove the effectiveness of the treatment schemes applied using natural medicine and bioenergetics, as well as acupuncture, where muxibustion was used, 73.3% of pigs are recovered on the third day and 26.7% on the fifth day of treatment, on the other hand the most effective treatment corresponded to the Arsenicum album 30 CH where 86.7% of the pigs are recovered on the third day and 13.3% on the fifth day. The recovery of pigs treated with enrocillin manages to recover 73.4% on the fifth day. The treatments where acupuncture and homeopathy are used were shown to be (P <0.05) superior to the treatment with enrocillin, for the recovery of pigs. It was found that acupuncture and bioenergetic treatments, in addition to being more effective, were cheaper. Keywords: Homeopathy, diarrheal syndrome, acupuncture, moxibustion, alternative therapy, Arsenicum Album, natural medicine and bioenergetics.Se realizó un ensayo clínico fase II, abierto, no secuencial y aleatorizado con 45 cerdos de preceba que padecían del síndrome diarreico. La muestra se dividió en tres grupos con 15 animales cada uno, un primer grupo que fue tratado con aplicación de acupuntura (A), un segundo grupo (B) en el que se usó la homeopatía y el tercer grupo como control (C), al que se le administró enrocilina con el objetivo de valorar su acción terapéutica, con respecto a las técnicas de medicina natural que fueron aplicadas en los restantes grupos, y que permitan reducir el uso de antimicrobianos en la producción. Los resultados estadísticos prueban la efectividad de los esquemas de tratamientos aplicados utilizando la medicina natural y la bioenergética, así mediante acupuntura, donde se utilizó la muxibustión, se recupera el 73,3% de cerdos al tercer día y el 26,7% al quinto día de tratamiento, por su parte el tratamiento más efectivo correspondió al Ársenicum album 30 CH donde se recuperan al tercer día el 86,7% de los cerdos y el 13,3% al quinto día. La recuperación de los cerdos tratados con enrocilina logra recuperar al quinto día el 73,4%. Los tratamientos donde se utilizan la acupuntura y la homeopatía demostraron ser (P<0.05) superiores con respecto al tratamiento con enrocilina, para la recuperación de los cerdos. Se constató que los tratamientos con acupuntura y bioenergética además de ser más efectivos resultaron más económicos.. Palabras clave: Homeopatía, síndrome diarreico, acupuntura, moxibustión, terapia alternativa, Arsenicum Álbum, medicina natural y bioenergética

A Single Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Il17ra Promoter Is Associated with Functional Severity of Ankylosing Spondylitis

The aim of this study was to identify new genetic variants associated with the severity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). We sequenced the exome of eight patients diagnosed with AS, selected on the basis of the severity of their clinical parameters. We identified 27 variants in exons and regulatory regions. The contribution of candidate variants found to AS severity was validated by genotyping two Spanish cohorts consisting of 180 cases/300 controls and 419 cases/656 controls. Relationships of SNPs and clinical variables with the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity and Functional Indices BASDAI and BASFI were analyzed. BASFI was standardized by adjusting for the duration of the disease since the appearance of the first symptoms. Refining the analysis of SNPs in the two cohorts, we found that the rs4819554 minor allele G in the promoter of the IL17RA gene was associated with AS (p<0.005). This variant was also associated with the BASFI score. Classifying AS patients by the severity of their functional status with respect to BASFI/disease duration of the 60th, 65th, 70th and 75th percentiles, we found the association increased from p60 to p75 (cohort 1: p<0.05 to p<0.01; cohort 2: p<0.01 to p<0.005). Our findings indicate a genetic role for the IL17/ILRA axis in the development of severe forms of AS

The Rapid Antigen Detection Test for SARS-CoV-2 Underestimates the Identification of COVID-19 Positive Cases and Compromises the Diagnosis of the SARS-CoV-2 (K417N/T, E484K, and N501Y) Variants

Timely detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome due to coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) has been the gold- strategy for identifying positive cases during the current pandemic. However, faster and less expensive methodologies are also applied for the massive diagnosis of COVID-19. In this way, the rapid antigen test (RAT) is widely used. However, it is necessary to evaluate its detection efficiency considering the current pandemic context with the circulation of new viral variants. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of RAT (SD BIOSENSOR, South Korea), widely used for testing and SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis in Santiago of Chile. The RAT showed a 90% (amplification range of 20 ≤ Cq 30. In SARS-CoV-2 variant detection, RAT had a 42.8% detection sensitivity in samples with RT-qPCR amplification range 20 ≤ Cq <25 containing the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) K417N/T, N501Y and E484K, associated with beta or gamma SARS-CoV-2 variants. This study alerts for the special attention that must be paid for the use of RAT at a massive diagnosis level, especially in the current scenario of appearance of several new SARS-CoV-2 variants which could generate false negatives and the compromise of possible viral outbreaks