Permanencia de compuestos bioactivos de frutos del caqui procesados por dos métodos de conservación, para la formulación de alimentos funcionales

Objetivos: El elevado consumo de alimentos ricos en nutrientes críticos, favorece el incremento de enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles como la diabetes mellitus (DM). La actividad antioxidante compuestos bioactivos presentes en el caqui (Diospyros kaki L), mejoran el control metabólico de la glucosa. Los objetivos del trabajo fueron: Analizar la presencia de determinados compuestos del caqui, vinculados con efectos antiinflamatorios y su permanencia en el tiempo en caquis frescos y procesados por dos métodos: APH (altas presiones hidrostáticas) y liofilización. Formular productos alimenticios utilizando el caqui que preservó mayor cantidad de compuestos bioactivos

Research priorities relating to communication and swallowing for people with learning disabilities across the lifespan

Purpose This research priority setting partnership (PSP) aims to collaboratively identify the “top ten” research priorities relating to communication and swallowing for children and adults with learning disabilities, across the lifespan in the UK, using a modified James Lind Alliance approach. Design/methodology/approach A steering group and reference group were established to oversee the PSP. A survey of speech and language therapists (SLTs) resulted in 157 research suggestions. These were further developed into 95 research questions through a multi-stakeholder workshop. Questions were prioritised via an online card-sort activity completed by SLTs, health-care or education professionals and carers. Research questions were analysed thematically. Ten adults with learning disabilities were supported to assign ratings to themes reflecting their prioritisation. The top ten research priorities were identified by combining results from these activities. Findings The top ten research priorities related to intervention, outcome measurement and service delivery around communication and dysphagia. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first UK-wide research PSP on learning disabilities and speech and language therapy across the lifespan. It uses a novel approach to incorporate the preferences of people with learning disabilities in the prioritisation

Research priorities to improve the health of children and adults with dysphagia: a National Institute of Health Research and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists research priority setting partnership

Objective To conduct the first UK-wide research priority setting project informing researchers and funders of critical knowledge gaps requiring investigation to improve the health and well-being of patients with eating, drinking and swallowing disorders (dysphagia) and their carers. Design A priority setting partnership between the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists using a modified nominal group technique. A steering group and NIHR representatives oversaw four project phases: (1) survey gathering research suggestions, (2) verification and aggregation of suggestions with systematic review research recommendations, (3) multistakeholder workshop to develop research questions, (4) interim priority setting via an online ranking survey and (5) final priority setting. Setting UK health services and community. Participants Patients with dysphagia, carers and professionals who work with children and adults with dysphagia from the UK. Results One hundred and fifty-six speech and language therapists submitted 332 research suggestions related to dysphagia. These were mapped to 88 research recommendations from systematic reviews to form 24 ‘uncertainty topics’ (knowledge gaps that are answerable by research). Four patients, 1 carer and 30 healthcare professionals collaboratively produced 77 research questions in relation to these topics. Thereafter, 387 patients, carers and professionals with experience of dysphagia prioritised 10 research questions using an interim prioritisation survey. Votes and feedback for each question were collated and reviewed by the steering and dysphagia reference groups. Nine further questions were added to the long-list and top 10 lists of priority questions were agreed. Conclusion Three top 10 lists of topics grouped as adults, neonates and children, and all ages, and a further long list of questions were identified by patients, carers and healthcare professionals as research priorities to improve the lives of those with dysphagia

Editorial Perspective: Speaking up for developmental language disorder - the top 10 priorities for research

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions, yet is chronically underserved, with far fewer children receiving clinical services than expected from prevalence estimates, and very little research attention relative to other neurodevelopmental conditions of similar prevalence and severity. This editorial describes a research priority-setting exercise undertaken by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, which aims to redress this imbalance. From consultations with researchers, practitioners and individuals with lived experience, 10 research priorities emerge. Our goal is to share these priorities with the wider research community, to raise awareness and encourage research collaboration to improve outcomes for young people with DLD

Rapid Plant Identification Using Species- and Group-Specific Primers Targeting Chloroplast DNA

Plant identification is challenging when no morphologically assignable parts are available. There is a lack of broadly applicable methods for identifying plants in this situation, for example when roots grow in mixture and for decayed or semi-digested plant material. These difficulties have also impeded the progress made in ecological disciplines such as soil- and trophic ecology. Here, a PCR-based approach is presented which allows identifying a variety of plant taxa commonly occurring in Central European agricultural land. Based on the trnT-F cpDNA region, PCR assays were developed to identify two plant families (Poaceae and Apiaceae), the genera Trifolium and Plantago, and nine plant species: Achillea millefolium, Fagopyrum esculentum, Lolium perenne, Lupinus angustifolius, Phaseolus coccineus, Sinapis alba, Taraxacum officinale, Triticum aestivum, and Zea mays. These assays allowed identification of plants based on size-specific amplicons ranging from 116 bp to 381 bp. Their specificity and sensitivity was consistently high, enabling the detection of small amounts of plant DNA, for example, in decaying plant material and in the intestine or faeces of herbivores. To increase the efficacy of identifying plant species from large number of samples, specific primers were combined in multiplex PCRs, allowing screening for multiple species within a single reaction. The molecular assays outlined here will be applicable manifold, such as for root- and leaf litter identification, botanical trace evidence, and the analysis of herbivory

Ecological plasticity governs ecosystem services in multilayer networks

Agriculture is under pressure to achieve sustainable development goals for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Services in agro-ecosystems are typically driven by key species, and changes in the community composition and species abundance can have multifaceted effects. Assessment of individual services overlooks co-variance between different, but related, services coupled by a common group of species. This partial view ignores how effects propagate through an ecosystem. We conduct an analysis of 374 agricultural multilayer networks of two related services of weed seed regulation and gastropod mollusc predation delivered by carabid beetles. We found that weed seed regulation increased with the herbivore predation interaction frequency, computed from the network of trophic links between carabids and weed seeds in the herbivore layer. Weed seed regulation and herbivore interaction frequencies declined as the interaction frequencies between carabids and molluscs in the carnivore layer increased. This suggests that carabids can switch to gastropod predation with community change, and that link turnover rewires the herbivore and carnivore network layers affecting seed regulation. Our study reveals that ecosystem services are governed by ecological plasticity in structurally complex, multi-layer networks. Sustainable management therefore needs to go beyond the autecological approaches to ecosystem services that predominate, particularly in agriculture

Media Representation and Human Trafficking: How Anti-Trafficking Discourse Affects Trafficked Persons

Competing representations of human trafficking in the media and within the movement have contributed to a general confusion of public perceptions of human trafficking as a social phenomenon. Various activist and political groups have, over the years, divided, delineated and classified trafficking into a series of categories including sex trafficking, labor trafficking and child exploitation. These categories have become an integral part of the collective understanding of human trafficking and they have played a primary role in the crafting of national and international anti-trafficking legislation. This paper stems from a master‘s thesis which analyzes the discourse on human trafficking, its understanding (and misunderstanding) within the public sphere, and manifestations of political violence through discursive divisions and fragmentations. The paper focuses specifically upon media representation of human trafficking and applies contemporary agenda-setting theory to a study of media coverage of immigration, prostitution and crime. The paper examines how current representations of trafficking ignore structural factors such as globalization, corporate hegemony and militarization, focusing instead on prostitution and migration and contributing to the marginalization of women, migrants and the global poor. Conference participants will learn about how media representation affects trafficked persons and why it is important for anti-trafficking activists, service providers and law enforcement agents to take care in how they present the problem in the media. Powerpoint slides to accompany the paper are attached below as a Related file

Tools for discrimination and analysis of lake bacterioplankton subgroups measured by flow cytometry in a high-resolution depth profile

9 páginas, 4 figuras, 1 tabla.A 24 m deep mesotrophic lake was sampled at 25 cm depth intervals throughout the whole water column for flow cytometric analysis of bacterioplankton, with the object of (1) assessing the suitability of image analysis algorithms to objectively discriminate bacterial subgroups in natural samples; (2) testing 2 models to evaluate the effect of changes in signal intensity versus changes in the relative abundance of the individual subgroups on bulk cell properties of the bacterial community; and (3) to examine the suitability of a numerical index for quantifying small-scale spatial variability in cell abundance. Within the heterotrophic bacterial community, 5 subgroups were detected by image analysis of DAPI fluorescence versus side scatter (SSC) histograms. On average for the whole profile, 91% (range: 86 to 94%) of all measured bacteria belonged to the 5 subgroups. Along the depth profile, abundances within these subgroups showed trends which were different from that for the bacterial community as a whole. The comparison of the 2 numerical models suggested that shifts in average DAPI and SSC signals of the whole community are better explained by changes in relative abundance within individual subgroups rather than by signal shifts within individual subgroups. Spatial variability in cell abundance for most of the heterotrophic bacterioplankton subgroups was highest in the upper 4 m of the water column, corresponding to the zone of turbulent mixing, and between 9 and 12 m, at the depth of maximum picocyanobacterial abundance. Our results show that flow cytometry in combination with image analysis of DAPI–SSC histograms at the level of bacterial subgroups allow objective assessment of the structure of the bacterial community and underpin potential sources of small-scale variability in bacterioplankton distribution.This work was supported by the Austrian Science Foundation through grants P-12718-BIO and P-14387-BIO. Participation of J.C. and J.P. was made possible through the collaborative scientific program between Austria and Spain (Grant ÖAD #17/2002).Peer reviewe