Community Foundations: Learning from a Collective Experience: Process of Systematization

The report of a community foundation strengthening program involving eight Mexican community foundations: Tecate CF, Frontera Norte CF, Matamoros CF, Oaxaca CF, Puebla CF, Fundación Comunidad, Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense (FECHAC), and Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad (FIC). The report is also available in Spanish

Uso de la amilasa termoestable de Bacillus licheniformis en la digestibilidad in vitro del almidón de sorgo y maíz

Varias enzimas celulolíticas se han usado para incrementar la digestion ruminal de la fibra y mejorar la producción en rumiantes. Sin embargo, se ha dado poca atención a las enzimas amilolíticas como un tratamiento a los granos, a pesar de que la productividad del ganado puede mejorar con el uso de mezclas de enzimas externas, incluyendo amilasas y celulasas. Así, se incubó sorgo, sorgo rolado con vapor y maíz (500 mg de grano), con fluido ruminal para estudiar el efecto de la adición de alfa-amilasa de Bacillus licheniformis (400 mL) en la digestibilidad in vitro del almidón a las 12 h de fermentación. La incubación (bloque) fue repetida tres veces y los resultados se analizaron bajo un diseño de Bloques Completos al Azar Generalizado, utilizando la interacción bloque por tratamiento para estimar el error experimental. No se detectó interacción entre tipo de grano y enzima. La adición de la enzima termoestable incrementó (p<0.0001) la digestión in vitro del almidón (59.9 vs. 38.5%). La digestión in vitro promedio del almidón (p<0.0001) fue más baja en el sorgo (30.42%), intermedia en el sorgo rolado con vapor (50.72%), y más alta en el maíz (66.48%). La adición de la amilasa termoestable de Bacillus licheniformis incrementó la digestión in vitro del almidón del sorgo y maíz; por lo tanto, esta enzima podría mejorar la digestión in vivo del almidón y la eficiencia alimenticia de dietas basadas en granos con tasas bajas e intermedias de fermentación

Atomically thin mica flakes and their application as ultrathin insulating substrates for graphene

We show that it is possible to deposit, by mechanical exfoliation on SiO2/Si wafers, atomically thin mica flakes down to a single monolayer thickness. The optical contrast of these mica flakes on top of a SiO2/Si substrate, which depends on their thickness, the illumination wavelength and the SiO2 substrate thickness, can be quantitatively accounted for by a Fresnel law based model. The preparation of atomically thin insulating crystalline sheets will enable the fabrication of ultrathin defect-free insulating substrates, dielectric barriers or planar electron tunneling junctions. Additionally, we show that few-layer graphene flakes can be deposited on top of a previously transferred mica flake. Our transfer method relies on viscoelastic stamps, as those used for soft lithography. A Raman spectroscopy study shows that such an all-dry deposition technique yields cleaner and higher quality flakes than conventional wet-transfer procedures based on lithographic resists.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 1 graphical abstrac

Infinitesimal relative position vector fields for observers in a reference frame and applications to conformally stationary spacetimes

We introduce and analyze the concept of in nitesimal relative position vector eld between \in nitesimally nearby" observers, showing the equivalence between di erent de nitions. Through the Fermi-Walker derivative of in nitesimal relative position vector elds along an observer in a reference frame, we characterize spacetimes admitting an umbilic foliation. Su cient and necessary conditions for those spacetimes to be a conformally stationary spacetime are given. Finally, the important class of cosmological models known as generalized Robertson-Walker spacetimes is characterize

Photochemically driven tandem process in the construction of a biscyclopropylcage from 2,5-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone and terminal acetylenes

A photochemical two-step one-pot synthesis of novel biscyclopropyl-box-shaped compounds via the reaction of 2,5-dimethoxy-para-benzoquinone and monosubstituted alkynes is reported. The reaction mechanism for a process in which six new C–C bonds are formed is explored by means of experimental and computational techniques. The whole process occurs with complete selectivity, and only one densely decorated diastereomer is obtained; such a degree of control and substitution makes for a rather powerful and complexity-building process.Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. CTQ2017-85919-RXunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431E 2018/07Xunta de Galicia | Ref. EDC431C 2017/7

Deciphering the degree of proton-transfer in pyrido-cyclophanes by chiroptical outcomes in non-aqueous solvents

Proton transfer equilibria are of pivotal importance due to the role they play in a plethora of biological and phamaceutical processes. With the aim of explaining the relative position of the hydrogen to be transferred, we investigated the behavior of chiral pyrido-cyclophanes with different morphologies using circular dichroism in the presence of different acids in acetonitrile. The results showed that all three compounds underwent double protonation and formation of cascade ion-pairs, leading to the appearance of diagnostic signals in their ECD spectra. The presence of water fosters the crystallization of several intermediates that do not correspond to those in solution. By using Brønsted correlations, it was found that proton transfer from the acid to the pyridine occurred regardless of the acid's p K a .Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2021-128057NB-I00Xunta de Galicia | Ref. EC431C 2021/4

How small and medium enterprises can begin their implementation of ITIL?

La secuenciación de los procesos de la Biblioteca de Infraestructura de Tecnologías de Información (ITIL) en cuanto a su orden de implementación es un aspecto no abordado en sus libros. Otros marcos de trabajo y modelos de proceso relativos a la gestión de servicios (p.ej., COBIT, COSO y CMMI-SVC) son sufi cientemente explicados en la literatura y en sus libros guía. Sin embargo, la identifi cación del primer proceso a implementar no ha sido analizada en produndidad en los marcos de trabajo y modelos anteriores, y es también una pregunta difícil de contestar por las organizaciones, especialmente por las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMEs). Las PYMEs son organizaciones que tienen una abrumadora presencia en la economía mundial; los datos ofi ciales del Directorio Central de Empresas muestran que su rango de presencia en diferentes países alrededor del mundo es entre el 93% y el 99% del total de empresas legalmente registradas, y el promedio de contribución al empleo es alrededor del 60%. En consecuencia, la mejora de la gestión de servicios de tecnología de la información en este tipo de empresas es un asunto imperativo de lograr. Esta investigación se ha enfocado en dos estudios cuyo objetivo es ayudar a las PYMEs a seleccionar el proceso de ITIL por el que podrían comenzar a implementar ITIL. En el primer estudio, los datos fueron recogidos mediante una encuesta aplicada a PYMEs registradas en la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. El segundo obtuvo datos de empresas y expertos de países como España, Ecuador, Luxemburgo, Chile, Colombia, Noruega, El Salvador y Venezuela. Finalmente, los resultados de ambos estudios muestran que la tendencia para iniciar una implementación ITIL en las PYMEs apunta a uno de los procesos incluidos en la Operación del Servicio. ---------- ABSTRACT---------- Sequencing of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes related to their order of implementation is one of the pending issues in the ITIL handbooks. Other frameworks and process models related to service management (e.g., COBIT, COSO and CMMI-SVC) are quite well described in the literature and their handbooks. However, the identifi cation of the fi rst process to be implemented has not been deeply analysed in the previous frameworks and models, and it is also a complex question to answer for organizations, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, SMEs are the organizations that have the largest presence in the world economy; offi cial data of General Business Directory, show that their range of presence in different countries around the world is between 93% and 99%, and the average of employment contribution is around 60%. Consequently, the improvement of information technology service management is of vital importance to accomplish in this type of enterprises. This research has focused on two surveys that aim at helping SMEs to select the ITIL process by which starting the implementation of ITIL. In the fi rst survey, data were gathered through a questionnaire to SMEs registered in the region of Madrid. The second survey obtained data from experts and enterprises in countries as Spain, Ecuador, Chile, Luxembourg, Colombia, Norway, El Salvador, and Venezuela. Finally, the results of both surveys show that the tendency for starting an ITIL implementation in SMEs points to one of the processes included in the Service Operation

Effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the Hprt gene mutations in V79 hamster cells

The genotoxicity of anatase/rutile TiO nanoparticles (TiO NPs, NM105 at 3, 15 and 75 µg/cm 2) was assessed with the mammalian in-vitro Hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (Hprt) gene mutation test in Chinese hamster lung (V79) fibroblasts after 24 h exposure. Two dispersion procedures giving different size distribution and dispersion stability were used to investigate whether the effects of TiO NPs depend on the state of agglomeration. TiO NPs were fully characterised in the previous European FP7 projects NanoTEST and NanoREG2. Uptake of TiO NPs was measured by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TiO NPs were found in cytoplasmic vesicles, as well as close to the nucleus. The internalisation of TiO NPs did not depend on the state of agglomeration and dispersion used. The cytotoxicity of TiO NPs was measured by determining both the relative growth activity (RGA) and the plating efficiency (PE). There were no substantial effects of exposure time (24, 48 and 72 h), although a tendency to lower RGA at longer exposure was observed. No significant difference in PE values and no increases in the Hprt gene mutant frequency were found in exposed relative to unexposed cultures in spite of evidence of uptake of NPs by cells