Establecimiento in vitro de café var. caturra roja a partir de microesquejes

The objective was to establish a protocol for the disinfection and the establishment of microcuttings of coffee Coffea arabica Var. Red Caturra from the field, as a preliminary stage for in vitro multiplication. The design used was the randomized complete block design (DBCA), the treatments for disinfection were t1, t2 and t3; while, in the establishment phase, they were t1, t2, t3, t4 and t5. It was found that the disinfection protocol that worked best was t3 that used benomyl and gentamicin for 10 minutes, then the use of sodium hypochlorite, bleach, at 1,3% for 30 minutes, in base on the fact that it favored greater survival and less phenolization of the explants. The best of the establishment was the t5 that had as ingredients MS plus BAP at 0,5 mg l-1El objetivo fue establecer un protocolo para la desinfección y el establecimiento de microesquejes de café Coffea arabica Var. Caturra Rojo provenientes de campo, como etapa previa para la multiplicación in vitro. El diseño utilizado fue el diseño en bloques completos al azar (DBCA), los tratamientos para desinfección fueron t1, t2 y t3; mientras que, en la fase de establecimiento fueron t1, t2, t3, t4 y t5. Se encontró que el protocolo de desinfección que mejor funcionó fue t3 que utilizó benomilo y gentamicina por 10 minutos, luego el uso de hipoclorito de sodio, lejía, a 1,3 % por 30 minutos, en base a que favoreció una mayor sobrevivencia y menor fenolización de los explantes. El mejor medio de establecimiento fue el t5 que tuvo como ingredientes MS más BAP a 0,5 mg l-1

Combining interdisciplinarity and creative design - A powerful strategy to increase palliative care awareness within a university community

Society’s understanding of palliative care has room for improvement. Although the World Health Organisation highlighted palliative care as a human right, many people still lack access to this crucial form of treatment. The paucity of understanding and social discussion surrounding palliative care has, moreover, negatively impacted its development and implementation. This study therefore aims to construct a strategy that will empower a specific community to solve their own palliative care-related misunderstandings. Using Participatory Action Research and Design Thinking methodologies and adopting the strategy of Public Engagement in Responsible Research and Innovation, a design group worked for three months through five virtual focus groups. Moving through the phases of empathizing, defining, ideation, prototyping, and testing, the design group generated 33 ideas to address palliative care-related problems. Ideas related to self- learning, the use of technology, and the exchange of personal experiences are highlighted as innovative ways to promote palliative care. The design group adopted a variety of strategies, used disruptive tools, and created and tested rapid prototypes to discover novel solutions. This method of working, centred on interdisciplinarity and creativity, presents an efficient way to involve the members of a community in solving their own problems

A systematic review of disease related stigmatization in patients living with prostate cancer

Background Prostate cancer has been shown to be susceptible to significant stigmatisation, because to a large extent it is concealable, it has potentially embarrassing sexual symptoms and has significant impact on the psychosocial functioning. Methods This review included studies that focused on qualitative and/or quantitative data, where the study outcome was prostate cancer and included a measure of stigmatization. Electronic databases (CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO, and the Joanna Briggs Institute) and one database for grey literature Opengrey.eu, were screened. We used thematic analysis, with narrative synthesis to analyse these data. We assessed risk of bias in the included studies using the RoBANS. Results In total, 18 studies met review inclusion criteria, incorporating a total of 2295 participants. All studies recruited participants with prostate cancer, however four studies recruited participants with other cancers such as breast cancer and lung cancer. Of the 18 studies, 11 studies evaluated perceived or felt stigma; four studies evaluated internalised or self-stigma; three studies evaluated more than one stigma domain. Discussion We found that patients living with prostate cancer encounter stigmatisation that relate to perception, internalisation, and discrimination experiences. We also identified several significant gaps related to the understanding of prostate cancer stigmatization, which provides an opportunity for future research to address these important public health issues

Comparative study of ornamental granite cleaning using femtosecond and nanosecond pulsed lasers

Granite has been widely used as a structural and ornamental element in public works and buildings. In damp climates it is almost permanently humid and its exterior surfaces are consequently biologically colonized and blackened We describe a comparative analysis of the performance of two different laser sources in removing biological crusts from granite surfaces: nanosecond Nd:YVO4 laser (355 nm) and femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser at its fundamental wavelength (790 nm) and second harmonic (395 nm). The granite surface was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection – Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and profilometry, in order to assess the degree of cleaning and to characterize possible morphological and chemical changes caused by the laser sources.This work is supported by the CTM2010-19584, FIS2009-09522 and CSD2007-00013 research projects (Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spanish Government) and by SA086A12-2 project (Junta de Castilla y León, Spain). FTIR, profilometry and SEM analyses were conducted at the University of Vigo's research centre (CACTI)

Evaluación en campo de material absorbente para recogida de hidrocarburos del petróleo en agua.

Las regulaciones ambientales mundiales recientes para el vertimiento de petróleo en suelos y aguas han obligado a la aplicación de soluciones utilizando materiales absorbentes. Por este motivo, existe la tendencia a buscar materiales de fibras naturales, por su alta capacidad de absorción y biodegradabilidad. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo, evaluar la capacidad de absorción de hidrocarburos en agua superficial de un material absorbente elaborado a partir de   bagazo modificado. Para determinar dicha capacidad se realizaron pruebas en condiciones dinámicas en una fase acuosa en movimiento (condiciones hidrofílicas) conteniendo hidrocarburos (condiciones oleofílicas) y se realizaron dos pruebas de acuerdo al método (F 726-06 ASTM, 2006) para absorbentes tipo II. La prueba de campo se ejecutó en la laguna de residuales de una Empresa Comercializadora de Combustibles depositando almohadillas absorbentes con un peso base seca de 4 kg. Transcurrido el tiempo de la prueba dinámica fueron retiradas y pesadas. La cantidad de hidrocarburo absorbido se determinó por el método gravimétrico. La mejor capacidad de absorción fue de 2,24 g de hidrocarburo/4 kg de absorbente, obtenida a las 24 horas de haber depositado el material, siendo estos resultados similares a los reflejados en la literatura para este tipo de materia

Micrometeoroid Events in LISA Pathfinder

The zodiacal dust complex, a population of dust and small particles that pervades the Solar System, provides important insight into the formation and dynamics of planets, comets, asteroids, and other bodies. Here we present a new set of data obtained using a novel technique: direct measurements of momentum transfer to a spacecraft from individual particle impacts. This technique is made possible by the extreme precision of the instruments flown on the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, a technology demonstrator for a future space-based gravitational wave observatory that operated near the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point from early 2016 through Summer of 2017. Using a simple model of the impacts and knowledge of the control system, we show that it is possible to detect impacts and measure properties such as the transferred momentum (related to the particle's mass and velocity), direction of travel, and location of impact on the spacecraft. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic search for impacts during 4348 hours of Pathfinder data. We report a total of 54 candidates with momenta ranging from 0.2$\,\mu\textrm{Ns}$ to 230$\,\mu\textrm{Ns}$. We furthermore make a comparison of these candidates with models of micrometeoroid populations in the inner solar system including those resulting from Jupiter-family comets, Oort-cloud comets, Hailey-type comets, and Asteroids. We find that our measured population is consistent with a population dominated by Jupiter-family comets with some evidence for a smaller contribution from Hailey-type comets. This is in agreement with consensus models of the zodiacal dust complex in the momentum range sampled by LISA Pathfinder.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, accepted in Ap

Application of exogenous xyloglucan oligosaccharides affects molecular responses to salt stress in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings

Soil salinity is one of the most devastating problems which reduces crop production and increases desertification. New approaches to overcome the negative effect of salinity on plants include the use of plant biostimulants, such as Xyloglucan oligosaccharides (XGOs) derived from the breakdown of xyloglucans from plant cell walls. The present study aimed at verifying the influence of exogenous XGOs derived from Tamarindus indica L. cell walls, on Arabidopsis thaliana’s tolerance to salt stress by understanding the gene expression, enzymatic and metabolic changes resulting from its application. A. thaliana plants were grown in liquid media and after 15 days they were treated by a salt shock with 100 mM of sodium chloride, with or without XGOs at 0.1 mg L-1. Gene expression of four oxidative stress markers as well as catalase and peroxidase activities and content of glutathione, total carbonyl, polyphenolics and chlorophyll were quantified. Bioinformatic models were used to obtain the co-expression network of the four oxidative stress response gene markers from microarray data of Arabidopsis under salt stress. Results showed that in saline conditions, XGOs dramatically increased catalase gene expression and enzymatic activity, peroxidase activity, and chlorophyll a/b ratio, while reducing protein oxidation and total polyphenols. Thus, XGOs may act to counteract negative effects of oxidative stress under saline conditions

Propuesta de disposición final del residual de brea de hulla generado en la industria farmacéutica

El residuo de brea de hulla está formado por los sedimentos acumulados de la preparación del licor Picis Carbonis, ingrediente del producto farmacéutico Champú de Brea. Este residuo se acumuló durante años sin que se aplicara una opción de manejo final para el mismo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue proponer alternativas de disposición final del residuo de brea de hulla. Se realizó la caracterización físico-química y microbiológica, utilizando métodos establecidos y a partir de los resultados obtenidos se analizaron como posibles alternativas de disposición: la biorremediación, la incorporación en cementos asfálticos y la dosificación a combustibles pesados (crudo nacional y fuel oíl). Los resultados demostraron que es factible dosificar y mezclar el residuo con los combustibles pesados, siendo la mejor variante la mezcla con crudo nacional en las proporciones 1, 3, 5 y 10%. Se propuso aplicar esta variante en instalaciones existentes, lo cual es ambientalmente aceptable teniendo en cuenta los valores de concentración de metales presentes en el mismo. Por otro lado, se demostró que las otras dos alternativas evaluadas no resultaron viables. Se recomendaron las medidas a cumplir para el almacenamiento, transportación y disposición segura de este desecho peligroso que incluye su aprovechamiento energético. Se manifestó la factibilidad técnica y ambiental de este residual mezclado con combustible, así como la importancia de la disposición segura de un desecho peligroso y la necesidad del cumplimiento del manejo adecuado del mism

A formal classification of the Lygeum spartum vegetation of the Mediterranean Region

Aims We examined local and regional contribution on the grasslands dominated by Lygeum spartum from Southern Europe and North Africa to produce a formalised classification of this vegetation and to identify main factors driving its plant species composition. Location Mediterranean Basin and Iberian Peninsula. Methods We used a dataset of 728 relevés, which were resampled to reduce unbalanced sampling effort, resulting in a dataset of 568 relevés and 846 taxa. We classified the plots by TWINSPAN, interpreted the resulting pools, and used them to develop formal definitions of phytosociological alliances characterised by L. spartum vegetation. The definitions were included in an expert system to assist automatic vegetation classification. We related the alliances to climatic factors and described their biogeographical features and ecological preferences. The floristic relationships between these alliances were analysed and visualised using distance‐based redundancy analysis. Results We defined eleven alliances of L. spartum vegetation, including the newly described Launaeo laniferae‐Lygeion sparti from SW Morocco and the Noaeo mucronatae‐Lygeion sparti from the Algerian highlands and NE Morocco. Biogeographical, climatic, and edaphic factors were revealed as putatively driving the differentiation between the alliances. The vegetation of clayey slopes and inland salt basins displayed higher variability in comparison with those of coastal salt marshes. Main conclusions The most comprehensive formal classification, accompanied by an expert system, of the L. spartum vegetation was formulated. The expert system, containing the formal definitions of the phytosociological alliances, will assist in identification of syntaxonomic position of new datasets