Planteamiento de una metodología de mejora continua en la Tutorización y elaboración de Trabajos Fin de Grado

Fac. de Comercio y TurismoFALSEsubmitte

El Trabajo Fin de Grado y su tutorización: un enfoque integrador entre áreas y participantes implicados

Fac. de Comercio y TurismoFALSEsubmitte

Rapid assessment of non-flying mammals in three levels of human disturbance, Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica

Introduction: Change of natural land use has become major a driver of biodiversity loss around the world. Mammals are important components of forests because they affect forest structure and composition, but few studies have compared mammals in tropical areas with different levels of human disturbance. Objective: To do a rapid assessment of non-flying mammals in Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, in three zones with different levels of human disturbance. Methods: On July 18-21, 2019, we identified non-flying mammals with trail walk sightings, camera traps, and Sherman traps. Results: We identified 17 species but no differences among zones. The most common were Cebus imitador and Pecari tajacu, the most used plant was Mangifera indica. Conclusion: This brief study identified 17 non-flying mammals in this reserve

Control fiscal territorial. Construcción de un modelo de contraloría tipo. Informe final de investigación

El estudio sobre el control fiscal territorial que se presenta en este libro, es un nuevo eslabón en la cadena que sobre los temas de control fiscal ha elaborado la línea de Este texto muestra los resultados de la tercera fase de un proyecto más amplio sobre control fiscal territorial, que se inició en el año 2005 con el apoyo de la Agencia de Cooperación Técnica Alemana GTZ, a partir del cual se han superado ya dos fases, y han obtenido importantes y significativos avances sobre la materia. Los dos estudios precedentes han permitido dar respuesta a los interrogantes que han orientado el desarrollo del proceso investigativo, tales como: ¿cómo se ejerce el control fiscal territorial; ¿cuáles son las características del control fiscal territorial en el diseño constitucional; ¿cuáles son las limitaciones que han tenido las contralorías territoriales para mejorar el ejercicio de su función y ¿cuáles son las consecuencias que se derivan de la situación actual y de los problemas que tiene el ejercicio del control fiscal

Rain-fed granite rock basins accumulate a high diversity of dormant microbial eukaryotes

Rain fed granite rock basins are ancient geological landforms of worldwide distribution and structural simplicity. They support habitats that can switch quickly from terrestrial to aquatic along the year. Diversity of animals and plants, and the connexion between communities in different basins have been widely explored in these habitats, but hardly any research has been carried out on microorganisms. The aim of this study is to provide the first insights on the diversity of eukaryotic microbial communities from these environments. Due to the ephemeral nature of these aquatic environments, we predict that the granitic basins should host a high proportion of dormant microeukaryotes. Based on an environmental DNA diversity survey, we reveal diverse communities with representatives of all major eukaryotic taxonomic supergroups, mainly composed of a diverse pool of low abundance OTUs. Basin communities were very distinctive, with alpha and beta diversity patterns non-related to basin size or spatial distance respectively. Dissimilarity between basins was mainly characterised by turnover of OTUs. The strong microbial eukaryotic heterogeneity observed among the basins may be explained by a complex combination of deterministic factors (diverging environment in the basins), spatial constraints, and randomness including founder effects. Most interestingly, communities contain organisms that cannot coexist at the same time because of incompatible metabolic requirements, thus suggesting the existence of a pool of dormant organisms whose activity varies along with the changing environment. These organisms accumulate in the pools, which turns granitic rock into high biodiversity microbial islands whose conservation and study deserve further attention.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de Españ

Hepatocellular carcinoma risk-stratification based on ASGR1 in circulating epithelial cells for cancer interception

Purpose: Lack of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma impedes stratifying patients based on their risk of developing cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity of circulating epithelial cells (CECs) based on asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (ASGR1) and miR-122-5p expression as potential diagnostic and prognostic tools in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis (LC). Methods: Peripheral blood samples were extracted from LC and HCC patients at different disease stages. CECs were isolated using positive immunomagnetic selection. Genetic and phenotypic characterization was validated by double immunocytochemistry for cytokeratin (CK) and ASGR1 or by in situ hybridization with miR-122-5p and CECs were visualized by confocal microscopy. Results: The presence of CECs increased HCC risk by 2.58-fold, however, this was only significant for patients with previous LC (p = 0.028) and not for those without prior LC (p = 0.23). Furthermore, the number of CECs lacking ASGR1 expression correlated significantly with HCC incidence and absence of miR-122-5p expression (p = 0.014; r = 0.23). Finally, overall survival was significantly greater for patients at earlier cancer stages (p = 0.018), but this difference was only maintained in the group with the presence of CECs (p = 0.021) whereas progression-free survival was influenced by the absence of ASGR1 expression. Conclusion: Identification and characterization of CECs by ASGR1 and/or miR- 122-5p expression may be used as a risk-stratification tool in LC patients, as it was shown to be an independent prognostic and risk-stratification marker in LC and early disease stage HCC patients

Aging-Associated miR-217 Aggravates Atherosclerosis and Promotes Cardiovascular Dysfunction.

microRNAs are master regulators of gene expression with essential roles in virtually all biological processes. miR-217 has been associated with aging and cellular senescence, but its role in vascular disease is not understood. Approach and Results: We have used an inducible endothelium-specific knock-in mouse model to address the role of miR-217 in vascular function and atherosclerosis. miR-217 reduced NO production and promoted endothelial dysfunction, increased blood pressure, and exacerbated atherosclerosis in proatherogenic apoE-/- mice. Moreover, increased endothelial miR-217 expression led to the development of coronary artery disease and altered left ventricular heart function, inducing diastolic and systolic dysfunction. Conversely, inhibition of endogenous vascular miR-217 in apoE-/- mice improved vascular contractility and diminished atherosclerosis. Transcriptome analysis revealed that miR-217 regulates an endothelial signaling hub and downregulates a network of eNOS (endothelial NO synthase) activators, including VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and apelin receptor pathways, resulting in diminished eNOS expression. Further analysis revealed that human plasma miR-217 is a biomarker of vascular aging and cardiovascular risk. Our results highlight the therapeutic potential of miR-217 inhibitors in aging-related cardiovascular disease.V.G. de Yébenes was supported by Ramón y Cajal grant RYC-2009-04503 and AECC foundation grant INVES18013GARC and by the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. S.M. Mur and A.R. Ramiro are supported by Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) funding. A.R. Ramiro was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-107551RB-I00), the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (SAF2013-42767-R and SAF2016-75511-R), and the European Research Council StG BCLYM. M. Salaices was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2016-80305P) and with J. Miguel Redondo by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, CB16/11/00286 and CB16/11/00264) and Comunidad de Madrid (B2017/BMD-3676). V.G. de Yébenes was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-107551RB-I00). Further support was provided by the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund “A Way to Build Europe.” The CNIC is supported by Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, and the Pro CNIC Foundation and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).S

Prediction of fatty acid composition in intact and minced fat of European autochthonous pigs breeds by near infrared spectroscopy

The fatty acids profile has been playing a decisive role in recent years, thanks to technological, sensory and health demands from producers and consumers. The application of NIRS technique on fat tissues, could lead to more efficient, practical, and economical in the quality control. The study aim was to assess the accuracy of Fourier Transformed Near Infrared Spectroscopy technique to determine fatty acids composition in fat of 12 European local pig breeds. A total of 439 spectra of backfat were collected both in intact and minced tissue and then were analyzed using gas chromatographic analysis. Predictive equations were developed using the 80% of samples for the calibration, followed by full cross validation, and the remaining 20% for the external validation test. NIRS analysis of minced samples allowed a better response for fatty acid families, n6 PUFA, it is promising both for n3 PUFA quantification and for the screening (high, low value) of the major fatty acids. Intact fat prediction, although with a lower predictive ability, seems suitable for PUFA and n6 PUFA while for other families allows only a discrimination between high and low values.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Improved lignocellulosic biomass yield of RAV1 engineered poplars in a SRC field trial

Background Plantations of Populus spp, Salix spp. or Eucalyptus spp. are established to produce wood in a reduced space and a short time. Poplars are cultivated with cycles of 15-18 years to obtain saw timber and peeler logs, and when grown for biomass production as short-rotation coppice (SRC), cutting back/coppicing cycles are reduced to 2?5-years intervals. Syllepsis is among the valuable traits that can be targeted to enhance biomass yield of SRCs. Syllepsis, i.e. the outgrowth of lateral buds into branches the same season in which they form without an intervening rest period, increases carbon fixation and allocation in the shoot and hence the general growth of the tree. A high degree of sylleptic branching is known to be positively correlated with biomass yield when these plantations are grown under optimal conditions [1]. In 2012 we established in Madrid (Spain) a SRC field trial with genetically engineered poplars, previously shown to develop sylleptic branches when cultivated in growth chambers, under optimal conditions [2]. The aim of starting up this field trial was to test whether a plastic trait as syllepsis was maintained over time under natural conditions and eventually resulted in an enhanced biomass production Methods In vitro culture rooted cuttings were initially potted in 3.5L containers with blond peat and grown in the greenhouse as previously described [2]. The field trial was established in July 2012 in the experimental plot, and included five groups of hybrid poplar Populus tremula x P. alba INRA clone 717 1B, the wild-type genotype as control, transgenic events #37 and #60 carrying the 35S::3xHA:CsRAV1 cassette (3xHA:CsRAV1 OX), and events #1 and #22 carrying the 35S::PtaRAV1-hpiRNA cassette (PtaRAV1&2 KD). 30 individuals per group were planted into three blocks of 10 plants each. The experimental plot area was 204 m2 , and the plantation density 10000 trees/ha. It consisted of 12 x 17 rows with a tree spacing 2 x 0.5 m. The border rows were occupied by P. x euramericana clone I-214 individuals, planted as 25 cm-long cuttings. Irrigation and weed/pests control were applied, and the first coppicing cycle was done after the second growing season [3]. Several productivity determinants (stem height and diameter, syllepsis and phenology) were monitored, wood anatomy and chemistry analyzed, and aerial biomass yield and calorific value determined. Results and Conclusions CsRAV1 over-expressing event #60 showed an advantageous performance in the field regarding stem diameter and biomass production after the first coppicing cycle. In this event, sylleptic branches grew from the main shoot during the first growing seasons, after the plantation establishment and after coppicing. None of the other traits under study such as phenology, wood anatomy and chemistry were noticeably altered when compared to the wild type genotype. These results show that in woody species RAV1 is a highly valuable target gene that can be used as biotechnological tool to enhance biomass yield of poplar SRC plantations without detrimental side-effects in tree development and characteristics

Impact fro RAV1 engineering on biomass production of a poplat SRC field trial

Plantations of Populus spp, Salix spp, or Eucalyptus spp. are established to produce wood. Poplars are cultivated with cycles of 15-18 years to obtain saw timber and peeler logs and, when grown for biomass production as short-rotation coppice (SRC), cutting back/coppicing cycles are reduced to 2-5-years intervals. Syllepsis and winter dormancy are among the valuable traits that can be targeted to enhance biomass yield of SRCs. Syllepsis, i.e. the outgrowth of lateral buds into branches the same season in which they form without an intervening rest period, increases carbon fixation and allocation in the shoot and hence the general growth of the tree. A high degree of sylleptic branching is known to be positively correlated with biomass yield when these plantations are grown under optimal conditions. In 2012 we established in Madrid (Spain) a SRC field trial with genetically engineered poplars, previously shown to develop sylleptic branches when cultivated in growth chambers, under optimal conditions. The aim of starting up this field trial was to test whether a plastic trait as syllepsis was maintained over the time under natural conditions and eventually resulted in an enhanced biomass production. During two growing seasons after the establishment year, we have monitored the evolution of several productivity determinants (stem dimensions, syllepsis, phenology). After a first coppicing cycle, we have analyzed the anatomy and chemistry of the wood of these trees, and have determined their aerial biomass yield and calorific value. We will discuss whether RAV1 may become a target gene to be used as biotechnological tool to enhance biomass yielof poplar SRC plantations