Suchergebnisse

Con el objetivo de estudiar la influencia de la calidad y forma física del forraje voluminoso sobre el comportamiento alimentario del carnero, seis machos adultos Pelibuey, 40-45 Kg, en jaulas de metabolismo fueron alimentados una vez al día con cuatro dietas, forraje verde, heno largo bueno y malo troceadas y heno malo molido, todas de pasto estrella (Cynodon mlenfuensis) y agua ad-libitum. En un diseño cuadrado latino incompleto con análisis de varianza simple y dócima de Duncan, dos animales permanecieron como control, heno malo troceado y cuatro rotaron 7 días por cada dieta con registró mecanográfico mandibular circadiano continuo las últimas 48 horas. Los resultados muestran menor tiempo de ingestión, rumia y ciclos mericicos con mayor tiempo de reposo y consumo de MS y menor ingestión de agua en la dieta de forraje verde. El heno molido tiene poco efecto sobre los tiempos de ingestión, rumia y reposo pero incrementa el consumo de MS y agua para esta forma de conservación del forraje. La duración de las grandes comidas disminuye con la calidad del forraje. El forraje verde y el heno malo molido no afectan los períodos de reposo. La Duración Diaria de Ingestión y de Rumia disminuye en el forraje verde mientras la Duración Unitaria de Ingestión presenta diferencias entre los forrajes y la de Rumia es superior para el heno malo largo. El esfuerzo masticatorio es superior para el heno largo. El Índice de Fibrosidad Diario de Rumia es superior para el heno largo bueno. Se discuten los resultados.

Halloysite nanotubes are becoming interesting materials for drug delivery. The knowledge of surface interactions is important for optimizing this application. The aim of this work is to perform a computational study of the interaction between 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) drug and halloysite nanotubes for the development of modified drug delivery systems. The optimization of this nanotube and the adsorption of different conformers of the 5-ASA drug on the internal surface of halloysite in the presence and absence of water were performed using quantum mechanical calculations by using Density Functional Theory (DFT) and methods based on atomistic force fields for molecular modeling, respectively. ; Authors are thankful to Helio Anderson Duarte for providing atomic coordinates of a slice of halloysite and César Viseras for their fruitful discussions, and to the CSIC Computational Center for computation facilities. This work is funded by the Andalusian Government projects (RNM1897) and the MINECO project FIS2016-77692-C2-2P. It also supported by the Egyptian Cultural Affairs and Missions Sector (Plan 2013-2014), Ministry of Higher Education. M.E.A. is especially thankful to the Egyptian Cultural Affairs and Missions Sector, Mahmoud Mohamed El Rahmany, and Mahmoud Hassaan El-Basha (Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University in Cairo), for their encouragements and fruitful discussions.

The adsorption of retinol, niacinamide and glycolic acid active ingredients on the internal surface of halloysite in an aqueous environment was explored at the molecular level by means of calculations based on quantum mechanics and force fields from empirical interatomic potentials. These active ingredients are stably adsorbed on the internal surface of halloysite forming hydrogen bonds between the hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms with the hydroxyl groups of the inner surface of the halloysite. In addition, electrostatic interaction between these active ingredients with the water molecules was observed. Therefore, the theoretical results indicate that the adsorption of these active principles is favourable in the halloysite nanotube, which allows directing future experimental investigations for the development and design of retinol, niacinamide and glycolic acid with halloysite nanotubes systems, which may be topical formulations for skincare. ; This research was funded by Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industría y Competitividad, grant number PCIN2017-098, and by Regional Government Junta de Andalucía with FEDER European contribution, grant number P18-RT-3786.

Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world that has historically and is currently experiencing extensive deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Here we show how the most extensive region acting as a natural corridor between the Colombian Andes and Amazon biogeographical regions, the Picachos-Tinigua-Sierra de la Macarena-Chiribiquete megacorridor, is being eroded by large-scale agricultural expansion endangering the maintenance and connection of gene flow and biodiversity exchange. Several phylogenetic studies indicate that the complex dynamics between the Andean highlands and the Amazonian lowlands have largely influenced the origin and maintenance of Neotropical biodiversity. We appeal for the attention of international conservation and governmental organizations to funnel resources to promote projects focused on the preservation and sustainable management of this strategic Andes-Amazon bridge in both protected and unprotected areas. In current post-conflict era Colombia has a unique opportunity to create a new social and economic paradigm based on long-term sustainably developed landscapes and more equitable sharing of wealth. We believe improved management and conservation efforts for the Picachos-Tinigua-Macarena-Chiribiquete megacorridor would demonstrate a collective will in helping to achieve this goal. ; ERC

10 páginas.-- 4 tablas.-- 60 referencias.-- Supporting InformationAdditional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article ; 1. Understanding the proximate factors that govern the widespread mast-seeding process is a question of considerable interest that remains poorly understood. The identity and effect of these factors may vary among coexisting species that differ in leaf habit, potentially resulting in temporally asynchronous patterns of seed production. 2. In this study, we aim to identify the proximate causes of mast-seeding using two oak species with contrasting leaf habit that coexist in southern Spain, the deciduous Quercus canariensis and the evergreen Q. suber. Simultaneously, we review the literature on environmental drivers of mast-seeding in Mediterranean oaks, distinguishing between evergreen and deciduous species. 3. Our results indicate that Mediterranean oaks are primarily sensitive to weather, mast-seeding being strongly correlated with water availability and air temperature, mainly in the spring and summer. 4. The two study oak species were affected by weather in quite different ways, most likely because of different abiotic requirements as well as contrasting functional strategies of resource use and biomass allocation. Specifically, annual seed production in Q. canariensis was more severely limited by drought than in Q. suber, but responded positively to warmer spring temperatures. 5. Q. canariensis showed a large interannual variability, whereas Q. suber exhibited much more constant seed production. These two species also exhibited a very low level of synchrony in their temporal patterns of seed crop size, most likely due to phenological differences in the processes of flowering and seed maturation. 6. Synthesis. Our results indicate that weather plays a crucial role as a proximate driver of mastseeding in Mediterranean oaks. We hypothesize that the current abundance of co-occurring species that differ in leaf habit could be altered under future climate change scenarios. The decline of seed production with drier conditions will be potentially greater in deciduous species, particularly those inhabiting wetter sites. Alternatively, the expected warmer temperatures could negatively affect evergreen species as a consequence of their more conservative strategy of biomass allocation. Our findings suggest that understanding how species with different functional or phenological attributes adjust their reproductive abilities to weather may enable us to infer the effects of ongoing environmental changes on population recruitment and dynamics. ; We thank the "Consejería de Medio Ambiente" (Andalusian Government) and the technical staff of Los Alcornocales Natural Park, for the facilities and support to carry out our fieldwork. We are very grateful to María Amían, Ana Pozuelos, Rocío Sánchez and other undergraduate students for field assistance. This study was supported by a postdoctoral contract of the Andalusian Government to IMPR, by the Spanish MEC projects Heteromed (REN2002- 4041-C02-02), Dinamed (CGL2005-5830-C03-01) and Interbos (CGL2008-04503-C03-01), and by the Andalusian Anasinque-PE2010-RNM-5782 project. WDK was supported by the National Science Foundation (grant DEB-0816691). ; Peer reviewed

[ES] The entry into operation of the planned coastal sanitation in the Northern Basin requires the development of Environmental Monitoring and Control Plans (PVCA) to ensure compliance with the standards and quality criteria established for the different uses of the environment receiving the discharges. The compliance of the PVCAs with the objectives pursued is based on the incorporation into their design of four basic elements: (1) formulate clear and precise objectives, (2) design efficient sampling programmes, (3) perform quality control over the whole process and (4) synthesise and interpret the information collected. This work analyses aspects relating to these four elements that make it difficult to design these PVCAs and summarises some of the proposals made for their inclusion in the monitoring of coastal areas potentially affected by the remediation measures. This article has been drawn up on the basis of the information generated and the experience gained in various coastal sanitation design projects financed by different bodies (Confederación Hidrográfica del Norte, Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa, Centro de Investigación del Medio Ambiente), as well as on the draft National Plan for R & D & I 2000-2003, REN2001-1225/MAR. Ttestba Bridge, A.; Juanes De La Peña, J.; Álvarez Díaz, C.; Revilla Cortezón, J. (2007). Approaches to the development of environmental monitoring of coastal sanitation. Engineering of water. 14 (1): 5-10. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2007.2898 AENOR, (1997). Quality of water. Collection of UNE standards. AENOR N.A. Scientific Association for Marine Studies, (2003). Development of the plan to monitor the clean-up of Santander Bay. Government of Cantabria — Environmental Research Centre. New report. ; 5 10 14 1 ; [ES] The entry into operation of the planned coastal sanitation in the Northern Basin requires the development of Environmental Monitoring and Control Plans (PVCA) to ensure compliance with the standards and quality criteria established for the different uses of the ...

This work aimed at studying the potentiality of interactions between kaolinite surfaces and a protein-fragment (350–370 amino acid units) extracted from the glycoprotein E1 in the transmembrane domain (TMD) of hepatitis C virus capsid. A computational work was performed for locating the potential electrostatic interaction sites between kaolinite aluminol and siloxane surfaces and the residues of this protein-fragment ligand, monitoring the possible conformational changes. This hydrated neutralized kaolinite/protein-fragment system was simulated by means of molecular modeling based on atomistic force fields based on empirical interatomic potentials and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The MD calculations indicated that the studied protein-fragment interacted with the kaolinite surfaces with an exothermic process and structural distortions were observed, particularly with the hydrophilic aluminol surface by favorable adsorption energy. The viral units isolation or trapping by the adsorption on the kaolinite nanoparticles producing structural distortion of the peptide ligands could lead to the blockage of the entry on the receptor and hence a lack of viral activity would be produced. Therefore, these findings with the proposed insights could be an useful information for the next experimental and development studies in the area of discovering inhibitors of the global challenged hepatitis and other pathogenic viruses based on the phyllosilicate surface activity. These MD studies can be extended to other viruses like the COVID-19 interacting with silicate minerals surfaces. ; Authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the European COST Action CA17120 supported by the EU Framework Program Horizon 2020 and the financial support of the Andalusia Government projects [RNM1897 and RNM363, and CTS-946]; the MINECO and FEDER projects [FIS2016-77692-C2-2-P, PCIN-2017-098]. ; Peer reviewed

13 páginas.-- 2 figuras.-- 7 tablas.-- 47 referencias.-- Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.1490/suppinfo.-- Koenig_et_al ; Although the functional basis of variable and synchronous seed production (masting behavior) has been extensively investigated, only recently has attention been focused on the proximate mechanisms driving this phenomenon. We analyzed the relationship between weather and acorn production in 15 species of oaks (genus Quercus) from three geographic regions on two continents, with the goals of determining the extent to which similar sets of weather factors affect masting behavior across species and to explore the ecological basis for the similarities detected. Lag-1 temporal autocorrelations were predominantly negative, supporting the hypothesis that stored resources play a role in masting behavior across this genus, and we were able to determine environmental variables correlating with acorn production in all but one of the species. Standard weather variables outperformed "differential-cue" variables based on the difference between successive years in a majority of species, which is consistent with the hypothesis that weather is linked directly to the proximate mechanism driving seed production and that masting in these species is likely to be sensitive to climate change. Based on the correlations between weather variables and acorn production, cluster analysis failed to generate any obvious groups of species corresponding to phylogeny or life-history. Discriminant function analyses, however, were able to identify the phylogenetic section to which the species belonged and, controlling for phylogeny, the length of time species required to mature acorns, whether they were evergreen or deciduous, and, to a lesser extent, the geographic region to which they are endemic. These results indicate that similar proximate mechanisms are driving acorn production in these species of oaks, that the environmental factors driving seed production in oaks are to some extent phylogenetically conserved, and that the shared mechanisms driving acorn production result in some degree of synchrony among coexisting species in a way that potentially enhances predator satiation, at least when they have acorns requiring the same length of time to mature. ; This study was supported by National Science Foundation grant DEB- 1256394; Andalusian projects Anasinque- PE2010- RNM- 5782, P07- RNM02688, and P10- AGR6501; Spanish MEC projects Heteromed REN2002- 4041- C02- 02, Dinamed CGL2005- 5830- C03- 01, and Interbos CGL2008- 04503- C03- 01; a postdoctoral contract of the Andalusian Government (to IMPR); and a post-doctoral contract of the Operative Program of the European Social Fund (to MDC). ; Peer reviewed

Calcium carbonate is an abundant mineral with several advantages to be a successful carrier to improve oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs, such as praziquantel. Praziquantel is an antiparasitic drug classified in group II of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System hence characterized by high-permeability and low-solubility. Therefore, the dissolution rate is the limiting factor for the gastrointestinal absorption that contributes to the low bioavailability. Consequently, the therapeutic dose of the praziquantel must be high and big tablets and capsules are required, which are difficult to swallow, especially for pediatric and elderly patients. Mixtures of praziquantel and calcium carbonate using solid-solid physical mixtures and solid dispersions were prepared and characterized using several techniques (X-ray diffraction differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, laser diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopies). Solubility of these formulations evidenced that the solubility of praziquantel-calcium carbonate interaction product increased in physiological media. In vitro dissolution tests showed that the interaction product increased the dissolution rate of the drug in acidic medium. Theoretical models were studied to understand this experimental behavior. Cytotoxicity and cell cycle studies were performed, showing that praziquantel-calcium carbonate physical mixture and interaction product were biocompatible with the HTC116 cells, because it did not produce a decrease in cell viability or alterations in the cell cycle. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. ; The authors are thankful to Fatro S.p.A. for donating the praziquantel drug and to Xtrem Biotech, specially Ignacio Molina and Sara Torres, for their contributions with the cytotoxicity and cell cycle experiments. We also acknowledge for financial support the MINECO, for projects FIS2016-77692-C2-2-P and CGL2016-80833-R, and the Andalusian government, for project RNM1897.

18 páginas.-- 4 figuras.-- 1 tabla.-- 52 referencias.-- Material Suplementario http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0115371#s6 ; ©2014 Perez-Ramos et al. Mast-seeding species exhibit not only a large inter-annual variability in seed production but also considerable variability among individuals within the same year. However, very little is known about the causes and consequences for population dynamics of this potentially large between-individual variability. Here, we quantified seed production over ten consecutive years in two Mediterranean oak species - the deciduous Quercus canariensis and the evergreen Q. suber - that coexist in forests of southern Spain. First, we calibrated likelihood models to identify which abiotic and biotic variables best explain the magnitude (hereafter seed productivity) and temporal variation of seed production at the individual level (hereafter CVi), and infer whether reproductive effort results from the available soil resources for the plant or is primarily determined by selectively favoured strategies. Second, we explored the contribution of between-individual variability in seed production as a potential mechanism of satiation for predispersal seed predators. We found that Q. canariensis trees inhabiting moister and more fertile soils were more productive than those growing in more resource-limited sites. Regarding temporal variation, individuals of the two studied oak species inhabiting these resource-rich environments also exhibited larger values of CVi. Interestingly, we detected a satiating effect on granivorous insects at the tree level in Q. suber, which was evident in those years where between-individual variability in acorn production was higher. These findings suggest that individual seed production (both in terms of seed productivity and inter-annual variability) is strongly dependent on soil resource heterogeneity (at least for one of the two studied oak species) with potential repercussions for recruitment and population dynamics. However, other external factors (such as soil heterogeneity in pathogen abundance) or certain inherent characteristics of the tree might be also involved in this process. ; This study was supported by a postdoctoral contract of the Andalusian Government to IMPR, by the Spanish MEC projects Heteromed (REN2002-4041-C02-02), Dinamed (CGL2005-5830-C03-01), Interbos (CGL2008-04503-C03-01) and Diverbos (CGL2011-30285-C02), by the Andalusian Anasinque-PE2010-RNM-5782 project and the European FEDER funds. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript ; Peer Reviewed