Antifungal compounds from plants

Due to the increase of the incidence of fungal infections in humans and the limitations of the available antimycotic drugs, among which the emergence of resistant strains, there is a need for the discovery of new antifungal agents. Plants, especially those used in Traditional Medicine, linked to an unmatched chemical diversity, either as pure compounds or as plant extracts, provide unlimited opportunities for the development of new antifungals. Inrecent years, compounds from different phytochemical groups have been described as having antifungal activity, including polyphenols, saponins, or peptides, among others, as well asessential oils and their constituents. After screening of ethnopharmacologically selected plants, mainly from Latin-America, followed by bio-guided isolation, our group hasdescribed the antifungal activity of different types of plant constituents, such as sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, flavonoids, lignans, fatty acids and essential oils.

An application of capital allocation principles to operational risk

The cost of operational risk refers to the capital needed to a fford the loss generated by ordinary activities of a firm. In this work we demonstrate how allocation principles can be used to the subdivision of the aggregate capital so that the firm can distribute this cost across its various constituents that generate operational risk. Several capital allocation principles are revised. Proportional allocation allows to calculate a relative risk premium to be charged to each unit. An example of fraud risk in the banking sector is presented and some correlation scenarios between business lines are compared. Keywords: solvency, quantile, value at risk, copulas

The biological basis of the aging process

El procés biològic bàsic subjacent de l’envelliment va ésser avançat per la teoria de l’envelliment basada en els radicals lliures l’any 1954: la reacció dels radicals lliures actius, produïts fisiològicament en l’organisme, amb els constituents cel·lulars inicia els canvis associats a l’envelliment. La implicació dels radicals lliures en l’envelliment està relacionada amb el seu paper clau en l’origen i l’evolució de la vida. La informació disponible avui en dia ens mostra que la composició específica de les macromolècules cel·lulars (proteïnes, àcids nucleics, lípids i carbohidrats) en les espècies animals longeves tenen intrínsicament una resistència elevada a la modificació oxidativa, la qual cosa probablement contribueix a la longevitat superior d’aquestes espècies. Les espècies longeves també mostren unes taxes reduïdes de producció de radicals lliures i de lesió oxidativa. D’altra banda, la restricció dietària disminueix la producció de radicals lliures i la lesió molecular oxidativa. Aquests canvis estan directament associats a la reducció de la ingesta de proteïnes dels animals sotmesos a restricció, que alhora sembla que són deguts específicament a la reducció de la ingesta de metionina. En aquesta revisió s’emfatitza que una taxa baixa de generació de lesió endògena i una resistència intrínsecament elevada a la modificació de les macromolècules cel·lulars són trets clau de la longevitat de les espècies animals.

Deinking flotation of recycled linerboard for food packaging applications

Brown packaging linerboard, made entirely from recovered pulp, was subjected to deinking flotation for evaluating the possible improvements in its chemical, optical and mechanical properties. The increase in the rate of recovered paper utilisation, along with the tendency towards lower basis weights, in the packaging paper production, has created a growing need for the utilisation of secondary fibers of improved quality. To attain better quality fibers, flotation deinking of brown grades is being considered, along with the addition of primary fibers to recovered paper furnish. Numerous conducted studies, in which the flotation technology was used in the treatment of brown grades, support this idea. Most of them show that the quality of fibers is improved after flotation deinking, resulting in higher mechanical properties of the deinked handsheets and in lower amounts of chemical contaminants. As to food and human health safety, packaging paper has to meet specific requirements, to be classified as suitable for its direct contact with foods. Recycled paper and board may contain many potential contaminants, which, especially in the case of direct food contact, may migrate from packaging materials into foodstuffs. In this work, the linerboard sample selected for deinking was made from recycled fibers not submitted previously to chemical deinking flotation. Therefore, the original sample contained many noncellulosic components, as well as the residues of printing inks. The studied linerboardsample was a type of packaging paper used for contact with food products that are usually peeled before use, e.g. fruits and vegetables. The decrease in the amount of chemical contaminants, after conducting deinking flotation, was evaluated, along with the changes in the mechanical and optical properties of the deinked handsheets. Food contact analysis was done on both the original paper samples and the filter pads and handsheets made before and after deinking flotation. Food contact analysis consisted of migration tests of brightening agents, colorants, PCPs, formaldehydes and metals. Microbiological tests were also performed to determine the possible transfer of antimicrobial constituents

Historiografía y memoria contemporánea en autobiografías de lingüistas

El artículo trata de las contribuciones autobiográficas de lingüistas a la historiografía. Considera la autobiografía como una fuente documental de la corriente narrativa de la historiografía. Hace un inventario de los repertorios de autobiografías: Davis & O"Cain 1980, Koerner , 1991, 1998; López Alonso & Séré , 1992; Swiggers , 1997; Brown & Law, 2002; Timotin & Colceriu, 2012; Laborda, Romera & Fernández Planas, 2014 . Y considera sus aspectos cognitivos, literarios y textuales. A plica como modelo analítico la teoría del dramatismo y de los constituyentes del relato de Jerome Bruner. El estudio argumenta sobre la idoneidad de la autobiografía para narrar la trayectoria vital del autor y trazar el panorama de la lingüística contemporánea. Y revela el valor polifacético de la escritura del Yo como literatura, documento científico y fuente de información social."Historiography and memory of linguistics in autobiographies of linguistics The paper discusses the autobio graphical historiography of linguistics contributions. The autobiography is a source of the narrative aspect of historiography. In the paper a list of autobiographies of linguists is made (Davis & O"Cain 1980,Koerner 1991 y 1998, López Alonso & Séré 1992, Swiggers 1997, Brown & Law 2002, Timotin & Colceriu 2012, Laborda, Romera & Fernández Planas 2014) to consider their cognitive, literary and textual aspects .The article applies the theory as an analytical model of the drama and of the constituents of the story by Jerome Bruner. The study confirms the suitability of the autobiography to tell the life story of the author and to describe the landscape of contemporary linguistics.

The referendum and popular consultations in the Autonomous State

The referendum is a poorly used mechanism for direct participation in the Spanish system, at both state and regional level. The discussion on the feasibility of this system at regional level has been examined by the Constitutional Court. Influenced by the reluctance with which constituents viewed the mechanisms of direct democracy, they still have a reductive view of the referendum. The State therefore reserves the right to exercise very intensive controls on the provision and authorization of referendums and on the specific exercise of each referendum

La productividad de la morfología verbal a los años dos años de edad

Este trabajo se centra en estudiar la adquisición de la morfología verbal en una lengua con un paradigma verbal morfológicamente rico. Se predice que los niños de dos años no mostrarán productividad morfológica ante verbos desconocidos. La muestra se compone de 12 sujetos de edades comprendidas entre los 22 y los 31 meses. El procedimiento, de tipo experimental, se caracteriza por entrenar a los niños con verbos inventados. Los resultados muestran que los sujetos solamente utilizan los nuevos verbos con la forma morfológica con la que se han presentado. También se observa la omisión de determinados constituyentes de la oración. Estos resultados se discuten en relación con la asunción de discontinuidad de las competencias lingüísticas infantiles