Genes found in partial sequencing od Phytophthora cinnamomi

Members of the oomycete cause extensive losses in agriculture and widespread degradation in natural plant communities, being responsible for the death of thousands of trees every year. Two of the representative species are Phytophthora infestans, which causes late blight of potato, and Phytophthora cinnamomi, which causes chestnut ink disease, responsible for losses on sweet chestnut production in Europe. Genome sequencing efforts have been focused on the study of three species: P. infestans, P. sojae and P. ramorum. Phytophthora infestans has been developed as the model specie for the genus, possessing excellent genetic and genomics resources including genetic maps, BAC libraries, and EST sequences. Our research team is trying to sequence the genome of P. cinnamomi in order to gain a better understanding of this oomycete, to study changes in plant-pathogen relationships including those resulting from climate change and trying to decrease the pathogen’s impact on crops and plants in natural ecosystems worldwide. We present here a preliminary report of partially sequenced genomic DNA from P. cinnamomi encoding putative protein-coding sequences and tRNAs. Database analysis reveals the presence of genes conserved in oomycetes.

Efecto determinante de la motivación de viaje sobre la imagen de destino en turistas de ocio a un destino urbano: El caso de Monterrey, México. Una aproximación por medio de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS) = Determinant effect of travel motivation on the destination image of leisure tourist in an urban destination: the case of Monterrey, México. An approach through partial least squares (PLS)

Los turistas urbanos se caracterizan por ser uno de los segmentos de mayor crecimiento en los mercados turísticos actuales. Monterrey (México), uno de los principales destinos urbanos del país, ha apostado en la actualidad por mejorar su competitividad. Esta investigación se propuso encontrar evidencia acerca de la relación causal de la motivación de viaje sobre la imagen percibida del destino, dos variables importantes por su influencia en la satisfacción de los visitantes. Una revisión de la literatura permitió proponer constructos teóricos integrados en un instrumento para la recogida de datos vía encuesta a una muestra representativa. Por medio del método de regresión y ecuaciones estructurales por mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS), se identificaron los componentes principales de ambas variables y se obtuvo un modelo explicativo de la imagen percibida del destino en función de la motivación de viaje. Finalmente, se emiten recomendaciones para la gestión del destino urbano en función de los resultados obtenidos. ABSTRACT: Abstract Urban tourists are recognized as one of the fastest growing segments in today’s tourism markets. Monterrey, Mexico, one of the main urban destinations in the country aims at improving its competitiveness. This research work had the purpose of finding evidence on the causal relationship between travel motivation and destination image, two important variables because of their influence on visitors’ satisfaction. A literature review enabled the proposal of a research instrument with theoretically based constructs to gather data through survey from a representative sample. Using regression and structural equations modelling by partial least squares (pls) a set of main components of both variables were identified thus enabling the obtention of a explanatory model of destination image in terms of travel motivations. Finally based on the results some recommendations of tourism management are given.

Extraction, partial characterization and susceptibility to Hg2+ of acid phosphatase from the microalgae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata.

Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata is a unicellular green algae widely distributed in freshwater and soils. Due to its cosmopolitan characteristic, its use is recommended by national and international protocols in ecotoxicity studies. The alteration of phosphatase activities by agriculture pollutants like heavy metals has been extensively used as a biomarker in risk assessment and biomonitoring. In this study, we compared the extraction of acid phosphatase from P. subcapitata by different procedures and we studied the stability, substrates specificity, kinetics and the effect of Hg2+ in the crude extract. The freezing and thawing technique associated with probe sonication was the most suitable method of extraction. The enzyme was stable when frozen at -20ºC for at least six months, showed an optimum pH of 5 and a Km value of 0.27 mM for p-nitrophenylphosphate (pNPP) as substrate. Some natural organic substrates were cleaved by a similar extent as the synthetic substrate pNPP. Short term exposure (24 hours) to Hg2+ had little effect but inhibition of the specific activity was observed after 7 days with EC50 (concentration of Hg2+ that promotes 50% decrease of specific activity) value of 12.63 μM Hg2+ .

Anterior fiber-reinforced fixed partial dentures revisited

SIN FINANCIACIÓN

Phylogeographic Triangulation: Using Predator-Prey-Parasite Interactions to Infer Population History from Partial Genetic Information

Phylogeographic studies, which infer population history and dispersal movements from intra-specific spatial genetic variation, require expensive and time-consuming analyses that are not always feasible, especially in the case of rare or endangered species. On the other hand, comparative phylogeography of species involved in close biotic interactions may show congruent patterns depending on the specificity of the relationship. Consequently, the phylogeography of a parasite that needs two hosts to complete its life cycle should reflect population history traits of both hosts. Population movements evidenced by the parasite’s phylogeography that are not reflected in the phylogeography of one of these hosts may thus be attributed to the other host. Using the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and a parasitic tapeworm (Taenia pisiformis) as an example, we propose comparing the phylogeography of easily available organisms such as game species and their specific heteroxenous parasites to infer population movements of definitive host/predator species, independently of performing genetic analyses on the latter. This may be an interesting approach for indirectly studying the history of species whose phylogeography is difficult to analyse directly.

Does partial privatisation improve performance? Evidence from a chain of hotels in Portugal

This article contributes to the literature by testing six research hypotheses regarding the impact of partial privatisation on firms' performance. We measure performance using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), the Malmquist Index and ratios related to labour productivity, profitability and capacity utilisation. We use the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test to compare the performance after privatisation with that before privatisation. The hypotheses are tested with data from a chain of Portuguese heritage hotels, partially privatised in 2003. We conclude that productivity growth after privatisation is superior to productivity growth before privatisation due to technological progress. However, due to a frontier regress observed in the privatisation year, total factor productivity and profitability deteriorated after privatisation. This suggests that both efficiency changes and frontier shifts should be taken into account in order to accurately assess the impact of privatisation.

Ultra-Low Temperature Partial Oxidation: Detailed Kinetics, Safety, and Environmental Issues

The innovation in several industrial sectors has been recently characterized by the need for reducing the operative temperature either for economic or environmental related aspects. Promising technological solutions require the acquisition of fundamental-based knowledge to produce safe and robust systems. In this sense, reactive systems often represent the bottleneck. For these reasons, this work was focused on the integration of chemical (i.e., detailed kinetic mechanism) and physical (i.e., computational fluid dynamics) models. A theoretical-based kinetic mechanism mimicking the behaviour of oxygenated fuels and their intermediates under oxidative conditions in a wide range of temperature and pressure was developed. Its validity was tested against experimental data collected in this work by using the heat flux burner, as well as measurements retrieved from the current literature. Besides, estimations deriving from existing models considered as the benchmark in the combustion field were compared with the newly generated mechanism. The latter was found to be the most accurate for the investigated conditions and fuels. Most influential species and reactions on the combustion of butyl acetate were identified. The corresponding thermodynamic parameter and rate coefficients were quantified through ab initio calculations. A reduced detailed kinetic mechanism was produced and implemented in an open-source computational fluid dynamics model to characterize pool fires caused by the accidental release of aviation fuel and liquefied natural gas, at first. Eventually, partial oxidation processes involving light alkenes were optimized following the quick, fair, and smoot (QFS) paradigm. The proposed procedure represents a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach for the construction and validation of accurate models, allowing for the characterization of developing industrial sectors and techniques.

Analysis and detection of partial discharges in an electric motor of a hybrid supercar.

The objective of this thesis was the development of a new detection method of partial discharge (PD) activity in the stator of an electrical hybrid supercar fed by a silicon carbide converter, for which detection with common methods make it very difficult to separate PD pulses from switching noise. This work focused on the analysis and detection of partial discharges making use of an antenna, a peak detector, and an oscilloscope capable of capturing the electromagnetic pulses emitted during PD activity. Validation of the proposed method was done by comparing the partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) detected by this system with the one obtained from an optical method of proven accuracy, with different rise times and samples. Further development of this method, if proved successful on a full stator, can help increasing the overall reliability of the car, potentially allowing for real time detection of PD activity and predictive maintenance before failure of the insulation system in a hybrid vehicle.

[the Teaching Of Social Sciences In Health: Between Practice And Theory].

The models of teaching social sciences and clinical practice are insufficient for the needs of practical-reflective teaching of social sciences applied to health. The scope of this article is to reflect on the challenges and perspectives of social science education for health professionals. In the 1950s the important movement bringing together social sciences and the field of health began, however weak credentials still prevail. This is due to the low professional status of social scientists in health and the ill-defined position of the social sciences professionals in the health field. It is also due to the scant importance attributed by students to the social sciences, the small number of professionals and the colonization of the social sciences by the biomedical culture in the health field. Thus, the professionals of social sciences applied to health are also faced with the need to build an identity, even after six decades of their presence in the field of health. This is because their ambivalent status has established them as a partial, incomplete and virtual presence, requiring a complex survival strategy in the nebulous area between social sciences and health.

Multiple Desmoid Tumors In A Patient With Gardner's Syndrome - Report Of A Case.

Desmoid tumor (DT) is a common manifestation of Gardner's Syndrome (GS), although it is a rare condition in the general population. DT in patients with GS is usually located in the abdominal wall and/or intra-abdominal cavity. We report a case of a 32 years-old female patient with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), who was already submitted to total colectomy and developed multiple DT, located in the abdominal wall and in the left breast. The patient underwent several surgical procedures, with a multidisciplinary team of surgeons. Wide surgical resections of the left breast and the abdominal wall tumors were performed in separate steps. Polypropylene mesh reconstruction and muscle flaps were needed to cover the defects of the thoracic and abdominal walls. After partial necrosis of the adipose-cutaneous flap in the abdomen that required a new skin graft, she had a satisfactory outcome with complete healing of the surgical incisions. DT is frequent in GS, however, breast localization is very rare, with few cases reported in the literature. Recurrence of DT is not negligible, even after a wide surgical resection. GS patients must be followed up closely, and clinical examination, associated with imaging studies, should be performed to detect any signs of tumor. DT represents one of the most significant causes of the morbidity and mortality that affects FAP patients following colectomy. In general, the surgical procedures to excise DT are highly complex, requiring a multidisciplinary team.

Ihwg-μnir: A Miniaturised Near-infrared Gas Sensor Based On Substrate-integrated Hollow Waveguides Coupled To A Micro-nir-spectrophotometer.

A miniaturised gas analyser is described and evaluated based on the use of a substrate-integrated hollow waveguide (iHWG) coupled to a microsized near-infrared spectrophotometer comprising a linear variable filter and an array of InGaAs detectors. This gas sensing system was applied to analyse surrogate samples of natural fuel gas containing methane, ethane, propane and butane, quantified by using multivariate regression models based on partial least square (PLS) algorithms and Savitzky-Golay 1(st) derivative data preprocessing. The external validation of the obtained models reveals root mean square errors of prediction of 0.37, 0.36, 0.67 and 0.37% (v/v), for methane, ethane, propane and butane, respectively. The developed sensing system provides particularly rapid response times upon composition changes of the gaseous sample (approximately 2 s) due the minute volume of the iHWG-based measurement cell. The sensing system developed in this study is fully portable with a hand-held sized analyser footprint, and thus ideally suited for field analysis. Last but not least, the obtained results corroborate the potential of NIR-iHWG analysers for monitoring the quality of natural gas and petrochemical gaseous products.

Electronic And Structural Study Of Pt-modified Au Vicinal Surfaces: A Model System For Pt-au Catalysts.

Two single crystalline surfaces of Au vicinal to the (111) plane were modified with Pt and studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) in ultra-high vacuum environment. The vicinal surfaces studied are Au(332) and Au(887) and different Pt coverage (θPt) were deposited on each surface. From STM images we determine that Pt deposits on both surfaces as nanoislands with heights ranging from 1 ML to 3 ML depending on θPt. On both surfaces the early growth of Pt ad-islands occurs at the lower part of the step edge, with Pt ad-atoms being incorporated into the steps in some cases. XPS results indicate that partial alloying of Pt occurs at the interface at room temperature and at all coverage, as suggested by the negative chemical shift of Pt 4f core line, indicating an upward shift of the d-band center of the alloyed Pt. Also, the existence of a segregated Pt phase especially at higher coverage is detected by XPS. Sample annealing indicates that the temperature rise promotes a further incorporation of Pt atoms into the Au substrate as supported by STM and XPS results. Additionally, the catalytic activity of different PtAu systems reported in the literature for some electrochemical reactions is discussed considering our findings.

Mucopolysaccharidosis Type Ii: Identification Of 30 Novel Mutations Among Latin American Patients.

In this study, 103 unrelated South-American patients with mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II) were investigated aiming at the identification of iduronate-2-sulfatase (IDS) disease causing mutations and the possibility of some insights on the genotype-phenotype correlation The strategy used for genotyping involved the identification of the previously reported inversion/disruption of the IDS gene by PCR and screening for other mutations by PCR/SSCP. The exons with altered mobility on SSCP were sequenced, as well as all the exons of patients with no SSCP alteration. By using this strategy, we were able to find the pathogenic mutation in all patients. Alterations such as inversion/disruption and partial/total deletions of the IDS gene were found in 20/103 (19%) patients. Small insertions/deletions/indels (<22 bp) and point mutations were identified in 83/103 (88%) patients, including 30 novel mutations; except for a higher frequency of small duplications in relation to small deletions, the frequencies of major and minor alterations found in our sample are in accordance with those described in the literature.

Aquatic Toxicity Of Dyes Before And After Photo-fenton Treatment.

This study evaluated the ecotoxicity of five dyes to freshwater organisms before and during their photo-Fenton degradation. EC50 (48h) of the five tested dyes ranged from of 6.9 to >1000mgL(-1) for Daphnia similis. In the chronic tests IC50 (72h) varied from 65 to >100mgL(-1) for Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and IC50 (8 days) from 0.5 to 410mgL(-1) for Ceriodaphnia dubia. Toxicity tests revealed that although the applied treatment was effective for decolorization of the dye, the partial mineralization may be responsible for the presence of degradation products which can be either more toxic than the original dye, as is the case of Vat Green 3 and Reactive Black 5, lead to initially toxic products which may be further degraded to non toxic products (acid Orange 7 and Food Red 17), or generate non toxic products as in the case of Food Yellow 3. The results highlighted the importance of assessing both acute and chronic toxicity tests of treated sample before effluent discharge.

Study Of The Homogeneity Of Drug Loaded In Polymeric Films Using Near-infrared Chemical Imaging And Split-plot Design.

Split-plot design (SPD) and near-infrared chemical imaging were used to study the homogeneity of the drug paracetamol loaded in films and prepared from mixtures of the biocompatible polymers hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and polyethyleneglycol. The study was split into two parts: a partial least-squares (PLS) model was developed for a pixel-to-pixel quantification of the drug loaded into films. Afterwards, a SPD was developed to study the influence of the polymeric composition of films and the two process conditions related to their preparation (percentage of the drug in the formulations and curing temperature) on the homogeneity of the drug dispersed in the polymeric matrix. Chemical images of each formulation of the SPD were obtained by pixel-to-pixel predictions of the drug using the PLS model of the first part, and macropixel analyses were performed for each image to obtain the y-responses (homogeneity parameter). The design was modeled using PLS regression, allowing only the most relevant factors to remain in the final model. The interpretation of the SPD was enhanced by utilizing the orthogonal PLS algorithm, where the y-orthogonal variations in the design were separated from the y-correlated variation.