ALBERT

Description: This research studied the relationship between coordination models (CM) focused on sustainability and satisfaction, as a competitive advantage, which increases sustainability at the Quevedo State Technical University (UTEQ) in Ecuador. A survey in situ on a random sample of 3200 students was done in 2019. By using multivariate methods, an organizational typology was built. Next, CM were related to the level of student satisfaction by general linear model (GLM). Twenty-three organizational variables were grouped into six components that explained 66.23% of the variance. A typology with three groups was built: Cluster 1 with a moderate CM level (44.57% of the sample), Cluster 2 with a low level of CM (38.18%), and Cluster 3 with a high level of CM (15.25%). By GLM, a positive relation between typology and students’ levels of satisfaction was found. Therefore, an increase of CM turned into a major satisfaction level at UTEQ. We suggest, as a priority, to improve communication amongst students and administrative staff. Communication should be frequent, accurate, on time, and oriented to solve problems. It would also be positive to increase the CM amongst students and representatives in solving communication problems, sharing knowledge, goals, and mutual respect.

Description: Gait, dynamic balance, and functional mobility problems are well-known fall risk factors. Furthermore, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression are prevalent among older women. This study aimed to analyze the associations of sleep quality, anxiety, and depression with functional mobility, gait speed, and dynamic balance in community-dwelling postmenopausal women aged ≥ 60 years. A total of 271 women (69.18 ± 5.69 years) participated in this study. Functional mobility (Timed Up-and-Go Test), dynamic balance (3-meter tandem walk test), gait speed (OptoGait® optical detection system), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), and anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) were assessed. Our results showed that poor sleep efficiency and the use of sleeping medication were related to decreased gait speed (R2 = 0.072). Poor functional mobility was linked to depression and the use of sleeping medication (R2 = 0.159). Additionally, increased symptoms of anxiety and depression were associated with worsened dynamic balance (R2 = 0.127). In conclusion, poorer sleep quality is associated with slower gait speed and reduced functional mobility, which is also related, along with impaired dynamic balance, to higher levels of anxiety and depression.

Description: The mechanical properties such as compressive strength and nanohardness were investigated for Pinctada margaritifera mollusk shells. The compressive strength was evaluated through a uniaxial static compression test performed along the load directions parallel and perpendicular to the shell axis, respectively, while the hardness and Young modulus were measured using nanoindentation. In order to observe the crack propagation, for the first time for such material, the in-situ X-ray microscopy (nano-XCT) imaging (together with 3D reconstruction based on the acquired images) during the indentation tests was performed. The results were compared with these obtained during the micro-indentation test done with the help of conventional Vickers indenter and subsequent scanning electron microscopy observations. The results revealed that the cracks formed during the indentation start to propagate in the calcite prism until they reach a ductile organic matrix where most of them are stopped. The obtained results confirm a strong anisotropy of both crack propagation and the mechanical strength caused by the formation of the prismatic structure in the outer layer of P. margaritifera shell.

Description: Human milk microbiota is a unique bacterial community playing a relevant role in infant health, but its composition depends on different factors (woman health, lactation stage, and geographical lactation). However, information is lacking regarding some other factors that may affect the bacterial community of human milk. In this study we aimed to study the impact of the sample collection method and the skimming procedure using culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques to study the human milk microbial profile. One set of milk samples was provided by women (n = 10) in two consecutive days; half of the samples were collected the first day by manual expression and the other half on the second day by pumping. The rest of the participants (n = 17) provided milk samples that were fractionated by centrifugation; the bacterial profiles of whole milk and skimmed milk were compared by culture techniques in 10 milk samples, while those of whole milk, fat and skimmed milk were subjected to metataxonomic analysis in seven samples. Globally, the results obtained revealed high interindividual variability but that neither the use of single-use sterile devices to collect the sample nor the skimming procedure have a significant impact of the microbial profile of human samples.

Description: Verticillium wilt, caused by the pathogen Verticillium dahliae, is extremely devastating to olive trees (Olea europea). Currently, no successful control measure is available against it. The objective of this work was to evaluate the antifungal activity of Bacillus velezensis XT1, a well-characterized salt-tolerant biocontrol strain, against the highly virulent defoliating V. dahliae V024. In vitro, strain XT1 showed to reduce fungal mycelium from 34 to 100%, depending on if the assay was conducted with the supernatant, volatile compounds, lipopeptides or whole bacterial culture. In preventive treatments, when applied directly on young olive trees, it reduced Verticillium incidence rate and percentage of severity by 54 and ~80%, respectively. It increased polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity by 395%, indicating an enhancement of disease resistance in plant tissues, and it decreased by 20.2% the number of fungal microsclerotia in soil. In adult infected trees, palliative inoculation of strain XT1 in the soil resulted in a reduction in Verticillium symptom severity by ~63%. Strain XT1 is biosafe, stable in soil and able to colonize olive roots endophytically. All the traits described above make B. velezensis XT1 a promising alternative to be used in agriculture for the management of Verticillium wilt.

Description: Idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (iPD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are chronic, multisystemic, and degenerative diseases associated with aging, with eventual epidemiological co-morbidity and overlap in molecular basis. This study aims to explore if metabolic and mitochondrial alterations underlie the previously reported epidemiologic and clinical co-morbidity from a molecular level. To evaluate the adaptation of iPD to a simulated pre-diabetogenic state, we exposed primary cultured fibroblasts from iPD patients and controls to standard (5 mM) and high (25 mM) glucose concentrations to further characterize metabolic and mitochondrial resilience. iPD fibroblasts showed increased organic and amino acid levels related to mitochondrial metabolism with respect to controls, and these differences were enhanced in high glucose conditions (citric, suberic, and sebacic acids levels increased, as well as alanine, glutamate, aspartate, arginine, and ornithine amino acids; p-values between 0.001 and 0.05). The accumulation of metabolites in iPD fibroblasts was associated with (and probably due to) the concomitant mitochondrial dysfunction observed at enzymatic, oxidative, respiratory, and morphologic level. Metabolic and mitochondrial plasticity of controls was not observed in iPD fibroblasts, which were unable to adapt to different glucose conditions. Impaired metabolism and mitochondrial activity in iPD may limit energy supply for cell survival. Moreover, reduced capacity to adapt to disrupted glucose balance characteristic of T2DM may underlay the co-morbidity between both diseases. Conclusions: Fibroblasts from iPD patients showed mitochondrial impairment, resulting in the accumulation of organic and amino acids related to mitochondrial metabolism, especially when exposed to high glucose. Mitochondrial and metabolic defects down warding cell plasticity to adapt to changing glucose bioavailability may explain the comorbidity between iPD and T2DM.

Description: In a water ozonation process, dissolved organics undergo two reactions at least: direct ozone attack and oxidation with hydroxyl radicals generated from the ozone decomposition. In the particular case of urban wastewater contaminated with pharmaceuticals, competition between these two reactions can be studied through application of gas–liquid reaction kinetics. However, there is a lack in literature about kinetic modeling of ozone processes in water specially in photocatalytic ozonation. In this work, lumped reactions of ozone and hydroxyl radicals with total organic carbon have been proposed. Urban wastewater containing a mixture of eight pharmaceutical compounds has been used to establish the kinetic model that simulates the mineralization process. The kinetic model is based on a mechanism of free radical and molecular reactions and the knowledge of mass transfer, chemical reaction rate constants, and radiation transfer data. According to the model, both single ozonation and photocatalytic ozonation present two distinct reaction periods characterized by the absence and presence of dissolved ozone. In the first period (less than 10 min), pharmaceuticals mainly disappear by direct ozone reactions and TOC variation due to these compounds has been modeled according to gas–liquid reaction kinetics through a lumped ozone-pharmaceutical TOC fast second order reaction. The corresponding rate constant of this reaction was found to change with time from 3 × 105 to 200 M−1 s−1 with Hatta values higher than 0.3. In the second period (nearly 5 h), competition between direct and hydroxyl radical reactions takes place and a kinetic model based on a direct and free radical reaction mechanism is proposed. Main influencing parameters to be known were: Direct ozone reaction rate constant, catalyst quantum yield, and hydroxyl radical scavengers. The first two take values of 0.5 M−1 s−1 and 5 × 10−4 mol·photon−1, respectively, while a fraction of TOC between 10% and 90% that changes with time was found to possess hydroxyl radical scavenger nature.

Description: Sphingolipids (SLs) are critical components of membrane bilayers that play a crucial role in their physico-chemical properties. Ceramide is the prototype and most studied SL due to its role as a second messenger in the regulation of multiple signaling pathways and cellular processes. Ceramide is a heterogeneous lipid entity determined by the length of the fatty acyl chain linked to its carbon backbone sphingosine, which can be generated either by de novo synthesis from serine and palmitoyl-CoA in the endoplasmic reticulum or via sphingomyelin (SM) hydrolysis by sphingomyelinases (SMases). Unlike de novo synthesis, SMase-induced SM hydrolysis represents a rapid and transient mechanism of ceramide generation in specific intracellular sites that accounts for the diverse biological effects of ceramide. Several SMases have been described at the molecular level, which exhibit different pH requirements for activity: neutral, acid or alkaline. Among the SMases, the neutral (NSMase) and acid (ASMase) are the best characterized for their contribution to signaling pathways and role in diverse pathologies, including liver diseases. As part of a Special Issue (Phospholipases: From Structure to Biological Function), the present invited review summarizes the physiological functions of NSMase and ASMase and their role in chronic and metabolic liver diseases, of which the most relevant is nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and its progression to hepatocellular carcinoma, due to the association with the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic. A better understanding of the regulation and role of SMases in liver pathology may offer the opportunity for novel treatments of liver diseases.

Description: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and aerial photogrammetry have greatly contributed to expanding research in scientific fields that employ geomatics techniques. Archaeology is one of the sciences that has advanced most as a result of this technological innovation. The geographic products obtained by UAV photogrammetric surveys can detect anomalies corresponding to ancient settlements and aid in designing future archaeological interventions. These acquisitions also offer attractive scientific dissemination products. We present five archaeological sites from different ages located in the Guadiato Valley of Córdoba, Spain, where a series of photogrammetric images were acquired for purposes of both research and dissemination. Acquisitions were designed based on the accessibility of the sites and on the end-user experience. The results present several photogrammetric products for use in research, and the mandatory dissemination of the results of a publicly-funded research project.

Description: The pea (Pisum sativum L.) is one of the most important crops in temperate agriculture around the world. In the tropics, highland production is also common with multiple harvests of nearly mature seeds from climbing plant types on trellises. While the leafless variant caused by the afila gene is widely used in developing row-cropped field peas in Europe, its use for trellised garden peas has not been reported. In this study we describe a pea breeding program for a high-elevation tropical environment in the Department of Nariño in Colombia, where over 16,000 hectares of the crop are produced. The most widespread climbing varieties in the region are ‘Andina’ and ‘Sindamanoy’, both of which have high-biomass architecture with abundant foliage. They are prone to many diseases, but preferred by farmers given their long production season. This plant type is expensive to trellis, with wooden posts and plastic strings used for vine staking constituting 52% of production costs. The afila trait could reduce these costs by creating interlocking plants as they do in field peas. Therefore, our goal for this research was to develop a rapid breeding method to introduce the recessive afila gene, which replaces leaves with tendrils, into the two commercial varieties used as recurrent parents (RPs) with three donor parents (DPs)—‘Dove’, ‘ILS3575′ and ‘ILS3568′—and to measure the effect on plant height (PH) and yield potential. Our hypothesis was that the afila gene would not cause linkage drag while obtaining a leafless climbing pea variety. Backcrossing was conducted without selfing for two generations and plants were selected to recover recurrent parent characteristics. Chi-square tests showed a ratio of 15 normal leaved to one afila leaved in the BC2F2 plants, and 31:1 in the BC3F2 generation. Selecting in the last of these generations permitted a discovery of tall climbing plants that were similar to those preferred commercially, but with the stable leafless afila. The method saved two seasons compared to the traditional method of progeny testing before each backcross cycle; the peas reached the BC2F2 generation in five seasons and the BC3F2 in seven seasons. This is advantageous with trellised peas that normally require half a year to reach maturity. Leafless garden peas containing the afila gene were of the same height as recurrent parents and, by the third backcross, were equally productive, without the high biomass found in the traditional donor varieties. The value of the afila gene and the direct backcrossing scheme is discussed in terms of garden pea improvement and crop breeding.