Host use by 2 sibling species of bogus yucca moths in relation to plant hardness and saponin content.

Plant defenses allow plants to deter or kill their insect herbivores and are considered to be a major driver of host use for herbivorous insects in both ecological and evolutionary time. Many closely related species of insect herbivores differ in their ability to respond to plant defenses and in some cases are specialized to specific plant species. Here we tested whether both mechanical and chemical plant defenses are a major factor in determining the host range of 2 sibling species of Prodoxid bogus yucca moths, Prodoxus decipiens (Riley) and Prodoxus quinquepunctellus (Chambers) that feed within the inflorescence stalk of Yucca species.

Advanced Biofuels from ABE (Acetone/Butanol/Ethanol) and Vegetable Oils (Castor or Sunflower Oil) for Using in Triple Blends with Diesel: Evaluation on a Diesel Engine.

From a technical and economic point of view, our aim is to provide viable solutions for the replacement of fossil fuels which are currently used in internal combustion diesel engines. In this research, two new biofuels composed of second-generation vegetable oils (SVO),used oil sunflower (SO) or castor oil (CO), and the ABE blend (acetone/butanol/ethanol) were evaluated. ABE is an intermediate product from the fermentation of carbohydrates to obtain bio-butanol.

Characteristics of migraine in patients with headache disorders: A clinic-based study from Central American and Caribbean countries.

Objective: The objective of the study was to measure the proportion of patients who consulted for headache and of those who had a final diagnosis of migraine. We also assessed the proportion and characteristics of patients with migraine and the impact of migraine on the daily activities and the professional and social lives of patients visiting private/public medical centers in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.

Background: Underdiagnosis of migraine is high in Central America and Caribbean urban communities.

FrustratometeR: an R-package to compute local frustration in protein structures, point mutants and MD simulations.

Summary: Once folded, natural protein molecules have few energetic conflicts within their polypeptide chains. Many protein structures do however contain regions where energetic conflicts remain after folding, i.e.

Trace Element Levels in Serum Are Potentially Valuable Diagnostic Markers in Dogs.

The objective of this study was to obtain information about the role of trace element imbalance in the pathogenesis of certain diseases in dogs and to evaluate the suitability of trace element profiling as an additional tool in the diagnosis. Serum trace element concentrations (copper, molybdenum, selenium and zinc) were measured in a cohort of healthy (control) dogs (n = 42) and dogs affected by hepatic (n = 25), gastrointestinal (n = 24), inflammatory/infection (n = 24), and renal (n = 22) diseases. These data were analyzed together with data on basic biochemical parameters (alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, albumin, globulin, and glucose) by using chemometric techniques.

Acetone Prospect as an Additive to Allow the Use of Castor and Sunflower Oils as Drop-In Biofuels in Diesel/Acetone/Vegetable Oil Triple Blends for Application in Diesel Engines.

The present paper investigates the feasibility of using acetone (ACE) in triple blends with fossil diesel (D) and straight vegetable oils (SVOs) as alternative fuel for diesel engines. In this respect, ACE is selected as an oxygenated additivedue to its favorable propertiesto be mixed with vegetable oils and fossil diesel. In fact, the very low kinematic viscosity allows reduces the high viscosity of SVOs.

Serum Concentrations of Essential Trace and Toxic Elements in Healthy and Disease-Affected Dogs.

This study was designed (i) to establish reference ranges for the essential trace element and background levels of toxic element exposure in the healthy/normal dog population, and (ii) to evaluate whether trace element concentrations vary in dogs suffering from different pathologies. Blood serum samples were collected from 187 healthy and diseased dogs at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Santiago de Compostela (northwest Spain). The samples were acid digested, and the concentrations of trace elements (Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Se and Zn) and toxic elements (As, Cd, Hg and Pb) were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Asphyxia Caused by a Giant Fibrovascular Polyp of the Esophagus.

Fibrovascular polyps (FVPs) are rare, benign tumors of the esophagus; they usually appear as an intraluminal mass within the esophagus, which can grow and reach enormous sizes if left untreated. They can cause a variety of symptoms, from mild dysphagia to life-threatening asphyxia. Diagnosis is challenging because FVPs can resemble any respiratory condition, which can lead to misdiagnosis and potentially dangerous therapies.

Determination of Essential and Toxic Elements in Cattle Blood: Serum vs Plasma.

This study was designed to evaluate the influence of type of blood sample (serum or plasma) on essential and toxic element analysis in cattle. Paired plasma and serum samples ( = 20) were acid digested, and the concentrations of As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Li, Mg, Mn. Mo, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr and Zn were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Variation in trace element content between liver lobes in cattle. How important is the sampling site?

The aim of the present study was to establish the pattern of lobular distribution of trace elements in the liver of cattle. The objective was to determine which part of the liver would provide accurate estimation of the trace element content of the whole organ. Liver samples were obtained from 10 Holstein-Friesian (HF), 10 Galician Blond (GB) and 10 GBxHF crosses (all aged 10 months) at slaughter.

Validation of a simple sample preparation method for multielement analysis of bovine serum.

Here we propose a single acid digestion (SAD) sample preparation method for ICP-MS analysis of animal serum samples to determine trace element contents. The method was evaluated in comparison with a commonly used procedure involving dilution of samples in an alkaline solution (AKD). In the SAD procedure, aliquots (1 mL) of bovine serum samples were treated at low temperature with a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide.

Sulfonic Acid Functionalization of Different Zeolites and Their Use as Catalysts in the Microwave-Assisted Etherification of Glycerol with tert-Butyl Alcohol.

The etherification of glycerol with -butyl alcohol in the liquid phase, over different sulfonic acid functionalized zeolites, has been studied. The reaction was carried out using microwaves as a way of heating, measured at autogenous pressure and without any solvent. Dealuminated HY and HZSM-5 zeolites by acid treatment were functionalized with two different organosilica precursors: 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (), which incorporates thiol groups, and 2-(4-chlorosulfonylphenyl)ethyltrimethoxysilane (), which incorporates the sulfonic acid groups directly.

Application of Enzymatic Extracts from a CALB Standard Strain as Biocatalyst within the Context of Conventional Biodiesel Production Optimization.

The application of biocatalysts in the transesterification process of triglycerides (TG) allows integrating the glycerol in the form of monoglyceride (MG), sharply increasing the yield and the environmental sustainability of the conventional biodiesel production process. This is known as Ecodiesel. To overcome the inconvenient of the high cost of the currently employed highly purified commercial enzymes, the use of scarcely purified extracts obtained from standard strains of the same species of commercial lipases currently applied in this process is being investigated.

Testing scale-dependent effects of seminatural habitats on farmland biodiversity.

The effectiveness of conservation interventions for maximizing biodiversity benefits from agri-environment schemes (AESs) is expected to depend on the quantity of seminatural habitats in the surrounding landscape. To verify this hypothesis, we developed a hierarchical sampling design to assess the effects of field boundary type and cover of seminatural habitats in the landscape at two nested spatial scales. We sampled three types of field boundaries with increasing structural complexity (grass margin, simple hedgerow, complex hedgerow) in paired landscapes with the presence or absence of seminatural habitats (radius 0.

Selection and characterization of biofuel-producing environmental bacteria isolated from vegetable oil-rich wastes.

Fossil fuels are consumed so rapidly that it is expected that the planet resources will be soon exhausted. Therefore, it is imperative to develop alternative and inexpensive new technologies to produce sustainable fuels, for example biodiesel. In addition to hydrolytic and esterification reactions, lipases are capable of performing transesterification reactions useful for the production of biodiesel.

Biocatalytic behaviour of immobilized Rhizopus oryzae lipase in the 1,3-selective ethanolysis of sunflower oil to obtain a biofuel similar to biodiesel.

A new biofuel similar to biodiesel was obtained in the 1,3-selective transesterification reaction of sunflower oil with ethanol using as biocatalyst a Rhizopus oryzae lipase (ROL) immobilized on Sepiolite, an inorganic support. The studied lipase was a low cost powdered enzyme preparation, Biolipase-R, from Biocon-Spain, a multipurpose additive used in food industry. In this respect, it is developed a study to optimize the immobilization procedure of these lipases on Sepiolite.

Epidemiology of road traffic incidents in Peru 1973-2008: incidence, mortality, and fatality.

Background: The epidemiological profile and trends of road traffic injuries (RTIs) in Peru have not been well-defined, though this is a necessary step to address this significant public health problem in Peru. The objective of this study was to determine trends of incidence, mortality, and fatality of RTIs in Peru during 1973-2008, as well as their relationship to population trends such as economic growth.

Methods And Findings: Secondary aggregated databases were used to estimate incidence, mortality and fatality rate ratios (IRRs) of RTIs.

Selective ethanolysis of sunflower oil with Lipozyme RM IM, an immobilized Rhizomucor miehei lipase, to obtain a biodiesel-like biofuel, which avoids glycerol production through the monoglyceride formation.

The obtaining of Ecodiesel, a biofuel applicable to diesel engines which keeps the glycerin as monoglyceride (MG), was achieved through a selective ethanolysis process of sunflower oil, by application of Lipozyme RM IM, a Rhizomucor miehei lipase immobilized on macroporous anion exchange resins. This biocatalyst that was already described in the synthesis of conventional biodiesel has also shown its efficiency in the present selective enzymatic process, after optimization of the influence of various reaction parameters. Thus, an adequate activity is obtained that is maintained throughout five successive reuses.

Patient perspectives on the promptness and quality of care of road traffic incident victims in Peru: a cross-sectional, active surveillance study.

Background: Road injuries are the second-leading cause of disease and injury in the Andean region of South America. Adequate management of road traffic crash victims is important to prevent and reduce deaths and serious long-term injuries.

Objective: To evaluate the promptness of health care services provided to those injured in road traffic incidents (RTIs) and the satisfaction with those services during the pre-hospital and hospital periods.

New biofuel integrating glycerol into its composition through the use of covalent immobilized pig pancreatic lipase.

By using 1,3-specific Pig Pancreatic lipase (EC 3.1.1.

Evaluation of interventions on road traffic injuries in Peru: a qualitative approach.

Background: Evaluation of interventions on road traffic injuries (RTI) going beyond the assessment of impact to include factors underlying success or failure is an important complement to standard impact evaluations. We report here how we used a qualitative approach to assess current interventions implemented to reduce RTIs in Peru.

Methods: We performed in-depth interviews with policymakers and technical officers involved in the implementation of RTI interventions to get their insight on design, implementation and evaluation aspects.

[Resources and capacity of emergency trauma care services in Peru].

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the resources and capacity of emergency trauma care services in three Peruvian cities using the WHO report Guidelines for Essential Trauma Care. This was a cross-sectional study in eight public and private healthcare facilities in Lima, Ayacucho, and Pucallpa. Semi-structured questionnaires were applied to the heads of emergency departments with managerial responsibility for resources and capabilities.

[Assessment of the structure, dynamics and monitoring of information systems for road traffic injuries in Peru--2009].

Objective: A baseline assessment of the structure, dynamics, and monitoring capabilities of the information systems for road traffic injuries was conducted in three Peruvian cities: Lima, Huamanga and Pucallpa.

Material And Methods: 50 in-depth interviews were performed with key stakeholders, including managers and operators of information systems. The instrument was developed taking into account international standards and recommendations for information systems.