Maternal ability (milk and environment) in beef cattle is one of the most important traits influencing weaning weight of the calf, but amount and composition of milk produced by the dam is difficult to measure. The assessment of polymorphisms of candidate genes related to milk composition could indirectly enlighten this perspective. In the present study, the frequency of αs1-casein 1175AG and g26181A>G; κ-casein 13068 (CSN3 AB1) and 13104 (CSN3 AB2) loci, β-lactoglobulin variants 3984GA and 5263CT, Diacyl glycerol transferase K232A, and Stearoyl CoA desaturase A702G and A762G polymorphisms were estimated in Gray and Red Brahman, Nellore, Guzerat, Gir, Indubrazil, and Sardo Negro registered sires from Mexico. Most of the documented favourable alleles were found in low frequency in most of the evaluated breeds, except for β-lactoglobulin, in which the presence of favourable alleles might represent an opportunity for marker-assisted introgression. The relevance of the findings for each variation and implications from the outcomes are discussed.

Species’ declines are caused by a combination of factors that affect survival and/or breeding success. We studied the effects of a set of environmental and anthropogenic variables on the disappearance of Canarian Houbara Bustards Chlamydotis undulata fuertaventurae on Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), once the main stronghold of this endangered bird. Of 83 male display sites detected in 1997–1998, only 29 remained occupied in 2020–2021 (a 65% decrease in only 23 years). We compared habitat quality, density of conspecifics, other steppe birds and crows, presence of human infrastructure, and degree of environmental protection between these 29 extant sites and the 54 extinct sites using univariate analyses and generalised linear models (GLMs). The most influential variable in the abandonment of display sites was the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), an indicator of green vegetation productivity, which suggests a strong effect of habitat aridification due to climate change on the population’s extinction process. Powerline density was the second most important factor. This suggests that houbaras have survived where a greater abundance of food resources has enabled a higher breeding success, and where powerline fatalities have caused lower mortality over the years. Higher densities of houbaras, and other steppe birds and crows at extant display sites confirmed the better habitat quality in these areas. Extant display sites, located generally in protected areas, also had lower densities of human infrastructure (e.g. buildings, roads). We discuss the conservation implications of these results and provide management recommendations for this endangered subspecies.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge for humanity, in which a large number of resources are invested to develop effective vaccines and treatments. At the same time, governments try to manage the spread of the disease while alleviating the strong impact derived from the slowdown in economic activity. Governments were forced to impose strict lockdown measures to tackle the pandemic. This significantly changed people’s mobility and habits, subsequently impacting the economy. In this context, the availability of tools to effectively monitor and quantify mobility was key for public institutions to decide which policies to implement and for how long. Telefonica has promoted different initiatives to offer governments mobility insights throughout many of the countries where it operates in Europe and Latin America. Mobility indicators with high spatial granularity and frequency of updates were successfully deployed in different formats. However, Telefonica faced many challenges (not only technical) to put these tools into service in a short timing: from reducing latency in insights to ensuring the security and privacy of information. In this article, we provide details on how Telefonica engaged with governments and other stakeholders in different countries as a response to the pandemic. We also cover the challenges faced and the shared learnings from Telefonica’s experience in those countries.

This study presents an individualized coaching approach tailored to the stages of proximity of promising scientists interested in becoming independently funded researchers in the context of a minority-serving institution. This strategy defined the participant’s stage of proximity by their number of first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals and their track record in submitting research grants. We argue that coaching tailored by stages is an asset to maintain the enthusiasm, persistence, and positive attitude of promising scientists as they try to reach independent investigator status. Furthermore, this valuable educational approach supports the development of management and leadership skills in defined scientific domains.

The objective of the study was to characterize small-scale dairy production systems to identify the technological preferences according to the farmer and farm characteristics and to analyze the importance and role of the information communication technologies (ICTs) in the dissemination of information related to management and livestock activities. To collect the data, a survey was applied to 170 small-scale dairy farmers from central Mexico. To characterize the farms, a factor analysis (FA) and cluster analysis (CA) were performed. To compare and identify differences between groups, a Kruskal–Wallis test was conducted. Four factors that explain 70.93% of the accumulated variance were identified; these factors explain the use of technology, production characteristics, social connections, and use of ICTs. The cluster analysis identified four groups. Group 1 was integrated by farmers with more experience and the largest farms. Group 2 had higher studies and use of ICTs. Group 3 was formed by young farmers but had a low use of technology. Group 4 contained older farmers with a low use of technology. The young farmers with higher studies have begun to incorporate ICTs into their daily activities on the farm, as observed in Group 2. Smartphones were the most used and were considered important by the farmers of the four groups, since they enable interaction with other farmers and the dissemination of topics of interest related with the farm. In conclusion, four group of farmers were differentiated; therefore, different extension approaches should be implemented to take into account the preferences and the technologies considered most important for each group. The ICTs are emerging technologies among small-scale dairy farmers to communicate information related to livestock management, mainly by young farmers with studies of secondary, as observed in Group 2.

Parasomnias are involuntary behaviors or subjective experiences during sleep. Our objective was to review existing information on the presence of parasomnias in patients with addictions or during treatment for addictions. Information about parasomnias related to rapid-eye-movement (REM) and non-REM sleep in patients with addictions, while using substances or in abstinence, was reviewed. A systematic search of published articles reporting parasomnias as a consequence of drug use or abuse was conducted in the PubMed and SciELO databases. The search for the studies was performed in three phases: (1) by title, (2) by abstract, and (3) by complete text. The search was performed independently by two researchers, who then compared their results from each screening phase. Seventeen articles were found. The consumption of alcohol was reported in association with arousal disorders, such as sexsomnia and sleep-related eating disorder; and REM sleep behavior disorder was reported during alcohol withdrawal. Cocaine abuse was associated with REM sleep behavior disorder with drug consumption dream content. Overall, we found that several types of parasomnias were very frequent in patients with addictions. To avoid accidents in bedroom, legal problems, and improve evolution and prognosis; must be mandatory to include security measures related to sleep period; avoid pharmacological therapy described as potential trigger factor; improve sleep hygiene; and give pharmacological and behavioral treatments for patients with these comorbid sleep disorders.

Due to its excellent optical properties, gold nanomaterials with anisotropic morphology are playing an important role in biomedical applications, specifically in the use of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) technique for biological assays. In this work, we verified the behavior of the star shape nanoparticle peaks obtained by chemical synthesis (precursor reactant: HAuCl4, cationic surfactant: CTAB) and whose peaks were formed from the different concentrations of gold seeds (55, 65, 75 and 85 ul) which were added to the total solution (5.275 ml). The shape and size of the nanoparticles was verified with a Hitachi S-5500 microscope with a BF & DF SEM / STEM detector, and for the diameter distribution (hydrodynamic) was carried out by the dynamic light distribution technique with a Malvern DLS system Zetasizer Nano ZS. Particle sizes (peak-to-peak considering) were obtained with variations from 107 to 166 nm. The results suggest adding 75 ul of gold seeds to obtain uniform nanostars with well defined peaks. These gold nano-stars could be applied for identification of specific membrane markers for the study of different types of cancer by the SERS technique.

The effects of Ag nanoparticles on microorganisms and the antimicrobial mechanism has recently been validated for different microbiological strains, as well as their cytotoxic effect in in vitro cellular models. In this work we report the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles using the extract of Eichhornia crassipes as reducing agent, and evaluated its antimicrobial activity with Escherichia coli. The morphology, size and inhibition properties of the nanoparticles as a function of the reduction time in the chemical synthesis were analyzed. The characterization was carried out by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and transmission electron microscopy. Nanoparticles with average diameters of 40 nm ± 10 nm were obtained and their antimicrobial activity with higher inhibition in Escherichia coli was recorded with the nanoparticle samples obtained at 120 min. These results suggest that Ag nanoparticles can be used as effective growth inhibitors in various microorganisms, making them applicable to various medical devices and antimicrobial control systems by modifying their concentration.

Recently the use of nanomaterials for the diagnosis and detection of malignant diseases has increased due to the versatility and properties of these nanostructures. For this work 60 nm commercial gold nanoparticles (TED PELLA inc.) and Nanostars manufactured by chemical synthesis (precursor reagent: HAuCl4, cationic surfactant: CTAB) of 117 nm were used for coating. Malachite green Isotyocianate (MGITC), mPEG-SH and ortho-pyridyldisulfide-polyethylene glycol-N-succinimidyl propionate (OPSS-PEG-NHS) was used. A SERS active nanoparticle complex was obtained by addition of a solution of MGITC to the gold nanoparticles colloidal solution in a 1:6 ratio. Later, an mPEG-SH solution was added to the mix. The nanoparticle-MGITC-mPEG-SH complex stability was revised using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer and a JEOL JEM 1000 transmission electron microscope. The SERS spectra were registered with a Raman Thermoscientific DXR microscopy system. Amplified bands associated with OPSS-PEG-NHS were identified in 389, 622, 859, 929, 1080, 1283, 1360, 1443, 1490 and 1450 cm-1. The results indicate that through this methodology it is possible to identify gold nanomaterials coated with polymer through the Raman technique. In addition, greater amplification is observed with the use of nanostars compared to gold spheres. Finally, these nanomaterials are available for the marking of specific membrane for the study of different types of cancer by the SERS technique.

Several experimental efforts related to the concrete improvement are focused to increase its flexural strength to complement the high compressive strength, which is usually developed by materials of this nature. The flexural strength or modulus of rupture of the concrete is important in civil engineering applications such as infrastructure projects, pavements and buildings. This work proposes an alternative to optimize concrete flexural strength through the functionalization of the 9 Angstrom (Å) Tobermorite using Carbon Nanotubes (CNT). A complete ab-initio, 3D Atomistic Model of the 9Å Tobermorite is presented as the basis of the silicate cementitious hydrated products. In order to validate the model, some mechanical properties were computed using a Density Functional Theory (DFT) based program. Afterwards, a functionalization based on CNTs with different diameters was carried out to improve the flexural strength of the concrete.

This study recruited 90 traumatic brain injury (TBI) caregivers from Guadalajara, Mexico to examine influences of five domains of TBI impairment and related caregiver stress on five types of family needs. Canonical correlations suggested that greater social impairment in individuals with TBI and related caregiver stress were associated with higher informational, household and health needs in families. Meanwhile greater physical impairments in individuals with TBI and related caregiver stress were associated with higher household needs. Additionally, greater emotional impairments in individuals with TBI and related caregiver stress were associated with higher informational needs. Caregiver interventions targeting specific TBI impairments and related caregiver stress may meet family needs and thereby improve the quality of informal care for their family members with TBI.

In this paper we present our experience of representing the knowledge behind HealthAgents (HA), a distributed decision support system for brain tumour diagnosis. Our initial motivation came from the distributed nature of the information involved in the system and has been enriched by clinicians’ requirements and data access restrictions. We present in detail the steps we have taken towards building our ontology starting from knowledge acquisition to data access and reasoning. We motivate our representational choices and show our results using domain examples used by clinical partners in HA.

Between January 1990 and March 1992, a bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt was performed in seven patients under one year of age for palliation of complex cyanotic congenital heart disease. Five cases had tricuspid atresia with a restrictive ventricular septal defect. One case presented with complete mirror imagery, right-sided heart, double inlet and double outlet right ventricle with pulmonary stenosis. Another case had isomerism of the left atrial appendages with common atrioventricular valve and double outlet right ventricle. All had a pulmonary arterial index greater than 250 mm/m2 (Nakata index). Age and weights before surgery averaged five months (one to 11 months) and 5.6 kg (range 2.8 to 8.5 kg) respectively. Preoperative mean arterial oxygen saturation measured by cardiac catheterization was 60.05±14% and postoperative mean arterial oxygen saturation on room air was 79.85±6.03% (p<0.05). There were no deaths, although postoperative complications occurred in three patients, namely pleural effusion and pneumothorax. Mean follow-up was 10±4.2 months. The cardiothoracic ratio decreased in all cases. On subsequent echocardiographic studies with pulsed Doppler sampling, low velocity systolic-diastolic forward flow was registered in the pulmonary trunk. The velocity of flow increased clearly during inspiration. The bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt can be considered as primary palliation for complex cardiac malformations with restricted pulmonary flow independent of age and body weight.