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Introduction In recent years there has been a great interest in investigating the intestinal microbiota and its role both in healthy people and in various pathologies. This has given rise to the concept of the gut-brain axis, where the relationship between the microbiota and neurological pathologies, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, whose pathogenesis is still unclear, is studied Development This review provides an overview of the role of the gut microbiota in the pathogenesis and progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Conclusions There is evidence of the role of the modulation exerted by the microbiota on the immune state as well as its direct effects on the CNS.

We are interested in understanding how the degradation of the dry forest in the Tumbesian region is related to an increase in genotoxic damage in birds. Our research hypothesis posited that the degradation of the dry forest would be associated with a higher frequency of micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities in the birds inhabiting these areas. To test our hypothesis, we conducted safe captures of birds in three different types of forests: natural forests, semi-natural forests, and shrub-dominated forests in the Tumbesian region. We collected blood samples from the captured birds and conducted tests for micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities in the laboratory. These genotoxic markers are sensitive indicators of DNA damage and provide information about the genetic health of the birds. This dataset is the basis of our findings.

The mean and standard deviation (SD) of micronucleus and nuclear alterations for all included bird species are provided in this supporting information. These alterations were analyzed in the main article.

Multiple studies have shown that exposure to pollutants can increase genotoxic damage in different taxa. However, to our knowledge, the effects of environmental stress have been explored little. In certain stressful ecosystems, such as seasonally dry tropical forests, the combined effects of anthropogenic activities and ongoing global changes can cause an increase in environmental stresses, in turn, may trigger physiological and genetic effects on biodiversity. The present aims to assess changes in the prevalence of genotoxic damage in birds within three states of forest degradation in the Tumbesian Region of Western Ecuador. We used blood samples from 50 bird species to determine the frequency of micronucleus and nuclear abnormalities in erythrocytes. Our results revealed a significant impact of forest degradation on the occurrence probability of micronucleus and nuclear abnormalities at the community level. Localities with higher levels of degradation exhibited higher levels of abnormalities. However, when analyzing the dominant species, we found contrasting responses. While Lepidocolaptes souleyetii showed a reduction in the proportion of nuclear abnormalities from the natural to shrub-dominated localities Troglodytes aedon and Polioptila plumbea showed an increase for semi-natural and shrub-dominated respectively. We concluded that the degradation process of these tropical forests increases the stress of bird community generating genotoxic damage. Bird responses seem to be species-specific, which could explain the differences in changes in bird composition reported in other studies.

This thesis explores the doctrinal divide among homeland defense (HD), homeland security (HS), and defense support to civil authorities (DSCA) and questions whether these doctrinal spaces are adequately instructive to National Guard domestic action. The thesis explores the Department of Defense's (DoD) important contributions to HD and DSCA and the Guard’s historical and contemporary roles in HD and HS. This work proposes that the DoD’s reticence to describe its actions as HS creates a doctrinal void for the Guard. This thesis advances DSCA as theoretically and practically useful for the DoD but concurrently contravenes core principles of domestic response, which is practically inadequate for domestic Guard action. By exploring military action in large-scale, complex disasters and national special security events, this thesis provides insight into the legal, policy, and fiscal challenges and solutions for clearer domestic doctrine. The thesis explores whether the Guard can be better employed in disasters by adjudicating matters of defense over security and engaging in a federalism conversation aimed at discriminating between disasters that are “national matters” and those that are “state matters.”, http://archive.org/details/aframeworkfornat1094562258, Colonel, United States Air National Guard, Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

We report the synthesis and characterization of a new series of urea inclusion compounds containing primary alkylamine (octyl, decyl and dodecyl) as guests, as well as the deposition of gold and silver nanoparticles onto the crystalline surface of these complexes. X-ray diffraction confirms the inclusion process of the amine in the urea cavities. The structures determined for the three complexes correspond to a hexagonal channel structure with space group P6122. Alkylamine-urea stoichiometric ratios in all cases satisfy the relationship 1:3n (n = 2 for octylamine and 3 for decylamine and dodecylamine), determined by elemental analysis. The deposition of gold and silver nanoparticles by the magnetron sputtering technique onto microcrystals of the complexes was analyzed by Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy, showing characteristic surface plasmon resonance for metal nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrates the presence of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) in a size range between 5 and 60 nm for gold and between 5 and 20 nm for silver, and furthermore, in some cases it shows vestiges of a hexagonal arrangement of the MNPs. X-ray diffraction and IR measurements demonstrate that the basic structure of the matrix remains unchanged after the MNPs adhesion. IR also shows increased broadening and intensity of the characteristic NH2 bending frequencies (1,597 cm-1) when the MNPs interact with the inclusion compounds. We conclude that the interactions between the inclusion compounds and metal nanoparticles occurs mainly through the amino groups of the guest molecules that can emerge from the entrance of the inclusion compound cavities attracted by the metallic nanoparticles, in opposition to the restoring van der Waals interactions present inside channels, which increase with increasing chain length of the guest molecules.

The two-dimensional transient momentum, heat and mass transfer for agrofood processes is described. These processes are: pre-harvest and fruit hot-air dehydration. The methodology includes mathematical modeling and computational simulation to describe conjugate heat and mass convection and diffusion between food and surrounding air. The mathematical model is written in terms of a system built based on the non-linear coupled partial differential equations of continuity, linear momentum, energy and mass. Temperature and concentration dependent fruit thermophysical properties were calculated from empirical models. The finite volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm is used to obtain the results of velocity (v), temperature (T) and moisture concentration (C) distributions in time for the processes studied. The validation procedure includes a comparison with v, T and C experimental and numerical results obtained in the specialized literature, Se describe la transferencia de momento, calor y masa transitorio bi-dimensional en procesos agroalimentarios. Estos procesos son: la pre-cosecha y la deshidratación por aire caliente de frutas. La metodología incluye modelación matemática y simulación computacional para describir la convección y difusión de calor y masa conjugada que resulta de la interacción entre el alimento y el aire. El modelo matemático emplea las ecuaciones diferenciales parciales no lineales acopladas de continuidad, momento lineal, energía y materia. Se considera que las propiedades físicas de las frutas calculadas mediante correlaciones empíricas, varían con la temperatura y la concentración de humedad. El método de volúmenes finitos junto el algoritmo SIMPLE se utiliza para obtener los resultados de la variación en el tiempo de las distribuciones de velocidades (v), temperaturas (T) y concentraciones de humedad (C) para los procesos en estudio. Las propiedades termo-físicas variables de los alimentos se obtuvieron a partir de modelos empíricos. Los resultados obtenidos incluyen distribuciones de las variables dependientes (v, T, C) en el tiempo, los cuales se comparan con resultados experimentales y numéricos de la literatura especializada