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Sulforaphane (SFN) is a powerful health-promoting compound found in broccoli in the form of its inactive precursor, glucoraphanin (GFN). SFN formation occurs through the enzymatic hydrolysis of glucoraphanin by myrosinase under specific chemical conditions. Its incorporation in food formulations has been hindered by the thermal instability of SFN and low concentration in Brassicaceae. Then, extracting SFN from broccoli at a temperature below 40 °C appears as an option to recover and stabilize SFN, aiming at delivering it as a nutraceutical. We studied an eco-friendly extraction process to obtain an SFN-rich extract from broccoli. The effect of the broccoli mass/solvent ratio, ethanol concentration in the extractant solution, and extraction time on the recovery of SFN, GFN, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activity were studied through a Box–Behnken design. The regression models explained more than 70% of the variability in the responses, adequately representing the system. The experimental factors differently affected the bioactive compound recovery and antioxidant activity of the extracts. The extraction conditions that allowed the highest recovery of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity were identified and experimentally validated. The results may provide the basis for the design of a process to produce a sulforaphane-rich food supplement or nutraceutical by using a GRAS extractant.

In Pinus pinea , cone to pine nut yield (total pine nut weight expressed as percentage of cone weight), an important crop trait, is decreasing worldwide. This phenomenon is of great concern, since the nuts of this species are highly demanded. Cone weight, seed and pine nut morphometry, and pine nut yield were monitored in a non-native area in Chile for 10 years. For this purpose, 560 cones, and the seeds and pine nuts contained in them, were counted, measured and weighed in a multi-environment study involving seven plantations. Seed and pine nut damage was evaluated. Two contrasting categories of cone weight (heavy/light) were defined. Cone to pine nut yield (PY) and other traits were calculated and compared between categories using a mixed linear model. Regression trees were used to explain PY variability. Cone weight was higher than in the species’ native range (474 g vs 300 g on average). Pine nut number per cone and PY were significantly higher in the heavy cone category than in the light cone category (125 vs 89 units, and 4.05 vs 3.62%, respectively), The percentage of damaged seeds was lower in heavy than in light cones (9.0% vs 15.9%). Thus, PY depended on seed and pine nut morphometry as well as on seed health. Management practices, such as fertilization and irrigation, could be used to boost production of heavy cones and consequently increase PY.

Transition metal oxides are a great alternative to less expensive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts. However, the lack of conductivity of these materials requires a conductor material to support them and improve the activity toward HER. On the other hand, carbon paste electrodes result in a versatile and cheap electrode with good activity and conductivity in electrocatalytic hydrogen production, especially when the carbonaceous material is agglomerated with ionic liquids. In the present work, an electrode composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and cobalt ferrite oxide (CoFe2O4) was prepared. These compounds were included on an electrode agglomerated with the ionic liquid N-octylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate (IL) to obtain the modified CoFe2O4/MWCNTs/IL nanocomposite electrode. To evaluate the behavior of each metal of the bimetallic oxide, this compound was compared to the behavior of MWCNTs/IL where a single monometallic iron or cobalt oxides were included (i.e., α-Fe2O3/MWCNTs/IL and Co3O4/MWCNTs/IL). The synthesis of the oxides has been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), RAMAN spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FE-SEM), corroborating the nanometric character and the structure of the compounds. The CoFe2O4/MWCNTs/IL nanocomposite system presents excellent electrocatalytic activity toward HER with an onset potential of −270 mV vs. RHE, evidencing an increase in activity compared to monometallic oxides and exhibiting onset potentials of −530 mV and −540 mV for α-Fe2O3/MWCNTs/IL and Co3O4/MWCNTs/IL, respectively. Finally, the system studied presents excellent stability during the 5 h of electrolysis, producing 132 μmol cm−2 h−1 of hydrogen gas.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have a common use as a nanostructured substrate to support and stabilize metal nanoparticles (MNPs), generating hybrid materials whose properties can be a combination of individual materials’ properties, generate synergistic effects, or even manifest new properties. Recently, it was reported that the physical and chemical properties of these hybrid nanomaterials vary depending on where the MNPs are deposited in the CNTs. This review will cover area-selective deposition types of MNP in the internal cavity of CNTs (I), on the external walls of CNTs (II), and at the ends of CNTs (III). Various methods have been developed for coupling these two nanomaterials in the three mentioned configurations, and this contribution presents a compilation of the most effective and their main characteristics. In this review, the characterization techniques that allow corroborating each method’s selectivity are also mentioned, highlighting the most precise techniques. Finally, the areas in which these hybrid nanomaterials are being used are mentioned, as well as some applications in which the selective coupling of these could be important.

Abstract The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays an important role in the coordination of several physiological functions including sleep/wake process. Significant changes in ANS activity occur during wake-to-sleep transition maintaining the adequate cardiorespiratory regulation and brain activity. Since sleep is a complex homeostatic function, partly regulated by the ANS, it is not surprising that sleep disruption trigger and/or evidence symptoms of ANS impairment. Indeed, several studies suggest a bidirectional relationship between impaired ANS function (i.e. enhanced sympathetic drive), and the emergence/development of sleep disorders. Furthermore, several epidemiological studies described a strong association between sympathetic-mediated diseases and the development and maintenance of sleep disorders resulting in a vicious cycle with adverse outcomes and increased mortality risk. However, which and how the sleep/wake control and ANS circuitry becomes affected during the progression of ANS-related diseases remains poorly understood. Thus, understanding the physiological mechanisms underpinning sleep/wake-dependent sympathetic modulation could provide insights into diseases involving autonomic dysfunction. The purpose of this review is to explore potential neural mechanisms involved in both the onset/maintenance of sympathetic-mediated diseases (Rett syndrome, congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, obstructive sleep apnoea, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart failure, hypertension, and neurodegenerative diseases) and their plausible contribution to the generation of sleep disorders in order to review evidence that may serve to establish a causal link between sleep disorders and heightened sympathetic activity.

Pinus pinea is an interesting species for its valued pine nuts. Despite the high demand for this nut, the species is mostly harvested from natural forests, because the time elapsed until the trees come into production hinders advances toward a more intensive cultivation. The grafting technique has been used to favor an earlier production in native Mediterranean habitats. In Chile, stone pine has been recently included in orchards. The objective of this study was to assess the initial performance in terms of growth, entry into production and cone yield of three grafting trials of the species established in Chile; two of the trials included nursery-grafted plants and the other, in situ grafting of P. pinea on a 3-year-old P. radiata plantation. An earlier entry into production and a higher number of female strobili and 1-year-old conelets (up to 2.9 times) were found in nursery-grafted plants compared with control seedlings. Growth was higher in trees in situ grafted onto radiata pine than in seedlings; eight years after grafting, the trees had achieved reproductive maturity, 67% had on average three cones per tree, and the presence of female strobili and 1-year-old conelets was 6.6 and 15.6 times higher than in seedlings, respectively. Radiata pine could be a feasible rootstock for either in-nursery or in situ stone pine grafting. Grafting accelerated stone pine entry into production, showing to be an effective tool for stone pine propagation and cropping.

La historia y la geopolítica han analizado la modernidad del Tratado de Tordesillas, su división global de la cultura y de los imperios católicos, la cual repartió a América Latina entre las dos zonas lingüísticas del portugués y el español. Este artículo asume Tordesillas como una estrategia epistemológica y estética moderna, que transforma las fronteras medievales de zonas o vacíos en líneas precisas. Esta perspectiva es articulada por el arte moderno latinoamericano a través de dos figuras clave: el artista uruguayo Joaquín Torres García y el arquitecto chileno Alberto Cruz Covarrubias. Ambos reinterpretaron la cartografía del continente para proponer otras formas de experimentar el espacio geográfico. Cruz invierte la operación gráfica de Tordesillas ofreciendo planos que, desde la poesía y el dibujo, afirman una agencia planetaria, en lugar de una humana sostenida en la geometría euclidiana y la lógica virreinal. En su manuscrito inédito, \"Mar interior\" (c. 1970), Cruz imagina mapas donde, a partir de la Cruz del Sur y el poema colectivo Amereida, el continente determina su propia cartografía. Palabras clave: Alberto Cruz Covarrubias, Amereida, cartografía, Jaime Ferrer de Blanes, Joaquín Torres García, Tordesillas, arte moderno. History and geopolitics have analyzed the modernity of the Treaty of Tordesillas, a global division of culture and Catholic empires, dividing Latin America between the two linguistic zones of Portuguese and Spanish. This article understands Tordesillas as a modern epistemological and aesthetic strategy, transforming medieval borders from zones or gaps into precise lines. This perspective is articulated by modern Latin American art through two key figures: the Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres García and the Chilean architect Alberto Cruz Covarrubias. Both reinterpreted the cartography of the continent to propose other ways of experiencing geographical space. Cruz inverts the graphic operation of Tordesillas, offering plans that, from poetry and drawing, affirm a planetary agency, instead of a human one sustained in Euclidean geometry and viceregal logic. In his unpublished manuscript, \"Mar interior\" (c. 1970), Cruz imagines maps where, from the Cruz del Sur and the collective poem Amereida, the continent determines its own cartography. Keywords: Alberto Cruz Covarrubias, Amereida, cartography, Jaime Ferrer de Blanes, Joaquín Torres García, Tordesillas.

La historia y la geopolítica han analizado la modernidad del Tratado de Tordesillas, división global de la cultura y los imperios católicos, en la repartición de América Latina entre las dos zonas lingüísticas del portugués y el español. Este artículo entiende Tordesillas como una estrategia epistemológica y estética moderna, que transforma las fronteras medievales de zonas o vacíos en líneas precisas. Esta perspectiva es articulada por el arte moderno latinoamericano a través de dos figuras clave: el artista uruguayo Joaquín Torres García y el arquitecto chileno Alberto Cruz Covarrubias. Ambos reinterpretaron la cartografía del continente para proponer otras formas de experimentar el espacio geográfico. Cruz invierte la operación gráfica de Tordesillas, ofreciendo planos que, desde la poesía y el dibujo, afirman una agencia planetaria, en lugar de humana está sostenida en la geometría euclidiana y la lógica virreinal. En su manuscrito inédito, “Mar interior” (c.1970), Cruz imagina mapas donde, a partir de la Cruz del Sur y el poema colectivo Amereida, el continente determina su propia cartografía.

Pinus pinea (stone pine), a Mediterranean species, is valued for its highly nutritious pine nuts and its ability to adapt to different environmental conditions. The species has been increasingly planted in Chile, where its main ecological requirements are met across a vast area. However, new plantations are established without considering social dimensions. Policymakers can regulate private decisions on tree planting through the appropriate design of economic incentives to foster social well-being. The objective of this work was to describe spatial patterns of potential areas for the cultivation of the exotic nut-bearing conifer P. pinea in central Chile and the possible correlation of those patterns with human development indices. Spatial data layers of the municipality development index (MDI), elevation, edaphoclimatic variables, and stone pine nut’s productive potential were overlapped at the municipality scale along 1225 km in central Chile. A spatial principal component analysis (sPCA) was used to integrate multiple dimensions, summarizing covariation structures, and identifying spatial patterns in the study area. Key results showed that spatial patterns of the potential productive index (PPI) were strongly regulated by the spatial pattern of climate and soil variables, whereas the spatial pattern of MDI showed a cryptic pattern and that the three dimensions of MDI—welfare, economy, and education—showed a different spatial movement, especially education and welfare. The results allow us to recommend that public policies boost municipality development through the promotion of P. pinea plantations and should target areas with a high productive potential and low MDI to generate socio-economic improvements. These findings are useful for the strategic spatial planning of the species cropping in Chile.

Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4, LFP) is the most promising cathode material for use in safe electric vehicles (EVs), due to its long cycle stability, low cost, and low toxicity, but it suffers from low conductivity and ion diffusion. In this work, we present a simple method to obtain LFP/carbon (LFP/C) composites with different types of NC: cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and cellulose nanofiber (CNF). Microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis was used to obtain LFP with nanocellulose inside the vessel, and the final LFP/C composite was achieved by heating the mixture under a N2 atmosphere. The resulting LFP/C indicated that the NC in the reaction medium not only acts as the reducing agent that aqueous iron solutions need (avoiding the use of other chemicals), but also as a stabiliser of the nanoparticles produced in the hydrothermal synthesis, obtaining fewer agglomerated particles compared to synthesis without NC. The sample with the best coating—and, therefore, the best electrochemical response—was the sample with 12.6% carbon derived from CNF in the composite instead of CNC, due to its homogeneous coating. The utilisation of CNF in the reaction medium could be a promising method to obtain LFP/C in a simple, rapid, and low-cost way, avoiding the waste of unnecessary chemicals.