Human neurocysticercosis (NC) is caused by the establishment of Taenia solium larvae in the central nervous system. NC is a severe disease still affecting the population in developing countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. While great improvements have been made on NC diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, the management of patients affected by extraparenchymal parasites remains a challenge. The development of a T. solium NC experimental model in pigs that will allow the evaluation of new therapeutic alternatives is herein presented. Activated oncospheres (either 500 or 1000) were surgically implanted in the cerebral subarachnoid space of piglets. The clinical status and the level of serum antibodies in the animals were evaluated for a 4-month period after implantation. The animals were sacrificed, cysticerci were counted during necropsy, and both the macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of cysts were described. Based on the number of established cysticerci, infection efficiency ranged from 3.6% (1000 oncospheres) to 5.4% (500 oncospheres). Most parasites were caseous or calcified (38/63, 60.3%) and were surrounded by an exacerbated inflammatory response with lymphocyte infiltration and increased inflammatory markers. The infection elicited specific antibodies but no neurological signs. This novel experimental model of NC provides a useful tool to evaluate new cysticidal and anti-inflammatory approaches and it should improve the management of severe NC patients, refractory to the current treatments.

Fruit cuticle composition and their mechanical performance have a special role during ripening because internal pressure is no longer sustained by the degraded cell walls of the pericarp but is directly transmitted to epidermis and cuticle which could eventually crack. We have studied fruit growth, cuticle modifications and its biomechanics, and fruit cracking in tomato; tomato has been considered a model system for studying fleshy fruit growth and ripening. Tomato fruit cracking is a major disorder that causes severe economic losses and, in cherry tomato, crack appearance is limited to the ripening process. As environmental conditions play a crucial role in fruit growing, ripening and cracking, we grow two cherry tomato cultivars in four conditions of radiation and relative humidity (RH). High RH and low radiation decreased the amount of cuticle and cuticle components accumulated. No effect of RH in cuticle biomechanics was detected. However, cracked fruits had a significantly less deformable (lower maximum strain) cuticle than non-cracked fruits. A significant and continuous fruit growth from mature green to overripe has been detected with special displacement sensors. This growth rate varied among genotypes, with cracking-sensitive genotypes showing higher growth rates than cracking-resistant ones. Environmental conditions modified this growth rate during ripening, with higher growing rates under high RH and radiation. These conditions corresponded to those that favored fruit cracking. Fruit growth rate during ripening, probably sustained by an internal turgor pressure, is a key parameter in fruit cracking, because fruits that ripened detached from the vine did not crack.

A multilevel factorial design of 23 with 12 experiments was developed for the preparation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) from Agave tequilana Weber var. Azul bagasse, an agro-industrial waste from tequila production. The studied parameters were acid type (H2SO4 and HCl), acid concentration (60 and 65 wt% for H2SO4, 2 and 8N for HCl) temperature (40 and 60 °C for H2SO4, 50 and 90 °C for HCl), and hydrolysis time (40, 55 and 70 min for H2SO4; and 30, 115 and 200 min for HCl). The obtained CNC were physical and chemically characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XDR) techniques. The maximum CNC yield was 90 and 96% for HCL and H2SO4, respectively, and the crystallinity values ranged from 88–91%. The size and morphology of A. tequilana CNC strongly depends on the acid type and hydrolysis time. The shortest CNC obtained with H2SO4 (65 wt%, 40 °C, and 70 min) had a length of 137 ± 68 nm, width 33 ± 7 nm, and height 9.1 nm, whereas the shortest CNC obtained with HCl (2 N, 50 °C and 30 min) had a length of 216 ± 73 nm, width 69 ± 17 nm, and height 8.9 nm. In general, the obtained CNC had an ellipsoidal shape, whereas CNC prepared from H2SO4 were shorter and thinner than those obtained with HCl. The total sulfate group content of CNC obtained with H2SO4 increased with time, temperature, and acid concentration, exhibiting an exponential behavior of .

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This work presents the development of suitable strategies focusing on greenhouse crop residues as energy and CO 2 sources for improved food production in greenhouses. The utilization of greenhouse crop residues in combustion processes for heating and carbonic enrichment in greenhouses has previously been developed and evaluated. Nevertheless, greenhouse crop residues present several problems that make it difficult to use them for these purposes. Among the characteristics that can impede their use are excessive moisture and ash contents as well as their low density. In this work, the relevant solid fuel properties for this type of biomass have been studied. In addition, three pre-treatment strategies are proposed and evaluated, which aim to enhance the fuel quality of this biomass. These strategies were: 1) first relates to the drying strategy employed for reducing greenhouse crop residue moisture. 2) the second one relates to a reduction in ash content by avoiding contact with greenhouse soil and 3) mixing with other biomass kinds with better quality as solid fuels. The assays performed showed that these strategies were successful, resulting in biomass with a high heating value, up to 26.9 MJ/kg, and a lower ash content than untreated residues, with values as low as 13.0% dry weight. This value is closer to that for the standard biomass most commonly employed in direct combustion applications. The biomass produced has been verified as suitable for conventional boilers with thermal efficiencies up to 70%. The methods developed allow to reuse greenhouse crop residues as greenhouse fuel, providing both heat and CO 2 ; thus enhancing production and sustainability.