Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Thermal regulation and ultrasound affect the physical, chemical, and antioxidant properties of essential oils and hydrosols extracted by microwaves from the leaves of Tagetes elliptica S. (chincho). The leaves were conditioned by dehydration or freezing, then pre-treated with ultrasound for 15 or 30 minutes at 40 Hz to finally obtain the essential oil (AECH) and hydrolat (HCH) through microwave extraction (500 W and 30 minutes). Yields, phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, leaf structure by optical microscopy, and chemical composition by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were evaluated. The conditioning of the leaves by freezing and sonication for 30 minutes obtained the best performance, 8.86±0.1% and 67.40 ± 4.8%, phenolic content of 39.4±0.1 mg EAG/mL and 346.2 ± 13.6 mg EAG/mL, and antioxidant capacity of 35.7 μmol EqT/mg and 0.25 μmol EqT/mg equivalent, for AECH and HCH, respectively in every case. Structural damage of the leaves was observed due to the effect of the conditioning-ultrasound-microwave treatments, achieving a more significant release of bioactive compounds. The main compounds of the essential oil were tagetenones (49.2%), followed by cis-miroxide (14.5%), dihydrotagetone (13.9%), tagetone (9.8%) and ocimene (2.4%); the main compounds in the hydrolate were cis-myroxide (44.66%), followed by cis- tagetone (23.84%), trans-tagetone (12.24%), linalool oxide (5.48%) and dihydrotagetone (4.04%). The significant contribution of the present study is the extraction techniques and chemical profile of tagetes elliptica extracts.

At present, numerous methodologies have been developed to obtain the maximum use of fish proteins, to satisfy human nutritional demand, this use has been made both from whole fish and from its residues or by-products (liver, head, skin, gonads, skeleton, and viscera) which represent up to 60% of the whole fish. Whole fish and by-products can potentially be used as sources of essential amino acids, collagen, gelatin, polyunsaturated lipids, and enzymes. Using enzymatic technology, protein hydrolysates have been obtained with ample potential for their application as ingredients in the development and production of fortified foods, due to their functional properties (antihypertensive, antioxidant, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory), which can reduce the risk of cancer, aging, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, these hydrolysates have important techno-functional properties (foaming, solubility, emulsification, gelation, water, and oil retention) that provide desirable technological characteristics for processing, storage and product quality, as well as for behavior during processing. and storage. This review analyzes the advances in the technology for obtaining, identifying, and producing fish protein hydrolysates (FPH) by enzymatic action, with an emphasis on fish residues, highlighting the application of FPH in food, market analysis and global regulations. It is recommended to continue the studies to optimize the enzymatic production of FPH to improve the flavor and its application in the fortification of mass consumption foods.

The Peruvian Altiplano presents increasing fertility losses, being susceptible to natural erosion. For many years, conventional agricultural management has generated losses of the topsoil and deterioration of soil properties, impacting in crop yields and deepening the degradation of this vulnerable ecosystem. The aim of this research was to determine the benefits of cover crops against erosion, soil health and quinoa yield. The trial was carried out in Huancarani and Cahualla towns, Mañazo district, Puno; with a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments: without cover and with clover (Medicago hispida G.), vetch (Vicia villosa) and mulch covers. We evaluated the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soil, the biomass of the cover crops and the quinoa yield. The results showed that the treatments with clover, mulch and vetch covers reduced soil erosion by 59.61%, 51.87% and 49.50%, respectively. Likewise, the use of clover and vetch covers increased organic carbon (29.71% and 31.16%), nitrogen (36.94% and 48.65%), and available phosphorus with clover cover (26.11%). Finally, clover cover associated with quinoa increased the yield of quinoa grain by 17% and reduced soil erosion significantly. These results show that cover crops have great potential for restoring soil health and improving yield.

Stress in the pre-slaughter stage is a critical period in the production chain because it causes losses in animal live weight, affects carcass yield and quality, and leads to a loss of animal welfare due to an alteration in the homeostasis of the organism as a result of exposure to stressful situations. This review identifies and describes the stressors that have been reported in the last 5 years as the main causes of meat quality deterioration, including animal handling activities by farm or plant personnel (transport, loading and unloading, in the slaughter plant), environmental conditions (temperature, vibrations), waiting time prior to slaughter and mixing of lots, water and food fasting period, and fatigue states, as well as the biomarkers routinely used for the study of conditions associated with stress. Although research on the subject is abundant, the biochemical mechanisms involved in obtaining certain organoleptic characteristics of meat with respect to stress levels and the individual variations observable in different groups of animals are still not completely clear, and more research is needed on stress biomarkers that allow a more specific, effective and non-invasive identification and measurement.

A neural network and a genetic algorithm were used in a hybrid method to get the optimal design parameters of an Agave angustifolia Haw. green leaf shredder. First, a prototype of an experimental machine was built using the design parameters recommended by the literature and calculated using linear equations. Then, the shredder prototype was subjected to experiments. The defibration data with different blade adjustments were obtained with experimental values. The data was configured and trained with an artificial neural network to establish a correlation between the defibration quality and the design parameters. The multi-objective optimization method based on genetic algorithms determined the optimal design parameters of the shredder’s functional mechanical elements. The best point was obtained from the least number of broken fibers (2.83%) and the most waste (73.15%). The method used proved suitable to optimize the design parameters; this was based on actual data obtained by experiments performed with the prototype and then modeled through artificial intelligence methods such as neural networks to determine an optimal solution using evolutionary genetic algorithm methods.

In the recent years, there has been an increasing interest in how the aging process in integrated in current societies. The existing body of research on aging suggests that society must promote support for successful aging, which implies living more and living better.  In this way, extensive research shows that older adults need to be engaged in social participation (Raymond and Grenier, 2015), and therefore, in recent years, older adult education has become a decisive part of the different policies applied to achieve successful aging.  The purpose of this paper is to review the different ways in which society acts when facing aging, with special attention devoted to the Spanish situation. This study examines demographic revolution and the different implications that it poses for quality of live and successful aging. A revision of the main aging theories and recommendations to achieve successful aging are provided. Socio-educational actions linked to successful aging promotion are presented, highlighting some university programmes specifically designed for older adults. This lifelong learning scheme has the potential to revolutionize current educational practice to socially integrate older adults in postmodern societies.

This paper analyzes the main problems that intellectual colonialism presents for the understanding of global historical phenomena—specifically capitalism in its current neoliberal version—, in order to demonstrate that this obstacle does not only concern the peripheries, but social sciences in general, since it prevents an adequate understanding and characterization of these phenomena. After reviewing the main hindrances, particularly in relation to Latin America, the article proposes the bases for the development of a global sociology of a peripheral kind: 1) questioning the assumption that mechanizes the North-South relationship as a creative pole and a repetitive one; 2) decentralizing its supposed modern origins; 3) highlighting the agency that the different actors have in the relationship—thus evincing its intrinsically relational character—and revealing the (colonial) power relations that the allegedly universal approaches hide. In this way, it is intended to favor an effectively global view without denying the situationality of all knowledge.

This paper reviews the possibilities around the legal protection of traditional medicine, using examples from Oaxaca having in mind its potential application to the rest of Mexico; in order to propose practical legal tools, promote traditional medicine’s legitimate use and provide its rightful holders with some grounded options to legally defend their knowledge and practices. We offer qualitative ethnographic case studies of zapotecs, mixes and ikoots traditional healers and midwives from Oaxaca from an action-research approach supplemented with several other national and international data sources. We adjusted specific cultural elements to legal categories included in a sui generis protection scheme that promotes a legal management of traditional medicine in Mexico, beginning with Oaxaca; a management that is superior to the development of a simple public policy around this issue. We propose the construction of a Large Database of Traditional Medicine in Oaxaca as a local prototype, that in itself includes necessary and sufficient legal steps to safeguard traditional medicine against its misuse, misappropriation, and/or its illegal or inappropriate exploitation that would violate its legitimate rights holders’ intellectual property.

This research analyzes the forced internal displacement of women from Aguililla, Michoacan to Tijuana, Baja California due to criminal violence, particularly to the camp located in the El Chaparral gatehouse to request affirmative asylum in the United States. Through semi-structured interviews carried out with 12 women, their stories and strategies are analyzed and complemented with statistics on the demographic, economic, social, and violence conditions that prevail in the places of origin and destination. Results show that violence exerted by criminal groups has led to the reactive and preventive forced displacement of women from Aguililla to Tijuana, whose flows are mainly supported by religious, social, and family networks. However, immigration barriers in the United States and the lack of protection laws in Mexico increase their vulnerability and risks in Tijuana. This research contributes to recognizing the life stories of women in Mexico who have been displaced by criminal violence, although findings are not generalizable to the entire internally displaced population.

La sección de ensayos del presente número de la Revista Mexicana de Ciencia Política está dedicada a discutir una serie de preguntas vitales sobre la problemática político-militar y económica del centro capitalista de finales de siglo: los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica. Apenas cabe dudar que la calidad de las interrogantes formuladas en un hoy convulsivamente cambiante, en gran parte condicionan las probabilidades de sobrevi­vencia física, psíquica y política de aquellos que las formulan. Más aún, como en alguna ocasión lo ase­veró Margaret Mead, la adecuación de las respuestas en gran medida determinan las condiciones de la vida de aquellas generaciones que habrán de sucedemos. La imaginación, la empatia, el rigor empírico y el rompimiento abierto y violento con cualquier atadura inhibitoria teórico-informativa, son condiciones indis­pensables para lanzar a las ciencias sociales, no menos que al “científico” social, a un nivel superior, es decir a un nivel que le permita formulaciones histórica y bio­gráficamente relevantes.