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

Introduction: COVID-19 is a global concern, it requires a comprehensive approach to reduce transmission, starting with case detection, hospital care and subsequent follow-up. Objective: To characterize persistent COVID-19 positive patients in terms of epidemiology, clinical and laboratory data. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 16 persistent SARS-CoV-2 positive patients diagnosed by RT-CPR in nasopharyngeal swab, at Comandante Manuel Fajardo Rivero Hospital of Santa Clara in the period from September 2020 to November 2020. Results: The female sex predominated in 75%, the most representative age group was 40-59 years of age (68.75%), 37.50% of the cases were asymptomatic and the most frequent symptom was fever less than seven days 31.25%. There was lymphopenia in the initial hemogram with an average of 27.49, and a leukocyte neutrophil index above three in 4 patients with an initial average of 3.42. Hospital stay of 20.75 days on average. Half had no history of known disease, the most frequent comorbidity was arterial hypertension 43.75 %. The neutrophil leukocyte index above 3 in patients with comorbidities, evolutionary for all pariente was less than 3. Conclusions: The female sex predominates, the most representative age group is 40-59 years, it is frequent that they present asymptomatic and fever is the most usual symptom. There is lymphopenia on the initial blood count. Half of those infected without comorbidities. The evolutionary leukocyte neutrophil index was less than 3 for all patients. DeCS: COVID-19/epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; COMORBIDITY; REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION; SECONDARY CARE.

This research evaluated the physicochemical properties (proximal analysis, color, apparent content of amylose, and molecular weight of amylose) of native starches from commercial corn (NCS) and unconventional sources apple (NAS) and malanga (NMS). In addition, resistant starches (RS) were obtained from their native sources using the physical treatment of autoclaving and the chemical treatment of acid hydrolysis known as lintnerization. Autoclaved malanga starch (AMS) presented the highest RS content (14 %) compared to all the starches studied. In vitro enzymatic hydrolysis of native and modified starches indicated that autoclaved treatment decreased amylolysis » 24 - 41 % compared to native starches. While with the lintnerization treatment, this reduction was less » 3 - 21 %. The autoclaved and lintnerized treatments reduced the apparent amylose content by » 5 %, producing amylose with lower molecular weights (≈ 80 – 87 kDa) for the autoclaved starches and ≈ 92 – 101 kDa for the lintnerized starches. The luminosity was decreased by the autoclaved treatment and not by the lintnerized process.

The study of the mineralization process of bagasse and bagasse compost (by-products from the production of tequila) allows predicting the effects that they will have on soil fertility when incorporated into it. The objective of the study was to evaluate the mineralization process of the remaining organic C; N remaining; and Carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N), of four materials Autoclave bagasse (BA); diffuser bagasse (BD); Autoclaved bagasse compost (CBA); and diffuser bagasse compost (CBD) in contrasting soils (Regosol and Luvisol), by the decomposition bag method. After one year of evaluation, the variables showed significant differences between OR and soils. It was found that the absolute amount of C gradually decreased in the bagasse throughout the year, while the amount of N did not decrease significantly, so an evident reduction in the C/N ratio was observed. These variables in the composts remained partially stable during the mineralization process. Therefore, both materials can be added to the soil, although with different objectives; in the case of compost they can be incorporated into the soil, while in the case of bagasse it is only advisable to deposit them on the ground.

To evaluate the effect of the incorporation of L. leucocephala on biomass production and the chemical composition of P. maximum cv. Tanzania in a silvopastoral system, an experiment was established in two grasslands, established with P. maximum cv. Tanzania as the only crop in one of them and in the other associated with L. leucocephala in an arrangement of pastures in alleys. In each meadow, 12 exclusion cages of 1m3 were placed in a completely random design with 2x4 factorial arrangement, two systems (monoculture and silvopastoral) and four cutting dates (28, 56, 84 and 112 days) and three repetitions. Chemical fertilization with Phosphonitrate was applied in each of the exclusion cages for both treatments. A significant difference was observed between systems for the variables height, coverage, production of organic matter (kg/ha), production of crude protein (kg/ha) and the percentage of FDN, reporting the best values of the silvopastoral system. It is concluded that the use of Leucaena offers important advantages if it is considered that it is capable of producing food of high nutritional value for animals, in addition, it improves the quality and quantity of forage of the system.  

Chickpea cooking water (Aquafaba) is currently being widely investigated as an egg substitute due to its excellent functional properties, which can vary for various reasons, including processing conditions employed during canning. There is little information regarding the behavior of such properties in Aquafaba obtained from natural chickpeas (not canned). For this reason, the objective of this paper was to study the effect of operational condition on foam capacity (FC) and stability (FS) of Aquafaba from natural chickpeas. Different ranges of cooking time and temperature and chickpea to water ratio were evaluated. Results were compared with the FC and FS of egg white and canned Aquafaba. It was found that a chickpea to water ratio of 1:2, cooking temperature of 98 ± 2 °C and cooking time of 60 min, generate Aquafaba with a FC and FS of 370 ± 14.14 % and 82.78 ± 3.1 %, respectively. The obtained Aquafaba presented a lower FC and FS than egg white and lower FC and similar FS than canned Aquafaba. The obtaining of Aquafaba to be used in the food industry, reducing chickpea losses and waste, which it is aligns with the current efforts of food waste valorization.  

The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth, yield and tolerance of grafted watermelon against parasitic Meloidogyne incognita. Watermelon was grafted on rootstocks of Lagenaria siceraria, Cucurbita moschata, Cucumis melo and Cucumis sativus. Agronomic variables, yield, and tolerance to nematodes were evaluated. The grafted plants flowered eight days earlier and presented higher growth, yield (18.5 t ha-1) and fruit size up to 18 % compared to the control. The watermelon grafted on the rootstocks of L. siceraria and C. moschata obtained the lowest galling index (11 and 25 % respectively), number of eggs per g of root (544 and 753 respectively) and number of females per g of root (12 and 22 respectively) compared to the control. The study showed that growth, flowering and yield of grafted plants were significantly influenced by the rootstocks despite the presence of nematodes.

Currently, pork meat is one of the most consumed products in the world; however, the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, such as Enterobacteriaceae, represent a risk to the public health, causing the so-called "Foodborne Diseases" (FAD). The presence of   Enterobacteriaceae in pork is an indicator of poor sanitary management in the processes of raising, slaughtering and marketing of this type of meat. Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella are the most prevalent bacteria, and in some studies reported their high percentage is alarming, due to the risk they represent for the health of consumers and the multidrug resistance to different antibiotics that has been founded.

Substrates, due to their properties, can differentiate seedlings growth, although this can vary according to the time of the year. The objective was to evaluate the effect of the fragmented rice husk (FH), alone and in a mixture with peat moss (PM) or vermiculite (V), on the growth of basil seedlings (Ocimum basilicum L.) in the autumn and spring seasons. The hypothesis was that seedling growth will increase due to the increaseof the rice husk in relation to PM or V, and that the  growth will contrast in autumn and in spring. The experimental design was factorial 9x2, with 20 repetitions; the analysis of variance and comparison of means were carried out (Tukey p ≤ 0.05).The variables were as follows: height; stem diameter; leafy area; dry and fresh biomass of the aerial part; dry and fresh root biomass, and root length and volume. Interactions of the substrate and the production cycle were found, in which the FH and FH+PM-25:75 substrates were most adequate inautumn, and FH+PM-50:50 in spring, in terms of presenting the highest values of the majority of the variables.  

In the state of Jalisco (Mexico), the tequila industry generates a solid waste called agave bagasse which can be used as an organic amendment. However, its decomposition dynamics in soil is unknown. The objective was to evaluate the degradation process of four materials, Autoclave Bagasse (BA); diffuser bagasse (BD); Compost bagasse autoclave (CBA); and diffused bagasse compost (CBD), incubated in two contrasting soils (Regosol and Luvisol) for one year, to determine the remaining dry mass (MSR); decomposition constant (k); and isohumic coefficient (Ci), using the decomposition bag technique. The MSR showed significant differences between materials and soils, the highest losses occurred in BD and BA 74 and 62% in Regosol and 62 and 47 % in Luvisol. The highest values of k were presented in BD in Regosol (0.0099) and Luvisol (0.0074), followed by BA in Regosol (0.0059) and Luvisol (0.0025). The bagasse presented low values in Ci (0.51 and 0.72 with BA and 0.37 and 0.48 with BD, in Regosol and in Luvisol, respectively). The remaining dry matter and the decomposition constant revealed that the degradation processes of the bagasse were more intense and accelerated than in the compost.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical, morphological, structural, and thermal properties of starch extracted from residual potato (Solanum tuberosum), for obtaining a product with value-added. The potato starch obtained presented a content of carbohydrates (87.79%), proteins (1.18%), lipids (0.15%), ashes (0.26%), and amylose (24.35%), with a moisture of 10%. The functional properties indicated a water absorption capacity of 1.0163 g/g, solubility and swelling ranges of 30.17-46.65% and 2.31-8.69 g/g, respectively, with a starch gelatinization temperature about 61.7-90 ºC. The TGA thermogram showed that the maximum weight loss was at 288.1 °C. The SEM-EDS showed particles with sizes of 14-69 µm with a composition of 54.3% carbon, 45.4% oxygen and 0.15% potassium. The DLS analysis showed colloidal particles of nanometric size (120 nm) with a zeta potential close to zero. The NMR and XRD exhibited the crystallinity of the starch as type B (34.73%). The FTIR-ATR corroborated the starch structure showing the functional groups of the glucose. This research presented the relationship between the chemical components of potato starch and its thermal, structural, and morphological behavior with the intention of taking advantage of the residual potato generated by the food industry to generate a value-added product.