Carmen Valdés

Effect of DL-malate on mixed ruminal microorganism fermentation using the rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC)

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of DL-malate on the in vitro fermentation of a 50 : 50 forage : concentrate diet using the rumen simulation technique (RUSITEC) and to compare these effects with those induced by the addition of propionate. The RUSITEC system consisted of eight vessels: three of them received daily 5.62 mmol of DL-malate, three vessels received daily 5.62 mmol of propionate and two vessels received no additives (control). After an adaptation period of 11 days the main fermentation parameters were determined for five consecutive days. There were no significant differences between treatments either in pH or in the daily production of NH3‐N. Compared to control diet, the addition of DL-malate resulted in an increase (p < 0.05) of hemicellulose disappearance and a trend (p < 0.10) towards a greater disappearance of dry matter, organic matter and neutral detergent fibre. Differences between DLmalate and propionate in diet degradation were not significant. DL-malate treatment resulted in an increase (p < 0.01) of daily propionate production, and a decrease (p < 0.05) in the amount of both methane (mmol/g DM fermented) and L-lactate (mg/day). Compared to propionate, DL-malate produced an increase (p < 0.05) of acetate production and tended to produce a lower amount of propionate (p < 0.10). In conclusion, these results seem to indicate that DL-malate enhanced the in vitro fermentation by increasing production of propionate and digestibility of hemicellulose. # 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of forage to concentrate ratio in the diet on ruminal fermentation and digesta flow kinetics in sheep offered food at a fixed and restricted level of intake.

The effects of four diets differing in their for age: concentrate ratio (80:20, 60:40, 40: 60 and 20:80; g/100 g fresh matter) on rumen characteristics, digestibility and digesta flow kinetics were investigated. Alfalfa hay was used as forage and concentrate was composed of barley, soya-bean meal and maize. Diets were prepared by mixing all ingredients and offered to the animals as complete diets. Eight mature Merino sheep, each fitted with a rumen cannula, were offered 1·055 kg dry matter per day of the corresponding diet over two experimental periods. The daily evolution of ruminai pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia nitrogen (N) concentrations were measured. Digestibility was determined by total faecal collection and Cr and Co were used as markers to estimate digesta passage rates. Microbial nitrogen flow at the duodenum (MNDF) was estimated from the urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD). The apparent digestibility of organic matter increased ( P P P P > 0·05). Both liquid and solid digesta outflow rates from the rumen decreased quadratically ( P P > 0·05) by changes in the diet. In contrast, the daily urinary excretion of both allantoin and total PD increased quadratically ( P P

Comparative digestibility and digesta flow kinetics in two breeds of sheep

A study was conducted to compare apparent digestibility and digesta flow kinetics in the whole digestive tract in two breeds of sheep (Churra and Merino) offered alfalfa hay at about maintenance. Ten mature sheep (five Churra and five Merino) each fitted with a rumen cannula were used in the study. Apparent digestibility was determined by total faecal collection. Liquid (Co-EDTA) and solid (Cr-mordanted fibre) markers were used to estimate rumen volumes and digesta flows. There were no significant differences between Churra and Merino sheep either in dry-matter or fibre apparent digestibility (P > 0·05). Liquid and solid passage rates did not differ between breeds and the estimated total mean retention times were similar for both genotypes. The volume of liquid in the rumen was proportionately 0·14 greater in Churra than in Merino sheep, although the difference was not significant. Estimated saliva secretion was greater in Churra (11·6 (s.e. 0·77) I/day) than in Merino sheep (10·5 (s.e. 0·72) I/day) but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Solid contents of the rumen did not differ between breeds. Rumen particle density was lowest at 2 h after feeding and remained stable at other sampling times, with no significant differences between breeds. There were no significant differences between breeds in the urinary excretion of total purine derivatives but urinary excretion of allantoin and microbial nitrogen supply tended to be higher in Merino than in Churra sheep ( P

Effect of forage to concentrate ratio in complete diets offered to sheep on voluntary food intake and some digestive parameters.

Twelve mature ewes were used to study the effect of forage: concentrate ratio in complete diets on voluntary intake and some digestive characteristics. Diets consisted of four combinations of chopped lucerne hay and a concentrate (390 g cracked barley grains, 440 g cracked maize grains and 170 g soya-bean meal per kg of concentrate) in the following proportions (fresh matter basis): 0·8:0·2 (C20), 0·6:0·4 (C40), 0·4:0·6 (C60) and 0·2:0·8 (C80). Diets were offered over two 42-day periods and, in each of them, three sheep received one of the four diets, with the restriction that no animal received the same diet in both periods. Chromium Ill-mordanted fibre was used as a marker to estimate passage rate of digest a and microbial nitrogen supply (MNS) was estimated from the urinary excretion of purine derivatives. The increase in the proportion of concentrate affected linearly ( P P P P > 0·05) by the proportion of concentrate in the diet. Both particulate passage rate from the rumen and through the caecum and proximal colon decreased linearly ( P P > 0·05) by the diet, whereas its efficiency (g/kg digestible OM intake) tended ( P

Effects of the inclusion of flaxseed and quercetin in the diet of fattening lambs on ruminal microbiota, in vitro fermentation and biohydrogenation of fatty acids

Thirty-two lambs (n = 8 per treatment) were fed a total mixed ration (TMR) formulated either with palm oil (CTRL; 34 g palm oil/kg TMR) or flaxseed (FS) (85 g FS/kg TMR) alone or enriched with quercetin (QCT, 34 g palm oil plus 2 g QCT/kg TMR; FS-QCT, 85 g FS plus 2 gQCT/kg TMR). The animals were slaughtered after being fed for at least 5 weeks with the experimental diets and samples of ruminal contents and ruminal liquid were collected for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses of ruminal microbial species and fatty acid profile or in vitro fermentation, respectively. Results demonstrated that Butyrivibrio vaccenic acid (VA) and Butyrivibrio stearic acid (SA) producing bacteria copy numbers were decreased when FS was added to the diet of fattening lambs, which seemed to be in agreement with numerically (but not significantly) lower values for gas production, methane production and butyric acid during in vitro incubation. Ciliate protozoa were significantly enhanced by QCT, which was in accordance with numerically (but not significantly) higher values for in vitro methane production. Moreover, the modifications observed in ruminal microbial populations (Butyrivibrio and ciliate protozoa) when FS and QCT were included together (but not separately) in the diet of fattening lambs were probably related to a trend towards significantly higher values of rumenic acid (RA) in ruminal content. In conclusion, when FS and QCT were administered together in the diet of fattening lambs quantitative changes in the ruminal microbiota were observed, which might have promoted an increment of RA concentration in ruminal contents.

Feed efficiency and the liver proteome of fattening lambs are modified by feed restriction during the suckling period

La enfermedad de Lafora es un tipo de epilepsia mioclonica progresiva de herencia autosomica recesiva causada por la mutacion de uno de los siguientes genes: EPM2A, que codifica para la fosfatasa de especificidad dual laforina, y EPM2B, que codifica para la E3 ubicuitina ligasa malina. Ambas proteinas participan en las mismas rutas fisiologicas a traves de la formacion de un complejo funcional en el que laforina recluta de manera especifica sustratos para que sean ubicuitinados por malina. Sin embargo, muchos aspectos relativos al funcionamiento de este complejo estan aun por definir. En el presente trabajo, hemos analizado el mecanismo de dimerizacion de laforina, descubriendo que la cisteina 329 juega un papel fundamental en el proceso de dimerizacion, ya que su mutacion da lugar a una forma exclusivamente monomerica que mantiene la capacidad catalitica y la capacidad de formar un complejo funcional con malina. Por otro lado, hemos definido que el complejo laforina-malina emplea a la enzima conjugadora de ubicuitina UBE2N para promover la ubicuitinacion de sus sustratos con cadenas unidas en K63. El adaptador de la autofagia selectiva p62 tambien interacciona con el complejo laforina-malina, estimulando su capacidad de ubicuitinacion y siendo ubicuitinado el mismo en el proceso. Todos ellos colocalizan en regiones donde esta teniendo lugar la autofagia. Ademas, el complejo laforina-malina participa en la regulacion de este proceso uniendo al nucleo central beclina1-Vps34-Vps15, promoviendo su ubicuitinacion, asi como la de reguladores posteriores como Atg14L y UVRAG. El complejo laforina-malina esta regulado por componentes de la maquinaria de autofagia, como Bcl-2, que inhibe su capacidad de ubicuitinacion, o TRAF6, que promueve la ubicuitinacion de laforina. Sin embargo, el complejo laforina-malina no se recluta a la mitocondria para su degradacion por autofagia ni en condiciones normales ni tras producirse dano mitocondrial. Del mismo modo, la migracion de parkina a la mitocondria para inducir su degradacion no esta afectada ni en ausencia ni en sobreexpresion de laforina y malina. En conjunto, hemos definido algunos aspectos relevantes respecto al mecanismo por el que actuan laforina y malina, y por tanto mejorado nuestra comprension sobre como pueda estar causada la patologia.290 Pags.- Figs.- Tabls. Tesis Univ. Zaragoza, Departamento de Geografia y Ordenacion del Territorio. Dirigida por los Drs. Santiago Begueria (EEAD-CSIC) y Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano (IPE-CSIC). Bajo Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).We define a clause tableau calculus for MaxSAT, prove its soundness and completeness, and describe a tableau-based algorithm for MaxSAT. Given a multiset of clauses ϕ, the algorithm computes both the minimum number of clauses that can be falsified in ϕ, and an optimal assignment. We also describe how the algorithm can be extended to solve weighted MaxSAT and weighted partial MaxSAT.Grupo 5: Valor social.-- Programa de investigacion para la conservacion preventiva y regimen de acceso de la cueva de Altamira (2012-2014).Automated planning has proven to be useful to solve problems where an agent has to maximize a reward function by executing actions. As planners have been improved to salve more expressive and difficult problems, there is an increasing interest in using planning to improve efficiency in robotic tasks. However, planners rely on a domain model, which has to be either handcrafted or learned. Although learning domain models can be very costly, recent approaches provide generalization capabilities and integrate human feedback to reduce the amount of experiences required to learn. In this thesis we propase new methods that allow an agent with no previous knowledge to solve certain problems more efficiently by using task planning. First, we show how to apply probabilistic planning to improve robot performance in manipulation tasks (such as cleaning the dirt or clearing the tableware on a table). Planners obtain sequences of actions that get the best result in the long term, beating reactive strategies. Second, we introduce new reinforcement learning algorithms where the agent can actively request demonstrations from a teacher to learn new actions and speed up the learning process. In particular, we propase an algorithm that allows the user to set the minimum quality to be achieved, where a better quality also implies that a larger number of demonstrations will be requested . Moreover, the learned model is analyzed to extract the unlearned or problematic parts of the model. This information allow the agent to provide guidance to the teacher when a demonstration is requested, and to avoid irrecoverable errors. Finally, a new domain model learner is introduced that, in addition to relational probabilistic action models, can also learn exogenous effects. This learner can be integrated with existing planners and reinforcement learning algorithms to salve a wide range of problems. In summary, we improve the use of learning and task planning to salve unknown tasks. The improvements allow an agent to obtain a larger benefit from planners, learn faster, balance the number of action executions and teacher demonstrations, avoid irrecoverable errors, interact with a teacher to solve difficult problems, and adapt to the behavior of other agents by learning their dynamics. All the proposed methods were compared with state-of-the-art approaches, and were also demonstrated in different scenarios, including challenging robotic tasks.L’estudi del sistema d’alimentacio d’hidrogen es un dels camps de recerca necessaris per a allargar la vida util de les piles de combustible PEM. Estudis anteriors han demostrat que la vida util i l’eficiencia d’aquestes piles milloren amb l’us d’un sistema de recirculacio d’hidrogen. En aquest treball s’ha dissenyat i fabricat un ejector per a ser implementat a l’estacio de proves 4 del laboratori de control de piles de combustible de l’IRI amb la finalitat d’analitzar l’efecte que els sistemes de recirculacio d’hidrogen basats en ejectors tenen sobre aquestes piles. En el disseny de la geometria d’un ejector s’han de considerar diferents parametres que nomes es poden estudiar mitjancant CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Per tant, s’ha desenvolupat un model 2D axisimetric utilitzant el model de turbulencia k-e estandard per a resoldre les equacions de Navier-Stokes amb una mitjana de Favre. El model s’ha utilitzat per a dissenyar i fabricar un ejector experimental amb la finalitat de validar-lo. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que el model es capac d’obtenir els fluxos massics que apareixen en un ejector per a diferents condicions operatives. Un cop validat el model, s’ha fet servir per a fer un estudi parametric per a trobar els parametres geometrics optims que ha de tenir l’ejector dissenyat per a l’estacio de proves 4.Trabajo presentado en el 10th International Symposium on the Cretaceous, celebrado en Viena (Austria) del 21 al 26 de agosto de 2017Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por el proyecto CGL2009-11316 y por una beca de Formacion de Profesorado Universitario del Ministerio de educacion AP2007-03633.Trabajo presentado en el XXIV Congreso Iberoamericano de Catalisis, celebrado en Medellin (Colombia) del 14 al 19 de septiembre de 2014.Trabajo presentado en el 33rd International Meeting of Sedimentology y 16eme Congres Francais de Sedimentologie (2017), celebrado en Toulouse (Francia), del 10 al 12 de octubre de 2017Trabajo presentado en la XXV Reunion Bienal de Quimica Organica celebrada en Alicante del 4 al 6 de junio de 2014.Resumen del trabajo presentado a las II Jornadas Cientificas CIAL-Forum, celebradas durante los dias 16 y 17 de noviembre de 2016 en el Instituto de Investigacion en Ciencias de la Alimentacion (CIAL).Esta reflexion analiza el paralelismo entre el origen del discurso patrimonial autorizado y la precarizacion del trabajo femenino. Ambos surgen con el capitalismo y son dos de sus pilares. Plantea que el cambio simbolico que implica la igualdad legal entre hombres y mujeres supone un cambio profundo en las estructuras sociales y que este cambio ofrece serias resistencias, que se generan no solo por la necesidad de las instancias de poder de seguir ocupandolo sino porque implican cambios en la identidad de los grupos y de los individuos, con la angustia que ello genera. La idea de patrimonio cultural esta directamente implicada en estos cambios puesto que la incorporacion de las mujeres a el implica una variacion sustancial en el propio concepto. Sugiere que para avanzar en este cambio es necesario comprender que el “que” y el “como” se hacen las cosas estan necesariamente imbricados.Presentacion para el 50th European Marine Biology Symposium, 21-25 September 2015, Helgoland, Germany.-- 15 pagesResumen del trabajo presentado al XVIII Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Society of Chromatography and Related Techniques (SECyTA), celebrado en Granada del 2 al 4 de octubre de 2018.Resumen del trabajo presentado al 42st Annual Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) MidWinter Meeting, celebrado en Baltimore, Maryland (USA) del 9 al 13 de febrero de 2019.Partial financial support has been received from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI, MCI, Spain) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE), under Project PACSS (RTI2018-093732-B-C21/C22) and the Maria de Maeztu Program for units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2017-0711). A.F.P. acknowledges support by the Formacion de Profesorado Universitario (FPU14/00554) program of Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deportes (MECD) (Spain).Memoria presentada para optar al titulo de Doctor otorgado por la Universidad de Cantabria por Biuse Casaponsa Gali y que ha sido realizada en el Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria.Trabajo presentado al: 4th International Meeting on Apicomplexa in Farm Animals. (Madrid, Spain. 11-14 October 2017).3 paginas, 1 tabla , 1 figura.--Trabajo presentado a las XVII Jornadas sobre Produccion Animal AIDA (Zaragoza, 30 y 31 de mayo, 2017).301 paginas.-- 392 referencias.-- Memoria para optar al titulo de Doctora en Farmacia por la Universidad de SevillaTrabajo presentado en el ANQUE.ICCE.BIOTEC - Congress on Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, celebrado en Madrid del 01 al 04 de julio de 2014.Towards an integrated evaluation of the Spanish journals on Social and Human Sciences. The journals of Psychology. The present work is part of an ampler project about Spanish journals evaluation of Social y Human Sciences. First, the results of the evaluation of the Spanish journals of Psychology are presented. These results are obtained from a survey sent to university professors in order to evaluate the journals to establish hierarchized relations in each area of knowledge. Second, a study of the references cited from a selection of journals is realized. Finally, an integrated table of valuation of the journals is presented. In order to facilitate the task a data base is elaborated. Among the obtained conclusions it is particularly interested the fact that while the professors declare to publish mainly in Spanish journals, they preferredly cite foreign journals. On the other hand, it is indicated that the different methods to evaluate a journal are complementary and it is important to know the used method in each case.Trabajo presentado al: 4th International Meeting on Apicomplexa in Farm Animals. (11-14 October 2017 - Madrid, Spain).Trabajo presentado en la ed. anual 2017 del congreso nacional BIOTEC organizado por la Sociedad Espanola de Biotecnologia en el Campus La Merced de la Universidad de Murcia durante los dias 18 a 21 de junio de 2017.Memoria presentada para optar al grado de Doctor en Ciencias, Seccion Quimicas, por el Licenciado Elena Forcen Vazquez en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad de ZaragozaResumen del trabajo presentado a la IV Reunion de Jovenes Investigadores en Coloides e Interfases, celebrada en Cordoba del 7 al 9 de febrero de 2018.Poster presentado en el II Simposio del Grupo de Trabajo “Interacciones Planta‐Suelo” Universidad de Jaen, Palacio de Najera (Antequera) 22‐25 marzo (2018)Trabajo presentado en el XIII Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura, celebrado en Barcelona del 21 al 24 de noviembre de 2011.Trabajo presentado al 15th JCF Fruhjahrssymposium (Congreso de Jovenes Investigadores de la Sociedad Alemana de Quimica) celebrado en Berlin (Alemania) del 6 al 9 de marzo de 2013.Trabajo presentado en la V Reunion de Internacional de FUEGORED (Red Tematica efectos de los incendios forestales sobre los suelos), celebrada en Barcelona – Solsona (Espana), del 8 al 10 de mayo de 2014Poster presentado a la 20th International Conference on Solid Compounds of Transition Elements, celebrada del 11 al 15 de abril de 2016 en Zaragoza (Espana).10 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, 61 references. We thank the Consejeri´a de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andaluci´a, for permitting the field work in Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Baza. Sergio de Haro provided invaluable help in the field. Corinna Riginos made constructive comments on the manuscript. David Nesbitt improved the English version.Trabajo presentado a la Annual World Conference on Carbon, celebrada en Dresden (Alemania) del 12 al 17 de julio de 2015.

Milk replacer restriction during early life impairs the live body weight and progesterone patterns of ewe lambs during the replacement period

Nutritional programming caused by feed restriction during the early life may counteract the profitability of the dairy sheep farm. However, most studies have been focused exclusively on the prenatal period, and scarce information regarding the effect of milk replacer (MR) restriction on feed efficiency [residual feed intake (RFI)] and progesterone patterns of replacement ewe lambs is available. Therefore, in the present study 40 Assaf female newborn lambs were penned individually and assigned randomly to 1 of 2 treatment groups (n = 20 per treatment). The first group of lambs was fed MR ad libitum (ADLB), whereas the second one (restricted, RES) only received approximately 62.5% of the MR intake measured in the ADLB group. All the lambs were weighed twice a week until they were 35 d old. Then 8 lambs from each group were killed and a morphological study of the gut was performed. Moreover, a piece of liver was cut to measure fat content and oxidative status. The rest of the ewe lambs (24) were weaned and offered a total mixed ration ad libitum to calculate the RFI during the replacement phase. Plasma samples were collected when ewe lambs were 8 mo old to perform a nontargeted metabolomic analysis on a hybrid quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupled to an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatographic system. Progesterone was also measured weekly on serum samples by sequential competitive immunoassay until the end of the experiment (9.5 mo old). The results observed indicate that moderated MR restriction promoted differences in the morphology of the gut of the 35-d-old lambs, but not in the apparent digestibility or feed efficiency traits (RFI) during the replacement phase. However, there was a trend toward reduced live body weight of the RES ewe lambs when they were 9.5 mo old. Moreover, progesterone patterns revealed that only 1 RES versus 4 ADLB ewe lambs had ovulated for the first time at the end of the experiment. This evidence suggests the existence of long-term effects caused by early feed restriction with negative consequences on live body weight and reproductive traits of replacement ewe lambs.

El sistema de lactancia afecta a la eficiencia de alimentación y al perfil metabolómico del plasma de corderos en la etapa de cebo

La enfermedad de Lafora es un tipo de epilepsia mioclonica progresiva de herencia autosomica recesiva causada por la mutacion de uno de los siguientes genes: EPM2A, que codifica para la fosfatasa de especificidad dual laforina, y EPM2B, que codifica para la E3 ubicuitina ligasa malina. Ambas proteinas participan en las mismas rutas fisiologicas a traves de la formacion de un complejo funcional en el que laforina recluta de manera especifica sustratos para que sean ubicuitinados por malina. Sin embargo, muchos aspectos relativos al funcionamiento de este complejo estan aun por definir. En el presente trabajo, hemos analizado el mecanismo de dimerizacion de laforina, descubriendo que la cisteina 329 juega un papel fundamental en el proceso de dimerizacion, ya que su mutacion da lugar a una forma exclusivamente monomerica que mantiene la capacidad catalitica y la capacidad de formar un complejo funcional con malina. Por otro lado, hemos definido que el complejo laforina-malina emplea a la enzima conjugadora de ubicuitina UBE2N para promover la ubicuitinacion de sus sustratos con cadenas unidas en K63. El adaptador de la autofagia selectiva p62 tambien interacciona con el complejo laforina-malina, estimulando su capacidad de ubicuitinacion y siendo ubicuitinado el mismo en el proceso. Todos ellos colocalizan en regiones donde esta teniendo lugar la autofagia. Ademas, el complejo laforina-malina participa en la regulacion de este proceso uniendo al nucleo central beclina1-Vps34-Vps15, promoviendo su ubicuitinacion, asi como la de reguladores posteriores como Atg14L y UVRAG. El complejo laforina-malina esta regulado por componentes de la maquinaria de autofagia, como Bcl-2, que inhibe su capacidad de ubicuitinacion, o TRAF6, que promueve la ubicuitinacion de laforina. Sin embargo, el complejo laforina-malina no se recluta a la mitocondria para su degradacion por autofagia ni en condiciones normales ni tras producirse dano mitocondrial. Del mismo modo, la migracion de parkina a la mitocondria para inducir su degradacion no esta afectada ni en ausencia ni en sobreexpresion de laforina y malina. En conjunto, hemos definido algunos aspectos relevantes respecto al mecanismo por el que actuan laforina y malina, y por tanto mejorado nuestra comprension sobre como pueda estar causada la patologia.290 Pags.- Figs.- Tabls. Tesis Univ. Zaragoza, Departamento de Geografia y Ordenacion del Territorio. Dirigida por los Drs. Santiago Begueria (EEAD-CSIC) y Sergio M. Vicente-Serrano (IPE-CSIC). Bajo Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).We define a clause tableau calculus for MaxSAT, prove its soundness and completeness, and describe a tableau-based algorithm for MaxSAT. Given a multiset of clauses ϕ, the algorithm computes both the minimum number of clauses that can be falsified in ϕ, and an optimal assignment. We also describe how the algorithm can be extended to solve weighted MaxSAT and weighted partial MaxSAT.Grupo 5: Valor social.-- Programa de investigacion para la conservacion preventiva y regimen de acceso de la cueva de Altamira (2012-2014).Automated planning has proven to be useful to solve problems where an agent has to maximize a reward function by executing actions. As planners have been improved to salve more expressive and difficult problems, there is an increasing interest in using planning to improve efficiency in robotic tasks. However, planners rely on a domain model, which has to be either handcrafted or learned. Although learning domain models can be very costly, recent approaches provide generalization capabilities and integrate human feedback to reduce the amount of experiences required to learn. In this thesis we propase new methods that allow an agent with no previous knowledge to solve certain problems more efficiently by using task planning. First, we show how to apply probabilistic planning to improve robot performance in manipulation tasks (such as cleaning the dirt or clearing the tableware on a table). Planners obtain sequences of actions that get the best result in the long term, beating reactive strategies. Second, we introduce new reinforcement learning algorithms where the agent can actively request demonstrations from a teacher to learn new actions and speed up the learning process. In particular, we propase an algorithm that allows the user to set the minimum quality to be achieved, where a better quality also implies that a larger number of demonstrations will be requested . Moreover, the learned model is analyzed to extract the unlearned or problematic parts of the model. This information allow the agent to provide guidance to the teacher when a demonstration is requested, and to avoid irrecoverable errors. Finally, a new domain model learner is introduced that, in addition to relational probabilistic action models, can also learn exogenous effects. This learner can be integrated with existing planners and reinforcement learning algorithms to salve a wide range of problems. In summary, we improve the use of learning and task planning to salve unknown tasks. The improvements allow an agent to obtain a larger benefit from planners, learn faster, balance the number of action executions and teacher demonstrations, avoid irrecoverable errors, interact with a teacher to solve difficult problems, and adapt to the behavior of other agents by learning their dynamics. All the proposed methods were compared with state-of-the-art approaches, and were also demonstrated in different scenarios, including challenging robotic tasks.L’estudi del sistema d’alimentacio d’hidrogen es un dels camps de recerca necessaris per a allargar la vida util de les piles de combustible PEM. Estudis anteriors han demostrat que la vida util i l’eficiencia d’aquestes piles milloren amb l’us d’un sistema de recirculacio d’hidrogen. En aquest treball s’ha dissenyat i fabricat un ejector per a ser implementat a l’estacio de proves 4 del laboratori de control de piles de combustible de l’IRI amb la finalitat d’analitzar l’efecte que els sistemes de recirculacio d’hidrogen basats en ejectors tenen sobre aquestes piles. En el disseny de la geometria d’un ejector s’han de considerar diferents parametres que nomes es poden estudiar mitjancant CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Per tant, s’ha desenvolupat un model 2D axisimetric utilitzant el model de turbulencia k-e estandard per a resoldre les equacions de Navier-Stokes amb una mitjana de Favre. El model s’ha utilitzat per a dissenyar i fabricar un ejector experimental amb la finalitat de validar-lo. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que el model es capac d’obtenir els fluxos massics que apareixen en un ejector per a diferents condicions operatives. Un cop validat el model, s’ha fet servir per a fer un estudi parametric per a trobar els parametres geometrics optims que ha de tenir l’ejector dissenyat per a l’estacio de proves 4.Trabajo presentado en el 10th International Symposium on the Cretaceous, celebrado en Viena (Austria) del 21 al 26 de agosto de 2017Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por el proyecto CGL2009-11316 y por una beca de Formacion de Profesorado Universitario del Ministerio de educacion AP2007-03633.Trabajo presentado en el XXIV Congreso Iberoamericano de Catalisis, celebrado en Medellin (Colombia) del 14 al 19 de septiembre de 2014.Trabajo presentado en el 33rd International Meeting of Sedimentology y 16eme Congres Francais de Sedimentologie (2017), celebrado en Toulouse (Francia), del 10 al 12 de octubre de 2017Trabajo presentado en la XXV Reunion Bienal de Quimica Organica celebrada en Alicante del 4 al 6 de junio de 2014.Resumen del trabajo presentado a las II Jornadas Cientificas CIAL-Forum, celebradas durante los dias 16 y 17 de noviembre de 2016 en el Instituto de Investigacion en Ciencias de la Alimentacion (CIAL).Esta reflexion analiza el paralelismo entre el origen del discurso patrimonial autorizado y la precarizacion del trabajo femenino. Ambos surgen con el capitalismo y son dos de sus pilares. Plantea que el cambio simbolico que implica la igualdad legal entre hombres y mujeres supone un cambio profundo en las estructuras sociales y que este cambio ofrece serias resistencias, que se generan no solo por la necesidad de las instancias de poder de seguir ocupandolo sino porque implican cambios en la identidad de los grupos y de los individuos, con la angustia que ello genera. La idea de patrimonio cultural esta directamente implicada en estos cambios puesto que la incorporacion de las mujeres a el implica una variacion sustancial en el propio concepto. Sugiere que para avanzar en este cambio es necesario comprender que el “que” y el “como” se hacen las cosas estan necesariamente imbricados.Presentacion para el 50th European Marine Biology Symposium, 21-25 September 2015, Helgoland, Germany.-- 15 pagesResumen del trabajo presentado al XVIII Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Society of Chromatography and Related Techniques (SECyTA), celebrado en Granada del 2 al 4 de octubre de 2018.Resumen del trabajo presentado al 42st Annual Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) MidWinter Meeting, celebrado en Baltimore, Maryland (USA) del 9 al 13 de febrero de 2019.Partial financial support has been received from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI, MCI, Spain) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, UE), under Project PACSS (RTI2018-093732-B-C21/C22) and the Maria de Maeztu Program for units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2017-0711). A.F.P. acknowledges support by the Formacion de Profesorado Universitario (FPU14/00554) program of Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deportes (MECD) (Spain).Memoria presentada para optar al titulo de Doctor otorgado por la Universidad de Cantabria por Biuse Casaponsa Gali y que ha sido realizada en el Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria.Trabajo presentado al: 4th International Meeting on Apicomplexa in Farm Animals. (Madrid, Spain. 11-14 October 2017).3 paginas, 1 tabla , 1 figura.--Trabajo presentado a las XVII Jornadas sobre Produccion Animal AIDA (Zaragoza, 30 y 31 de mayo, 2017).301 paginas.-- 392 referencias.-- Memoria para optar al titulo de Doctora en Farmacia por la Universidad de SevillaTrabajo presentado en el ANQUE.ICCE.BIOTEC - Congress on Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, celebrado en Madrid del 01 al 04 de julio de 2014.Towards an integrated evaluation of the Spanish journals on Social and Human Sciences. The journals of Psychology. The present work is part of an ampler project about Spanish journals evaluation of Social y Human Sciences. First, the results of the evaluation of the Spanish journals of Psychology are presented. These results are obtained from a survey sent to university professors in order to evaluate the journals to establish hierarchized relations in each area of knowledge. Second, a study of the references cited from a selection of journals is realized. Finally, an integrated table of valuation of the journals is presented. In order to facilitate the task a data base is elaborated. Among the obtained conclusions it is particularly interested the fact that while the professors declare to publish mainly in Spanish journals, they preferredly cite foreign journals. On the other hand, it is indicated that the different methods to evaluate a journal are complementary and it is important to know the used method in each case.Trabajo presentado al: 4th International Meeting on Apicomplexa in Farm Animals. (11-14 October 2017 - Madrid, Spain).Trabajo presentado en la ed. anual 2017 del congreso nacional BIOTEC organizado por la Sociedad Espanola de Biotecnologia en el Campus La Merced de la Universidad de Murcia durante los dias 18 a 21 de junio de 2017.Memoria presentada para optar al grado de Doctor en Ciencias, Seccion Quimicas, por el Licenciado Elena Forcen Vazquez en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad de ZaragozaResumen del trabajo presentado a la IV Reunion de Jovenes Investigadores en Coloides e Interfases, celebrada en Cordoba del 7 al 9 de febrero de 2018.Poster presentado en el II Simposio del Grupo de Trabajo “Interacciones Planta‐Suelo” Universidad de Jaen, Palacio de Najera (Antequera) 22‐25 marzo (2018)Trabajo presentado en el XIII Congreso Nacional de Acuicultura, celebrado en Barcelona del 21 al 24 de noviembre de 2011.Trabajo presentado al 15th JCF Fruhjahrssymposium (Congreso de Jovenes Investigadores de la Sociedad Alemana de Quimica) celebrado en Berlin (Alemania) del 6 al 9 de marzo de 2013.Trabajo presentado en la V Reunion de Internacional de FUEGORED (Red Tematica efectos de los incendios forestales sobre los suelos), celebrada en Barcelona – Solsona (Espana), del 8 al 10 de mayo de 2014Poster presentado a la 20th International Conference on Solid Compounds of Transition Elements, celebrada del 11 al 15 de abril de 2016 en Zaragoza (Espana).10 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, 61 references. We thank the Consejeri´a de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Andaluci´a, for permitting the field work in Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Baza. Sergio de Haro provided invaluable help in the field. Corinna Riginos made constructive comments on the manuscript. David Nesbitt improved the English version.Trabajo presentado a la Annual World Conference on Carbon, celebrada en Dresden (Alemania) del 12 al 17 de julio de 2015.

Modifications in liver transcriptomic profile of fattening lambs by early suckled milk intake level

AIM Identify signals of fat deposition and adaptation through genome-wide scan of the Barbaresca fat-tail sheep. ANIMALS Barbaresca in an ancient Sicilian fat-tail sheep, highly endangered at present. Of the 35 000 heads of 1980, abour 1 300 are left nowadays in 20 flocks. The breed originated from crosses between Barbary sheep from North Africa and the Pinzirita breed at times of the Arab settling in Sicily (9th century). The breed is reared in a very restricted area in central Sicily on smalland medium-sized farms under a semi-extensive farming system. It is a dual-purpose breed: milk for cheese and meat. Barbaresca is one of the only two fat-tail sheep of Italy. METHODS Genotypic data were obtained with the OvineSNP50K array. Fst values of differentiation for 43072 markers were calculated in pairwise comparisons of Barbaresca with each of 13 Italian thin tail breeds. Fat-tail sheep still represent twenty-five percent of the world sheep population; they are predominant in pastoral, transhumant and low input systems. In Western countries and in high input systems they are generally endangered. Fat-tail sheep preserved genetic variability for functional adaptation. The identification of the genes with a role in the fat-tail phenotype contributes to the understanding of the physiology of fat deposition as well as the mechanisms of adaptation and is essential for maintaining future breeding options. Heritability estimates for the 1st litter size, pregnancy rate and whelping success were low (0.05-0.14)  Grading size and quality had moderate heritability estimates 0.27 and 0.21, respectively  Genetic correlations between animal grading size and fertility traits were unfavourable (from -0.15 to -0.53)  Grading quality and guard hair coverage had antagonistic relationships with all the studied fertility traits (from -0.21 to -0.54) Genetic parameters of fertility and grading traits in Finnish blue foxTrabajo presentado al: 68th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP). (Tallin, Estonia. 28 agosto - 2 septiembre).Trabajo presentado al: 68th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science (EAAP). (Tallin, Estonia. 28 agosto - 2 septiembre).