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Bipolar affective disorder (BD) is a severe psychiatric illness, for which lithium (Li) is the gold standard for acute and maintenance therapies. The therapeutic response to Li in BD is heterogeneous and reliable biomarkers allowing patients stratification are still needed. A GWAS performed by the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) has recently identified genetic markers associated with treatment responses to Li in the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) region. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying this association, we have genetically imputed the classical alleles of the HLA region in the European patients of the ConLiGen cohort. We found our best signal for amino-acid variants belonging to the HLA-DRB1*11:01 classical allele, associated with a better response to Li (p < 1 × 10-3; FDR < 0.09 in the recessive model). Alanine or Leucine at position 74 of the HLA-DRB1 heavy chain was associated with a good response while Arginine or Glutamic acid with a poor response. As these variants have been implicated in common inflammatory/autoimmune processes, our findings strongly suggest that HLA-mediated low inflammatory background may contribute to the efficient response to Li in BD patients, while an inflammatory status overriding Li anti-inflammatory properties would favor a weak response.

Glucosinolate extracts from sprouts of common Brassica nigra, B. juncea cv. Scala, B. carinata cv. Eleven, and Sinapis alba cv. Ludique were analysed by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection-mass spectrometry. The effect of the glucosinolate–myrosinase system on in vitro mycelial growth of Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands and Pythium spiculum B. Paul was assessed. Likewise, sinigrin and sinalbin monohydrate commercial standards were also tested. The extracts from B. carinata, which contained 159 mmol/g plant DW equivalent (85% sinigrin, 5% gluconapin, and 3% glucotropaeolin), were the most effective against Phytophthora and Pythium isolates used in this study. However, the extract from S. alba, which contained 1 180 mmol/g (100% sinalbin), did not inhibit the mycelial growth of the isolates tested. The use of the glucosinolate-myrosinase system provides important additional information to advance in the implementation of field application of brassicaceous amendments for the control of soil-borne pathogens.

The co-production of biohydrogen and methane from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste was investigated using a two-stage AD system, composed of a pilot scale dark fermenter (DF) and a continuous methanogenic biofilm reactor. From the DF process, a biohydrogen yield of 41.7 (± 2.3) ml H2/gVSadded was achieved. The liquid DF effluent (DFE) was rich in short chain volatile fatty acids, i.e., mainly acetic and butyric acid. The DFE was valorized by producing methane in the methanogenic biofilm reactor. Two methanogenic biofilm reactors were used to assess the biotic and abiotic role of the DFE on the performance of the reactors. Regardless of the different DFE feeding (i.e., biotic and abiotic), similar and stable operational performance of the two methanogenic biofilm reactors were observed with a respective methane yield and COD removal efficiency of 280–300 ml CH4/gCODremoved and 80–90%. Both methanogenic biofilm reactors showed significant resistance toward organic shock loads and recovered fast after reactor disturbance. The total estimated energy recovered in the form of hydrogen and methane gas was, respectively, 28 and 72%, of the initial COD.

Physical and chemical parameters of fresh berries from three southern highbush (‘O’Neal’, ‘Sharpblue’ and ‘Misty’) blueberry cultivars grown in Huelva (Southwestern Spain) under two production systems were measured and evaluated. ANOVA applied to data yielded significant differences between production systems for mean fruit size and mean fruit fresh weight (P<0.05), although main effects on physical and chemical characteristics of fruit were due to cultivar. All three cultivars showed significantly different means (P<0.05) for fruit fresh weight, and all chemical characteristics. Stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA) for classification and identification of the cultivars based on physico-chemical properties of samples of fruits was performed. The model obtained gave high percentages of correct classification and prediction (81.1% and 78.4%, respectively). The variables with higher discriminating power were fruit titratable acidity, fruit size and fruit sugar content. Se midieron parámetros físicos y químicos de frutos frescos de arándano americano, correspondientes a tres cultivares de bajos requerimientos en horas frío (‘O’Neal’, ‘Sharpblue’ y ‘Misty’) cultivados en Huelva (suroeste de España) bajo dos sistemas de producción. Los datos se sometieron al análisis de varianza (ANOVA) de 2 factores. No se encontraron diferencias significativas (P>0,05) en la firmeza, contenido en azúcar, pH o acidez titulable en los dos sistemas productivos, mientras que los tres cultivares ensayados arrojaron medias diferentes (P<0,05) para el peso fresco del fruto y todos los parámetros químicos controlados. Se aplicó un análisis discriminante por pasos para la clasificación y diferenciación de los cultivares en función de las variables físico-químicas de las muestras de frutos, obteniéndose altos porcentajes de clasificación correcta y predicción (81,1% y 74,8% respectivamente). Las variables con mayor poder discriminante fueron la acidez titulable, el tamaño y el contenido en azúcar