Stevia.

In Paraguay, it is called the   ka'a he'e, "sweet grass" in Guarani. But it's like   Stevia rebaudiana   This plant of the sunflower family and chicory has become one of the crops with the greatest potential for expansion in the world. A sweetening power equivalent to 300 times that of sugar, extracts have entered this Asteracea l increasingly market played high intensity sweeteners.

In 2013, Coca-Cola in Argentina and Chile launched its line Life sweetened with stevia. Jams, chocolates and yogurts are among the products using plant extracts as flavoring. In 2010 they came to market products containing stevia 531; in 2014, that figure had grown by 480%, according to research firm Mintel.

"You can say that stevia is already a commonly used product," said Olivier Kutz, senior director of marketing of Tereos. "There are even television ads promoting products that use stevia".Although only represents about 2% of the global market for sweeteners, according to Euromonitor, the consumption of the plant worldwide grew from 35 tonnes in 2008 to 916 by 2013, an increase of 16% per year on average.

And the expectations are even higher. "We hope that stevia continues to grow between 10% and 20% a year at least," says William Mitchell, president of the International Stevia Council, an employers' industry based in Brussels. "But we are still very small. The market for sweeteners worth 70,000 million, of which 60,000 are sugar. We alone are worth 200 million. "

To Kutz, the true potential of stevia is not calorie products. "So far it had products with sugar and sugarless" he explains. "We are seeing how it is growing a new market: products for the consumer, are a treat, but at the same time are healthy enough for the whole family can consume daily. Stevia blends very well with sugar, and is perfect for that role. "

The expansion of the market makes producers the look and the wish to meet demand. "It has grown so much that we have as supply," says Juan Barbosa, president of the Paraguayan Chamber of Stevia. "Now we have 2,000 hectares cultivated. In four or five years we want to be 10,000 and 50,000 in 2030. But almost all exported before, now domestic consumption is increasing. "

Although stevia is of South American origin, the largest producers and consumers are in Asia: more than half of the crops are in China. The fact that the plant produces three crops a year in well-drained sandy soils, where other crops do not prosperarían- has aroused the interest of producers of half the world. "It's a very efficient plant," says Mitchell. "Use less water and less land than traditional sugar crops, and its carbon dioxide footprint is much smaller".

Jeroen van Stapele points of Agristevia. This Dutch discovered the green leaf of stevia two years ago as decoration that served ice cream dessert in a restaurant. Today coordinates 50 farmers who grow about 60 acres of stevia. "We're getting requests from places like Turkey, Egypt and other African countries".

The approval of stevia as a food product remains a complex process. "Take the case of a soft dough filled donut," Kutz said. "You can put stevia on coverage, or the filling, but you can not put it in the ground because he was not authorized to bake. It is not an abstract problem, which is resistant to heat, it is a problem of the authorization. We hope the regulator will give account, in due course, give your permission. "

In addition, the plant itself has still not received approval from the health authorities in Europe and US  States because of side effects, including contraceptive properties. The large companies that market are purified from the plant, which are obtained by chemical extraction compounds. The most abundant, stevioside, have  characteristic bitter taste; why companies opt for other less common compound rebaudioside, which does not have that problem.

The question that the industry faces is: if relevant part of the plant represents, by weight, less than one thousandth of the plant, is it still stevia The answer is no. "Multinational sell synthetics" he says. "Consumers are looking for stevia is not going to believe that you sell products with stevia 1%." "We Awareness astern people about the benefits of integrated stevia consumption". "Its properties are unique in the world. If approved, we are talking about a demand far beyond the current. We speak of 100,000, 500,000 tonnes ".

Reference:

 BBC/UK

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Nootropics

                                                     NOOTROPICS.

Imagine every morning before going to work, you could take a pill that will help you stay alert, stay focused, improve your memory and increase your creativity and productivity.

That is precisely what they are doing more and more people in places like Silicon Valley-the world capital of technology industry located in the north of California where in recent years have gained popularity called nootropics.

These substances whose name derives from the Greek "nóos" (mind) and "trope" (direction) - supposedly have the ability to help us improve our mental performance, without negative side effects.

Despite the skepticism that exists between the scientific community about its effectiveness, these "cognitive enhancers" are increasingly used in the intellect prevails over any other quality competitive work environments.

Under the umbrella of nootropics include, for example, chemical compounds of the family of the racetamos like piracetam or pramiractam- and substances such as vitamins or amino acids found in many foods and plants, and can be purchased in stores nutritional supplements or herbal.

Some are used to treat the elderly who have a change in their cognitive mechanisms and suffering from diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer's drugs.

Proponents say it helps, for example, to improve memory, learning ability and concentration. UNPACKING nootropics are used for treating elderly suffering from diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer's drugs.

Often medications such as Adderall, which is prescribed to treat disorders such as hyperactivity and narcolepsy, but are also used by students as cognitive enhancers, despite producing side effects such as arrhythmia or anxiety are included.

In the case of nootropics, the Romanian Dr. Corneliu E. Giurgea established in the 70's to be conideradered as such, and can enhance cognitive abilities, should not be toxic, addictive and have significant side effects.

There is no consensus on how to operate many of the substances considered nootropics, but those who use them believe that enhance brain metabolism.

Although no official figures, in countries like the US its use has been increasing in recent years, proliferating online blogs and forums that discuss which substances have to consume and in what quantities.

With the increase in demand, they have also multiplied companies engaged in market pills containing various substances considered nootropics, such as caffeine or omega 3 fatty acids.

Some of these companies, as Nootroo and Nootrobox are   startups   Silicon Valley securing count among its investors with important names in the technology industry.

One of the things that concerns some health experts is that many users are buying through internet nootropics, unable to verify their origin and quality. 

Ome "smart drugs" like Adderall are used by students.

They also note that the effects of nootropics determined by the amounts to be taken and metabolism of who is consuming, with no studies have determined their long-term effects.

A few years ago Jesse Lawler, a computer programmer living in Los Angeles, became interested in other nootropics and smart drugs.

"When I found smart drugs I realized that could be useful for the kind of mental tasks he had to do in my daily work," says Lawler, who produces and presents the podcast   Smart Drug Smarts.

"To me I have found very useful, for example, maintain long periods of concentration. The use as tools to improve my mental state," Lawler explained. What if you could take a pill to improve your memory and increase creativity and productivity?

Lawler says that "in our society the word drug has negative connotations" and notes that the drugs he takes "have beneficial physiological effects."

"Also, try to follow a balanced diet and exercise. Never take anything that could have a negative effect on my body and especially on my brain," said Lawler, who notes that especialemnte nootropics are popular among workers in Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

"With smart drugs it is the idea that if you take to enhance your intelligence're cheating. I do not think there's anything wrong with wanting your brain work better."

Lawler recognizes that there is "confusion over which substances should take and how to take them" among users of nootropics and there are many people who are taking the opportunity to make money. "

"If you plan to buy something on the internet you have to be very careful," he warns.

Lucien Thomson, professor of neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas, doubts the effectiveness of many nootropics "as the studies conducted are inconclusive."

"Many of the systems we know and neurotransmitters that are involved in memory are also involved in other processes, so if you take something to improve memory are affecting other brain functions, with unpredictable effects," said Thomson in conversation with BBC world.

Some experts question the effectiveness of many nootropics.

"Besides, you can not control the amounts of these substances that people are taking. (...) Not having proper supervision and do not take into account the possible side effects can have dangerous consequences," said the expert.

"The best strategy for improving cognitive functions is to maintain good physical health. We know that brain plasticity improves with exercise. People unfortunately leads a sedentary life and hope to fix it with a pill, which is absurd."

"Also, you have to be mentally active -Making crosswords for example and maintain social interactions-and I do not mean the social-networks but talk to other people. All this has benefits for memory."

Thomson does not deny that there are some drugs that can have positive effects on memory, but notes that "most of which are marketed as nootropics have not shown beneficial effects in studies that have been carried out".

bbc/uk

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              THE OCTOPUS GENOME.

Disturbing and intelligent, unsightly but skilled in the arts of camouflage, unusual and has two eyes in his lineage and too similar to ours to ignore, the octopus is probably the closest thing to an alien we know on Earth. Reading the complete DNA Octopus  now explains the presence of all these advanced qualities in an invertebrate that, for all we know, it should not have them.

The octopus has the highest nervous system of invertebrates, along with camera-type eyes like ours, prehensile arms and complex behavior. The genome reveals that his repertoire of genes in the nervous system is typical of invertebrates, but has expanded greatly two families of genes, as it was thought that only happened in vertebrates. These serial gene duplications of development are an essential topic of evolution as a whole.

An international team coordinated by the universities of Chicago and California at Berkeley has sequenced the genome   Octopus bimaculoides,   California's two-spotted octopus, which becomes the reference genome of cephalopods, the strange family of octopus, cuttlefish and squid. Although an animal genome is rarely news in our genomes saturated days, this is enough information to have deserved   Publishing   Nature . In addition, the consortium not only describes their genes, but their expression in 12 different tissues of the animal.

Genetic harvest has been good, with hundreds of genes that exist only in cephalopods, many of which are particularly active in the brain, skin and suckers; that is, in the main organs whose peculiarity has to find an explanation.

"The octopus looks completely different from all other animals," says co-leader of the research Clifton Ragsdale, of Chicago, "and even the rest of molluscs, of which it is distinguished by its eight prehensile paws, his big brain and his intelligent problem-solving skills, the late British zoologist Martin Wells said” the octopus is an alien, in this sense, then, our article describes the first sequenced genome of an alien. "

Octopus evolutionary lineage dates back to 500 million years ago, almost to the origin of the animals as a whole. Consequence of that age, and a high capacity to adapt to change, the different species of octopus now dwell in all oceans almost any depth. They are certainly the most intelligent invertebrates. And they have 33,000 genes, compared to 20,000 of our species.

The main evolutionary vector of the extraordinary capabilities of octopus was probably the serial duplication of a few critical genes. It highlights a particularly brutal amplification of genes protocadherins, a family of essential proteins in regulating nervous system development, and interactions between neighboring neurons. Vertebrates have also expanded greatly this gene, although independently of the octopus family. In fact, until now we believed that the explosion of these genes was one of the main explanations for our superiority among creatures of evolution. And wait for the next genome. Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, a group of mollusks are known as champions cefalópodos- camouflage in the ocean. The octopus can mimic the color and texture of a rock or a piece of coral. The squid can brighten your skin to resemble the water in which they swim. And cuttlefish can even be covered with black and white squares if a scientist gets a chessboard in your aquarium.

Cephalopods can do these shows thanks to a dense network of specialized cells that are on the skin. But before you can take a new guise, they should receive the fund that want to merge.

Cephalopods have big, powerful eyes to capture their environment. But two new studies published by   The Journal of Experimental Biology   They indicate that they have another way to sense light: the skin. It is possible that these animals have developed an eye that occupies your entire body.

When light enters the eye of a cephalopod, it crashes against retinal molecules called opsins. The collision triggers a biochemical reaction that sends an electrical signal from the eye to the brain cephalopod (we also generate a similar form of opsins in the eyes).

The skin of cephalopods contains a pigment-filled cells called chromatophores

In 2010, Roger T. Hanlon, a biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and his colleagues claimed that opsins cuttlefish also made ​​in the skin . This discovery raised the tantalizing possibility that animals could use the skin to sense light as much as they do their eyes. Hanlon joined Thomas W. Cronin, visual ecologist at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, and his colleagues to study it more closely.

The skin of cephalopods contains a pigment-filled cells known as chromatophores, which are surrounded by muscles and nerve endings. When the muscles contract, extend the chromatophores, which allows them to absorb more light and gives new colors to the animals. Cephalopods have chromatophores to 16,000 per square centimeter of skin, which they use as a kind of screen HD video.

Hanlon, Cronin and his colleagues developed precise molecular probes that could be used to locate the opsins in the skin.   They found that, cuttlefish,   opsins occur only in chromatophores. So was the calamari.Similarly, scientists   They discovered other enzymes in the skin of animals that are present in the eye, which allow opsins transmit light signals to the nervous system.

·                                                      

These studies convinced scientists that the cephalopods could have developed a system to perceive light, and perhaps the color, directly through the skin. Then they removed pieces of animal skin and lit to see if they could get an answer.

For more times they tried, they failed. But two other scientists were luckier. Hanlon study inspired Todd H. Oakley, a biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Desmond M. Ramirez, a graduate student, to join the search for skin opsins. Instead of squid or cuttlefish, octopus decided to study, they collected marsh located near the campus.

The scientists found that octopuses, like cuttlefish, have opsins in the skin. But instead of producing them in chromatophores, octopuses just made ​​opsins in a hair-like nerve endings that occur in the skin.

Oakley Ramirez and skin fragments cut octopus to check whether they respond to light. When scientists left dark skin or subjected to a dim red light, he remained pale. But when the light lit, the chromatophores were expanding rapidly, darkening the skin in seconds.

"We did not expect such a quick reaction," says Oakley, who suspects that light impacts skin opsins, which stimulate neurons to transmit information to neighboring chromatophores. Oakley Ramirez and skin exposed to light of various colors to test your sensitivity. The blue light was triggering the fastest response. Opsins octopus eye are also particularly sensitive to such light.

"I am very happy that I have achieved," says Hanlon on studies of Oakley and Ramirez. "And I feel a little envious," he adds. Their findings have encouraged try again. Although it succeeds with cuttlefish and squid, yet no one can say exactly how animals use the light they capture opsins to control their skin color. "It's a very strange story," says Hanlon, "but our animals are also"

© 2015 New York Times News Service

 @RdzgCarlos

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NATURÓPATAS, LOS REYES DEL DETOX

                             NATURÓPATAS, LOS REYES  DEL DETOX

Un paseo por las consultas de doctores naturales, espirituales y alternativos por el mundo nos regala una cantidad impresionante de afirmaciones sin base. Lo que hace que funcione es que la basan en tres conceptos rudimentarios: prime - ro, debe haber algo verdadero; segundo, mientras menos la medicina sepa sobre el asunto pues mejor; y tercero, hay que inventar una mentira encima de la am - bigua verdad. Así son creadas muchas pseudociencias y programas piramidales. Esta misma cultura natural enfrenta los descubrimientos científicos con grandes nombres, inventando conspiranoias que dividen químicos en naturales y malos cuando la realidad es que los químicos son químicos y pueden resultar benefi - ciosos o no para el organismo, muchas veces lo que funciona para ti, no me hace nada y viceversa. O lo que a ti te curó, a mí me dio alergia. Pero si tienes la inves - tigación médica detrás, muchas de estas cosas pueden prevenirse.

Ninguno es ajeno a la cantidad de disparates que nos venden a través de los medios y los espacios públicos, tienes que hacer magia para no saber sobre estos productos, remedios, tendencias y modas. Dietas, tratamientos contra las arrugas, remedios para la piel, el cabello, órganos genitales, y, como protagonista de los tiempos presentes, los famosos “detox” o la desintoxicación. ¿Quién necesita un hígado y unos riñones cuando tienes a un chamán? Como bien lo expuso el doctor Ben Goldacre, ‘toxina’ “es una terminología clásica de las pseudociencias” y aunque nadie explica ni sabe qué son estas toxinas, qué realmente hacen en el organismo y cuáles son expulsadas con estos tratamientos, las respuestas no parecen ser necesarias para los que caen en sus trampas. La fórmula es bastante simple y es usada en muchos ámbitos donde la mentira se vende como verdad. Sin embargo, la evolución nos ha regalado un cuerpo capaz de desintoxicarse a sí mismo sin ningún problema y la investigación científica asegura que no necesitas de ningún tipo de desintoxicación porque, verdaderamente, ninguna funciona.

Los naturópatas son los reyes del detox. Estas personas recomiendan primero no ingerir toxinas. Para ellos el azúcar refina, los cigarrillos, el café, el alcohol y las grasas saturadas deben ser primero eliminadas de nuestras dietas para que un buen programa de desintoxicación funcione. También dicen que las hormonas producidas por el estrés son toxinas así que deben eliminarse usando técnicas como la meditación. Estas técnicas, para muchos naturópatas funcionan mejor que tu hígado y tus riñones, los verdaderos desintoxicadores en la vida. No obstante, no existe evidencia alguna que valide estas afirmaciones. Lo que sí podemos decir que es llena los bolsillos de esos listillos que las han creado, aprovechándose de tu desinformación.

En conclusión, las opiniones, testimonios y críticas sobre un producto no deben traducirse en evidencias. Cualquier persona puede hablar largo y tendido sobre la existencia del Hombre de las Nieves e inventar numerosas características que parecen hacerlo real, pero sin evidencias duras al respecto, no hay forma de garantizarlo. Por otro lado, inventar curas para enfermedades que no existen permite que la persona sienta que el remedio le ha puesto fin a algo que no tenía, algo que muchas veces es cansancio, estrés o cualquier tipo de virus los que, generalmente, se curan solos. Nuestro consejo es que antes de llenarle los bolsillos a un estafador, satisfaga sus dudas al respecto; hoy existe un montón de sitios escépticos que lo pueden ayudar. No tienes que pagar ni sufrir para desintoxicarte, tu cuerpo lo hace bien. Y aún no fumes ni bebas alcohol ni comas azúcar refinada, tu cuerpo siempre tendrá decenas de toxinaS

Pero tantas personas indican que les dio resultado. ¿Cómo descartar esos testimonios? Pues es posible explicar las distintas opiniones, sólo se necesita estudiar cada caso ya que estos productos no brindan estadísticas confiables sobre su funcionamiento. El condicionamiento clásico, el efecto placebo, actores pagados que hablan bien del producto y la obvia realidad de que las personas que mueren no suelen dar sus testimonios ni tampoco los clientes que no están satisfechos con el producto. De alguna forma, que no funcione les da la razón a los escépticos y a muchos no les gusta eso aunque su remedio no haya funcionado. Tampoco debemos olvidar que muchas enfermedades se solucionan solas, así como la gripe se va, otros virus pueden atraparte y un remedio natural darte la idea de que fue su cura que lo solucionó cuando la verdad es que el virus ya realmente se había ido

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El lugar donde nace el placer

Describen por primera vez el denominado "circuito de recompensa cerebral".

El área tegmental ventral (VTA) es el principal eslabón del denominado “circuito de recompensa cerebral”. Esta área contiene neuronas que se proyectan hacia numerosas regiones del cerebro, desempeñando un papel fundamental en la motivación, el deseo, el placer y la valoración afectiva.

Las neuronas de la VTA también son la diana de acción de los fármacos antipsicóticos y antiparkinsonianos, al igual que de drogas psicoactivas como la cocaína, el éxtasis y el LSD.

En un trabajo reciente, un equipo de investigadores de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) presentó por primera vez una descripción de la anatomía celular de estas neuronas.

Contrariamente a lo que esperábamos, encontramos varios tipos de neuronas dopaminérgicas en la VTA,cada uno formando circuitos con distintas regiones cerebrales”, señala Lucía Prensa, del departamento de Anatomía, Histología y Neurociencia de la Facultad de Medicina de la UAM.

Nuestro hallazgo sugiere que los efectos de los distintos fármacos y drogas podría afectar a cada tipo neuronal de modo diferente”, agrega la investigadora.

El sueño de Ramón y Cajal hecho realidad

Los cuerpos de las neuronas de la VTA se sitúan en el tronco encefálico. Los axones de estas neuronas –prolongaciones especializadas en conducir el impulso nervioso desde el cuerpo celular (soma) hacia otra célula­– liberan dopamina, inervando con este neurotransmisor la corteza cerebral y otras regiones cerebrales.

En el trabajo, los investigadores emplearon una técnica novedosa de transfección in vivo de neuronas individuales que les permitió visualizar y cuantificar el axón completo de una sola célula, sin importar la extensión y complejidad del axón.

Los circuitos del cerebro están formados en gran parte por neuronas cuyo axón se extiende y ramifica sobre distancias enormes, de decenas de centímetros en el caso del cerebro humano. Hasta ahora había sido imposible analizar esos circuitos con resolución celular. Es el sueño de Santiago Ramón y Cajal hecho realidad”, subraya Francisco Clascá, del mismo departamento.

El trabajo, publicado en la revista Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, fue liderado por el laboratorio de los profesores Prensa y Clascá. Este laboratorio está aplicando dicha técnica al estudio de varios sistemas clave del cerebro como parte del proyecto multinacional Human Brain Project-EU Flagship, financiado por la Unión Europea a través del programa ‘Horizonte 2020’.

En el trabajo también participaron Ana Aransay y María García-Amado, doctorandas del programa de Neurociencia de la UAM, y Claudia Rodríguez-López, estudiante de Medicina de la misma universidad.
 

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New Zealand aims to stop animal antibiotic use by 2030

Veterinary industry in New Zealand committed to phasing out use of antibiotics in animal agriculture

Release Date: 2015-07-31

The veterinary profession in New Zealand is reducing its reliance on antibiotic use in animal agriculture, and has aimed to phase out the use of all antibiotics by 2030.

Dr. Steve Merchant, president of the New Zealand Veterinary Association, said that by that year, the country will not need antibiotics for the maintenance of animal health and wellness.

“With sharply increasing levels of resistance to antibiotics worldwide, we want animals and, by extension, humans to enter the ‘post-antibiotic’ era as safely as possible,” Merchant said.

Merchant said this is a significant undertaking, requiring considerable teamwork and commitment from the veterinary profession, working with the medical, scientific, government and relevant primary industry sectors.

“Given the wide acceptance that the future for antibiotics is limited, and the close links between animals, humans and the environment we share, achieving this goal is essential. New Zealand is well suited to this challenge; given our size, proximity of the various specialities and relevant industry sectors, and already low use of antibiotics,” said Merchant.

Merchant said in order to make the transition a success, a collaborative effort involving changes in attitudes and behaviors from veterinarians, researchers, government officials, human health professionals and pharmaceutical companies. Veterinarians will use and advocate for careful antibacterial management and monitoring based on responsible use of existing antibiotics as they work with industry partners to jointly test and develop the necessary alternatives.

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