During transport, loading and unloading sheep are subjected to stressors that affect their welfare and the quality of the meat, in addition to producing significant economic losses to the producers. Objective: To evaluate the animal welfare practices during the terrestrial transport of sheep for slaughter. The information collection was carried out by means of a (transport stress survey on animal welfare of sheep). Demographic variables, animal management and vehicle design conditions, transport risks, type of animals, such as feeding, perception of animal welfare were evaluated. The transport of sheep by people aged between 29 and 48 years (63.30%), the drivers own the vehicle for the transport of sheep (63.30%). Drivers do not suffer from any chronic illness (86.7%) because they cannot perform their activity. The drivers do not monitor the animals' physical conditions during the trip, and they use them with methods such as picaneléctrica (16.70), sticks (8.30%), shouts (58.30%), and other methods (15.00%) which do not guarantee animal welfare. In the transportation of passengers (45.0%); Causes of the accident (55.56%), shock (40.74) and mechanical failures (3.70), the accidents occurred every day (33.33%) and night (66.67%). The transport has a mortality of (1-2%) and the conditions of the vehicles comply partially with the sanitary requirements. Conclusions the improvement of sheep transport infrastructure in the study area, the training of drivers, and the promotion of animal welfare practices in all chain users and the development of research in the area are required.

The current situation and perspective of feeding with a focus on a healthy diet with probiotics in animals are evaluated in the Ecuadorian Amazon conditions. Surveys were conducted in the Ecuadorian Amazon communities to determine the current and prospective situation in organic and healthy foods production. In the Amazon region, diagnoses indicate that, despite the large amount of natural resources, an important part of this population is subject to problems of availability, economic access and use of food that  affecting their food security. The levels of agricultural production, with added value, are very low and agro industrial processes for getting products, through processing, are scarce. It was evaluated Lactobacillus salivarius and Bacillus subtilis probiotic cultures as probiotic in broilers. These probiotic got better many indicators in the animals. In Lactobacillus salivarius, coliformes count was higher in the groups without probiotics, while total anaerobes were higher in the animals with probiotic. Bag of fabricio and the spleen weight were greater in those treated with the probiotic. The Newcastle vaccine antibodies did show differences among treatments where probiotics were applied. Faecal content pH was lower in the treatments with probiotics. Total fatty acids showed higher values in broilers with the probiotics, however, the acetic, butyric and propionic acid did not provide differences between treatments. Bacillus subtilis show a higher total anaerobes count in treatments with the cultures, while the coliform count decreased in these one. Lactobacillus spp and endospores were superior in the treatments Bacillus subtilis.

In recent years, interest in phenolic compounds has been increased due mainly to the numerous evidences of its beneficial health effects and their impact on food quality. Numerous efforts have been made in order to increase the knowledge about phenolic compounds, with an especial focus on characterization of new food sources rich in polyphenols. There has been studied the influence of different factors such as variety, pedoclimatic conditions, geographical origin, authenticity and traceability, among others on their contents, as a tool for enhancing nutritional and nutraceutical quality of plant derived foods in breeding programs.
The objective of the present study was to assess whether growth under controlled condition could be used for cultivation of strawberry to enhance bioactive polyphenols content. For this purpose, 54 samples of strawberries belonging to three varieties with different sensitivity to environmental conditions (Camarosa, Festival, Palomar) were grown in soilless system with different agronomic conditions (electrical conductivity, substrate type and coverage).
UHPLC-ESI-MS / MS analysis of polyphenolic compounds combined with chemometric methods revealed that benzoic acids, cinnamic acids, flavan-3-ol and antioxidant activity were significantly influenced (p <0.001) by coverage and variety. In addition, it was observed that the substrate has a significant effect on flavonols, whereas the variety affects the content of ellagic acid and its derivatives as well as in anthocyanins.

The ecological models sustained by the multivariate analysis allow the simultaneous study of several variables in a large number of individuals. These are used to reduce to a tangible dimension an amount of information that otherwise would take months to understand, and detect the most relevant variables that would be conditioning the structure of the data. Aim of this work was determining ecological indicators for the management of promising species for the production of forest biomass in the Ecuadorian Amazon. A total of 75 sampling units each one 20 x 20 m (400 m²) were collected in evergreen premontane from stratified random sampling by transepts, and tree species were measured (from ≥ 10 cm to d_1.30), as well as the structural (dispersion of tree crowns, sociological position, basal area, density, value of ecological importance), and environmental variables (altitude, degree of intervention, pH and organic matter). The species resulting from the forest inventory were ordered by multivariate analysis based on the response to different environmental variables. The results of the canonical correspondence analysis were globally significant according to the Monte Carlos test, which gave a good ordination to the sampling units and environmental variables, indicating a strong gradient. According to the sociological position of the 178 inventoried species, only 56 (31.4%) had a continuous vertical distribution. An uneven distribution was found in the number of individuals in the height and diameter classes. From all species Iriartea deltoidea showed greater ecological importance with significant response in function to the altitudinal gradient, whereas Otoba glycycarpa, Pentagonia amazonica and Wettinia maynensis presented multiple answers, which allowed to identify the appropriate conditions for the management of these species. This will allow establishing multifunctional plantation programs for the production of forest biomass.

Traditionally the analysis of vegetable oils has been carried out by classic procedures such as gas chromatography, which requires previous derivatization of the sample. This, involves the consumption of reagents and, sometimes, the composition of the sample could be altered with the corresponding error in the measurement. Therefore, it is desirable to use faster and environmental friendly techniques that do not require manipulation of the sample. In this sense, the spectroscopic techniques are an alternative. Specifically, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can be used in the field of olive oil to measure some of its characteristics (eg fatty acids, phenols, hydrocarbons, etc.).

The aim of this work have been to study the difference between samples of extra virgin olive oil of different varieties (picual, arbequina and verdial), based on the information provided by the ¹H and ¹³C spectra. The chemical shifts of the spectra were referenced with respect to tetramethylsilane, using the deuterated solvent signal as internal reference.

The data obtained have been treated by multivariate statistical analysis procedures (Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA)) to establish relations that have been interpreted from a chemical point of view and have allowed the discrimination of samples according to their variety.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a shrub of the Asteraceae family native to South America, especially of Brazil and Paraguay. This plant accumulates a suite of diterpenoid metabolites that are natural sweeteners finding increased use as sugar. In addition, a number of healing properties have been associated to the stevia leaves intake.

The objectives of the present work have been to develop an optimum extraction method of the main steviol glycosides, stevioside and rebaudioside A, from the Stevia leaves studying the influence of the several factors that affect the process. Applying experimental design methodology, parameters such as, the grinding of the leaves, the temperature and time of extraction, the agitation of the process, the quantity of dried leaves and the volume of dissolvent were assessed. In order to eliminate the impurities and to obtain a crystalline white precipitate several procedures were tested.

Moreover, a HILIC chromatographic method to identify and quantify steviol glycosides from stevia leaves were optimized.

Several pulmonary snails search for and / or follow trails left by their species for purposes such as feeding, aggregation and reproduction. In the project characterization of the ecological behavior under controlled conditions among the individuals of the species Lissachatina fulica to know the frequency with which they follow the trail and directions made by their congeners, and with that to plan a later control of this pest, for these Variables such as the age, size and condition of the snail and the receiving snail were proposed. Nine treatments were performed during the day and at night. The directions chosen by the recipient snails were observed during the experiments, followed by statistical analysis of the data using the chi-square test, obtaining results in relation to the treated individuals versus the total of the repetitions of the treatments and the control. From the statistical processing, the three more significant treatments(C, D, H) were selected, which were repeated at night. The results show that the treatment C is significant and its ecological behavior indicates that a number of snails follow the trail, concluding that there is a chemical communication between juvenile snails, being designated as the best treatment, nevertheless treatment H was also statistically significant. However it was defined as the worst treatment, since its ecological behavior is similar during day and night, the individuals don’t follow the trace demonstrating that there is no chemical communication between adult and juvenile snails.

This works reports the findings of a study undertaken to assess the socio-economic and environmental impacts mining stone in the community of San Pedro, Tena, Ecuador. Data collection from primary sources was carried out through a case study of the community by means of household-level surveys in 2015. Most of the ore mining is carried out in the river. This means that the interruption of river courses, the involvement of the landscape and the depletion of biodiversity resources are the principal environmental impacts. The community involvement in planning the proper exploitation of stony minerals, the creation of other income-generating activities and environmental restoration criteria are presented and discussed.

Herein we present results of a quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) study to identify new antileishmanicidal compounds (Leishmania amazonensis) by using a set of more than 2000 DMs 0D-2D Dragon descriptors and machine learning techniques. A data set of organic chemicals, with antileishmaniasic activity against promastigote forms of the parasite, is used to develop 4 QSAR models based on K nearest neighbors, Support Vector Machine, MultiLayer Perceptron and classification tree techniques. External validation procedures were developed to demonstrate the predictive power of the models. Promastigote´s models correctly classify more than 89 % chemicals in both training and external prediction groups, respectively. In addition to the individual techniques an assembled system of majority voting was personalized with the aim of improving the results of the obtained models. To identify new compounds with potential activity against this parasite databases virtual screening was performed using DrugBank international database. There were identified  new potential antileishmaniasic compounds. The current results constitute a step forward in the search for efficient ways to discover new antileishmaniasic lead compounds.

The search for new selective pharmacological agents with no significant side-effects is an increasing requirement for the development of new drugs to be used in the treatment of acute and chronic pain. In the present study, a new series of compounds (VAM 1, 6, 10, 11, 12, 2-4) has been screening in QSAR-LDA mathematic models and pharmacologically evaluated. The antinociceptive properties of the new analgesic candidates obtained of virtual screening have been investigated in animal models of pain at the doses of 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg, and in vitro tests. Compounds VAM 10 and VAM 2-4 are the most potent antinociceptive agents from this series using different models of nociception in mice. A mild affinity for μ opioid receptor has been observed for the compound VAM 1 and 10. The pre-treatment with the compounds VAM 1, 2-4, 6, 10, 11, 12, showed a potent inhibition of IL-6 on RAW cells. The blocking efficacy of nineteen compounds on several isoforms of voltage-dependent sodium channels, expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, was tested (Nav1.3, Nav1.5, Nav1.6, Nav1.7, and Nav1.8). An exception was Nav1.6, where VAM 2-4 compound to result in substantial block indicating that acts specifically at this peculiar isoform. These results indicate the potential of the compound VAM 2-4 to treat pain conditions.