Durango Institute of Technology

This review evaluates recent advances in dual and multiple starch modification strategies, with an emphasis on how process design influences the resulting structural and functional performance. Rather than presenting individual modification methods in isolation, the discussion considers how physical, chemical, and enzymatic treatments interact at multiple organizational levels, ultimately shaping the technological behavior of starch‑based systems. Starch should no longer be understood as a material with intrinsic limitations, but as a structurally tunable platform whose functionality can be engineered through controlled modification sequences. Particular emphasis is placed on how the order of application, process severity, and botanical source determine whether the outcome results in structural consolidation, targeted molecular reorganization, or excessive degradation. These transformations directly influence parameters relevant to food engineering, including thermal stability, rheological behavior, digestibility modulation, interfacial properties, and mechanical performance. While native starches present clear functional limitations in industrial settings, multiply modified systems provide opportunities for ingredient replacement, cost reduction, and performance optimization. This review argues that multiple modification should be approached as a structured engineering strategy guided by mechanistic understanding, rather than as a simple accumulation of processing steps.

In 2019, pneumonia caused 740,180 deaths in children under five years of age, representing 22% of global mortality in this age group. During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health interventions markedly reduced the circulation of most respiratory viruses other than SARS-CoV-2, leading to significant post-pandemic shifts in respiratory pathogen epidemiology. This study aimed to characterize the epidemiology, clinical features, and risk factors associated with respiratory viruses and bacteria causing pneumonia in Mexican children during the late pandemic and post pandemic periods. Children younger than 14 years with pneumonia were recruited from seven hospitals in Mexico. Demographic and clinical data were collected, and nasopharyngeal swabs were analyzed using a multiplex PCR panel detecting 19 viruses and 7 bacteria. Univariate, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses were performed (SPSS v25). A total of 1715 children were included: 704 during the pandemic (2021-2023) and 1011 post-pandemic (2023-2025). Co-infections (72% vs. 65%, p < 0.001), virus-virus co-infections (25% vs. 11%, p < 0.001), and single viral infections (20% vs. 15%, p = 0.007) were more frequent during the pandemic. Pathogen detection was high in both periods, though negative samples increased post-pandemic (5.4% vs. 15%, p < 0.001). During the pandemic, the 5 most frequently detected pathogens were rhinovirus (66%), RSV A and B (38%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (30%), Haemophilus influenzae (28%), human metapneumovirus (13%). In the post-pandemic period, the 5 most frequently detected pathogens were rhinovirus (52%), Haemophilus influenzae (36%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (35%), RSV A and B (28%), metapneumovirus (11%). Rhinovirus and RSV predominated during the pandemic, whereas Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, parainfluenza viruses, Bordetella pertussis, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae significantly increased post-pandemic. Pediatric pneumonia epidemiology shifted from a predominantly viral profile during the pandemic to increased bacterial detections and virus-bacteria co-infections post-pandemic, alongside re-emergence of typical RSV and influenza seasonality. Higher mean age and rhinovirus as the most frequent pathogen persist after the pandemic. Sustained molecular surveillance and reinforced vaccination programs remain essential in the post-pandemic era.

Anxiety disorders in the pediatric population represent a highly prevalent mental health concern whose pharmacological management has been consolidated through the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Among these agents, sertraline is one of the most frequently prescribed; however, its efficacy and safety in children and adolescents exhibit substantial interindividual variability, largely attributed to clinical, physiological, and genetic factors. This review aimed to analyze the current evidence on the efficacy, safety, and optimization strategies for sertraline therapy in pediatric patients, with a particular focus on pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic determinants that modulate therapeutic response. Available evidence indicates that genetic variants in CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and ABCB1 significantly influence hepatic metabolism, plasma exposure, and drug tolerability. These differences support the integration of pharmacogenetic testing as a clinical tool to individualize dosing and prevent adverse effects. In addition, population pharmacokinetic modeling has emerged as a valuable approach to design personalized therapeutic regimens, especially for patients with medical comorbidities or atypical metabolic profiles. In conclusion, the integration of clinical, genetic, and pharmacokinetic information into pediatric psychiatric practice may facilitate the advancement of precision medicine, promoting safer, more effective, and individualized sertraline-based treatments for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.

Antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation (aPDI) is an emerging alternative for reducing microbial loads in complex matrices such as wastewater. In this work, a porphyrin-dendrimer conjugate (Pf-Ds-G2.0) was synthesized, structurally characterized and evaluated as a photosensitizer under visible light. Pf-Ds-G2.0 generated singlet oxygen with a quantum yield of 0.35 and exhibited light-dependent antimicrobial activity in real wastewater samples. Under visible-light irradiation, Pf-Ds-G2.0 produced moderate reductions in microbial biomass (~ 20% microbial reduction after 6min irradiation), supported by both OD and CFU measurements, while dark controls showed no inhibition. Partial regrowth was observed at longer irradiation times, likely due to oxygen depletion and the heterogeneous nature of the microbial community. These findings demonstrate the potential of dendritic porphyrins for wastewater aPDI and highlight the need for further optimization of irradiation conditions, oxygen availability and sensitizer formulation to achieve more sustained inactivation in complex systems.

In order understand the redistribution of precipitation in a fragment of mixed forest in the “Ejido” Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Durango, an experiment was conducted between 2017 and 2020 at a 2500 m2 forest plot, where the interception and water flow of precipitation, throughfall, and stemflow were measured to quantify losses due to canopy interception and to characterize the chemical properties of water (pH (CaCl2) and CE (μS cm-1)). A total of 77 rainfall events were recorded, with a precipitation of 2,236.1 mm. Throughfall for Arbutus bicolor, Quercus rugosa, and Q. sideroxyla was 63%, 82%, and 76%, respectively. Stemflow accounted for 0.08% in A. bicolor, 0.41% in Q. rugosa, and 0.88% in Q. sideroxyla. Interception losses were 34%, 18%, and 17% for A. bicolor, Q. rugosa, and Q. sideroxyla, respectively. The chemical analysis of rainwater showed a pH mean of 5.9 for precipitation, decreasing to 5.6 for throughfall and remaining at 6.0 for stemflow. Electrical conductivity values were 32.4 for precipitation, 39.63 for throughfall, and 116.04 for stemflow. Understanding water interception is crucial to recognizing that, from a hydrological perspective in forest management, the presence and distribution of plant species are essential to ensure adequate water flow in the ecosystem, a key aspect for maintaining active biogeochemical processes.

Abstract Conventional delignification methods for further enzymatic saccharification and fermentable sugar production usually involve the implementation of alkaline and acid solvents with high negative environmental impact. Natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDES) have emerged as environmentally friendly solvents with the capacity to improve the accessibility of lignocellulosic compounds for diverse processes in the second‐generation biorefinery context, including enzymatic saccharification processes. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate two sequential methods for lignocellulosic fiber from Agave durangensis leaf waste delignification to enhance glucose production through enzymatic saccharification. Fibers were subjected to ultrasonic and hydrothermal processing, followed by NaDES delignification (NUS and NHT sequential methods, respectively) using a choline chloride–lactic acid mixture. Enzymatic saccharification effectiveness was assessed through glucose yield and saccharification efficiency. The NHT sequential method yielded the highest cellulose purity (88.2 ± 0.97 wt%) owing to an effective hemicellulose solubilization and lignin relocation. In comparison, the NUS sequential process led to the obtention of fibers with a cellulose content of 63.26 ± 0.66 wt%. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated samples demonstrated an improvement in glucose production, where the NHT sample exhibited the higher potential on fermentable sugar production (88.96 ± 1.47 g L −1 of produced glucose), confirming enhanced cellulose digestibility with a saccharification yield of 92.23 ± 1.56%. Integrating ultrasonic and hydrothermal pretreatments with NaDES delignification increased cellulose accessibility through combination of physical and chemical processes. Optimization of processing parameters is recommended for scalability and industrial feasibility.