Proyecto IDI/2021/000415

El objetivo del proyecto consiste en la validación de materiales sostenibles de envasado para las matrices alimentarias más representativas de nuestra región, tanto frescas como procesadas, adquiriendo conocimientos necesarios para dar respuesta a demandas de productores y transformadores asturianosFundación para el Fomento en Asturias de la Investigación Científica Aplicada y la Tecnología (FICYT), Consejería de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidad, Principado de Asturias, Fondos FEDER, IDI/2021/00041

Factors Associated with the Number of Injured and Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Intentional Mass-Casualty Incidents: A Timely Aid for Scaling the Emergency Response

Introduction: Intentional mass-casualty incidents (IMCIs) involving motor vehicles (MVs) as weapons represent a growing trend in Western countries. This method has resulted in the highest casualty rates per incident within the field of IMCIs. Consequently, there is an urgent requirement for a timely and accurate casualty estimation in MV-induced IMCIs to scale and adjust the necessary health care resources. Study Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the factors associated with the number of casualties during the initial phase of MV-IMCIs. Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, analytical study on MV-IMCIs worldwide, from 2000-2021. Data were obtained from three different sources: Targeted Automobile Ramming Mass-Casualty Attacks (TARMAC) Attack Database, Global Terrorism Database (GTD), and the vehicle-ramming attack page from the Wikipedia website. Jacobs’ formula was used to estimate the population density in the vehicle’s route. The primary outcome variables were the total number of casualties (injured and fatalities). Associations between variables were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and simple linear regression. Results: Forty-six MV-IMCIs resulted in 1,636 casualties (1,430 injured and 206 fatalities), most of them caused by cars. The most frequent driving pattern was accelerating whilst approaching the target, with an average speed range between four to 130km/h and a distance traveled between ten to 2,260 meters. The people estimated in the MV-IMCI scenes ranged from 36-245,717. A significant positive association was found of the number affected with the estimated crowd in the scene (R2: 0.64; 95% CI, 0.61-0.67; P <.001) and the average vehicle speed (R2: 0.42; 95% CI, 0.40-0.44; P = .004). Conclusion: The estimated number of people in the affected area and vehicle’s average speed are the most significant variables associated with the number of casualties in MVIMCIs, helping to enable a timely estimation of the casualties.Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturia

Proyecto IDI/2021/000416

El principal objetivo del proyecto ha sido la investigación en el desarrollo de estrategias biológicas, físicas y/o químicas encaminadas al mantenimiento de las características sensoriales, así como a garantizar la seguridad alimentaria y la vida útil en derivados cárnicos tradicionales con reducción del contenido en aditivos nitrificantes. Objetivos específicos: 1. Definir, desarrollar y validar estrategias tecnológicas de reducción de nitrificantes, para dos referencias de cada una de las tres categorías de derivados cárnicos: -Eliminación del uso de nitrito en preparados de carne fresca. -Reducción de nitritos nitratos añadidos en productos crudo curados. -Reducción de nitritos añadidos en productos cárnicos cocidos. 2. Optimizar la investigación hacia los futuros cambios en la reglamentación en materia de aditivos alimentarios nitrificantes. 3. Lograr unos resultados óptimos a nivel de vida útil, seguridad alimentaria y calidad sensorial similares a los obtenidos con las dosificaciones actualmente autorizadas de aditivos nitrificantes 4. Transferencia de resultados a las empresas cárnicas asturianas para adaptarse a las futuras modificaciones en materia de aditivos alimentarios.Fundación para el Fomento en Asturias de la Investigación Científica Aplicada y la Tecnología (FICYT), Consejería de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidad del Principado de Asturias, Fondos FEDER IDI/2021/00041

Comparative Analysis of META and SALT Disaster Triage in an Adult Trauma Population: A Retrospective Observational Study

Background: Medical professionals can use mass-casualty triage systems to assist them in prioritizing patients from mass-casualty incidents (MCIs). Correct triaging of victims will increase their chances of survival. Determining the triage system that has the best performance has proven to be a difficult question to answer. The Advanced Prehospital Triage Model (Modelo Extrahospitalario de Triaje Avanzado; META) and Sort, Assess, Lifesaving Interventions, Treatment/Transport (SALT) algorithms are the most recent triage techniques to be published. The present study aimed to evaluate the META and SALT algorithms’ performance and statistical agreement with various standards. The secondary objective was to determine whether these two MCI triage systems predicted patient outcomes, such as mortality, length-of-stay, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Methods: This retrospective study used patient data from the trauma registry of an American College of Surgeons Level 1 trauma center, from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020. The sensitivity, specificity, and statistical agreement of the META and SALT triage systems to various standards (Revised Trauma Score [RTS]/Sort Triage, Injury Severity Score [ISS], and Lerner criteria) when applied using trauma patients. Statistical analysis was used to assess the relationship between each triage category and the secondary outcomes. Results: A total of 3,097 cases were included in the study. Using Sort triage as the standard, SALT and META showed much higher sensitivity and specificity in the Immediate category than for Delayed (Immediate sensitivity META 91.5%, SALT 94.9%; specificity 60.8%, 72.7% versus Delayed sensitivity 28.9%, 1.3%; specificity 42.4%, 28.9%). With the Lerner criteria, in the Immediate category, META had higher sensitivity (77.1%, SALT 68.6%) but lower specificity (61.1%) than SALT (71.8%). For the Delayed category, SALT showed higher sensitivity (META 61.4%, SALT 72.2%), but lower specificity (META 75.1%, SALT 67.2%). Both systems showed a positive, though modest, correlation with ISS. For SALT and META, triaged Immediate patients tended to have higher mortality and longer ICU and hospital lengths-of-stay.Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA

Synthesis of Vinyl and 1,3-Dienyl Sulfones Enabled by Photochemical Excitation of Halogen-Bonding Complexes

The photochemical catalyst-free radical-based synthesis of vinyl and 1,3-dienyl sulfones is disclosed. Mechanistic investigations support that the transformations rely on a visible-light-promoted activation of a halogen-bonding complex, which is formed between an alkenyl (or 1,3-dienyl) bromide and a sodium sulfinate salt. The reactions exhibit a wide functional group tolerance (compatible with heteroatoms, electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups), finding application in the structural modification of biologically relevant molecules. Eventually, a continuous flow protocol was developed to upscale these transformations

IDI/2021/000420

Se ha buscado el desarrollo de ingredientes funcionales mediante tecnologías de encapsulación y evaluación de la biodisponibilidad para su incorporación a alimentos con un perfil nutricional saludable orientados a contribuir en la mejora del estado de salud y bienestar general. Objetivos específicos: 1-Desarrollo de ingredientes mediante una línea de microencapsulación de ingredientes funcionales. 2- Evaluación de la estabilidad de ingredientes en productos tanto en crudo como tras tratamiento térmico 3-Bioaccesibilidad y/o biodisponibilidad de los ingredientes altamente funcionales incorporados en matrices alimentarias Los resultados permiten adquirir conocimientos sobre alternativas tecnológicas de enriquecimiento en ingredientes funcionales con la dificultad de incorporar estos nutrientes a alimentos sin que se vean afectados organolépticamente los productos desarrollados y dichos ingredientes funcionales no se vean afectados por el tratamiento térmico al cual es sometido el producto.Fundación para el Fomento en Asturias de la Investigación Científica Aplicada y la Tecnología (FICYT), Consjería de Ciencia,Innovación y Universidades, Principado de Asturias, Fondos FEDER IDI/2021/00042

Survival functions of holdover time of lightning-ignited wildfires

Lightning-ignited wildfires (LIWs) can go unreported for hours, days or even weeks before being reported. This is due to the fact that some LIWs present an intermediate phase between ignition and detection characterized by a smoldering combustion. Holdover time is generally defined as the time between lightning-induced ignition and fire detection. This study aims at obtaining survival functions to estimate the probability of a LIW reaching a certain holdover time. To this end, we fitted nine different probability distributions (exponential, chi-squared, log-normal, log-logistic, F, gamma, Weibull, Pareto, and Gompertz) to data from a database gathering 42 frequency distributions of holdover time obtained from more than 152,375 LIWs in 13 countries from 1921 to 2020. Gamma distributions provide the best fits to the observed holdover times. Accordingly, we estimated several survival functions derived from gamma distributions fitted to holdover time data. The survival functions are monotonically decreasing functions characterized by high probabilities for short holdover times and low probabilities for long holdover times. These survival functions can be used for holdover times of LIWs occurring globally as well as in boreal, Mediterranean and temperate coniferous forest biomes. Survival functions are intended to provide a more reliable way to assess holdover time-based probabilities of lightning causing wildfires.This work was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship funded by the government of Asturias (Spain) through FICYT (Fundación para el Fomento en Asturias de la Investigación Científica Aplicada y la Tecnología)

IDI/2021/000426

Fundación para el Fomento en Asturias de la Investigación Científica Aplicada y la Tecnología (FICYT), Consejería de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidad, Principado de Asturias, Fondos FEDER, Proyecto IDI/2021/00042

IDI/2021/000298

El principal objetivo del proyecto InSanckIn ha sido la investigación en el desarrollo de snacks saludables con funcionalidad inmunitaria, en el marco de los alimentos funcionales y de la legislación vigente en materia de claims de propiedades saludables. - Identificar, evaluar y seleccionar, ingredientes alimenticios con funcionalidad inmunitaria, para formar parte de la formulación de un snack - Evaluar la posibilidad y potencialidad de subproductos agroalimentarios como ingrediente para snacks - Definir y establecer formulaciones específicas de ingredientes para el desarrollo de snacks. - Establecer las estrategias de procesado tecnológico óptimas para el desarrollo de snacks. - Optimizar la investigación hacia la reglamentación legislativa en materia de alimentos funcionales y de claims - Desarrollar y validar, al menos, un snack funcional saludable meat-based, con funcionalidad inmunitaria. - Desarrollar y validar, al menos, dos snacks funcionales saludables plant-based, con funcionalidad inmunitaria.Fundación para el Fomento en Asturias de la Investigación Científica Aplicada y la Tecnología (FICYT), Consejería de Ciencia, Investigación y Universidades, Principado de Asturias, Fondos FEDER IDI/2021/00029

NLRP3 Contributes to Sarcopenia Associated to Dependency Recapitulating Inflammatory-Associated Muscle Degeneration

Abstract: Sarcopenia, a complex and debilitating condition characterized by progressive deterioration of skeletal muscle, is the primary cause of age-associated disability and significantly impacts healthspan in elderly patients. Despite its prevalence among the aging population, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still under investigation. The NLRP3 inflammasome is crucial in the innate immune response and has a significant impact on diseases related to inflammation and aging. Here, we investigated the expression of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway and pro-inflammatory cytokines in skeletal muscle and peripheral blood of dependent and independent patients who underwent hip surgery. Patients were categorized into independent and dependent individuals based on their Barthel Index. The expression of NLRP3 inflammasome components was significantly upregulated in sarcopenic muscle from dependent patients, accompanied by higher levels of Caspase- 1, IL-1β and IL-6. Among older dependent individuals with sarcopenia, there was a significant increase in the MYH3/MYH2 ratio, indicating a transcriptional shift in expression from mature to developmental myosin isoforms. Creatine kinase levels and senescence markers were also higher in dependent patients, altogether resembling dystrophic diseases and indicating muscle degeneration. In summary, we present evidence for the involvement of the NLRP3/ASC/NEK7/Caspase-1 inflammasome pathway with activation of pro-inflammatory SASP in the outcome of sarcopenia in the elderly.Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA