Polyphenol-Rich Extracts Obtained from Winemaking Waste Streams as Natural Ingredients with Cosmeceutical Potential

Producción CientíficaPhenolics present in grapes have been explored as cosmeceutical principles, due to their antioxidant activity and ability to inhibit enzymes relevant for skin ageing. The winemaking process generates large amounts of waste, and the recovery of bioactive compounds from residues and their further incorporation in cosmetics represents a promising market opportunity for wine producers and may contribute to a sustainable development of the sector. The extracts obtained from grape marc and wine lees, using solid–liquid (SL) extraction with and without microwave (MW) pretreatment of the raw material, were characterized in terms of antioxidant activity through chemical (ORAC/HOSC/HORAC) and cell-based (keratinocytes—HaCaT; fibroblasts—HFF) assays. Furthermore, their inhibitory capacity towards specific enzymes involved in skin ageing (elastase; MMP-1; tyrosinase) was evaluated. The total phenolic and anthocyanin contents were determined by colorimetric assays, and HPLC–DAD–MS/MS was performed to identify the main compounds. The MW pretreatment prior to conventional SL extraction led to overall better outcomes. The red wine lees extracts presented the highest phenolic content (3 to 6-fold higher than grape marc extracts) and exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity, being also the most effective inhibitors of elastase, MMP-1 and tyrosinase. The results support that winemaking waste streams are valuable sources of natural ingredients with the potential for cosmeceutical applications.European project WineSense (project FP7-386 MC-IAPP)Junta de Castilla y León (project VA040U16)Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional (fellowship FPU13/04678)Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (grants PEst-OE/EQB/LA0004/2011 and UID/Multi/04462/2013)iNOVA4Health (grant UID/Multi/04462/2013

Microwave pretreatment for the extraction of anthocyanins from saffron flowers: Assessment of product quality

Producción CientíficaThe potential of saffron flowers as a source of polyphenols, and in particular anthocyanins, for the extraction of bioactive compounds and the production of a cyanic colorant was analyzed. A microwave pretreatment, prior to the conventional solid–liquid extraction process, was proposed as a feasible intensification step. The effectiveness of microwave pretreatment was assessed in terms of increased yield and improved quality of the final product. The operational variables studied were the pretreatment temperature (60–120 °C) and the solid–liquid ratio (0.30–0.50 g/mL). It was found that the addition of the microwave pretreatment to the conventional process allowed one to reduce extraction time by up to 12 times and to greatly improve the characteristics of the final product, using microwave energy densities as low as 0.16–0.54 kJ/mL. The extract quality was evaluated in terms of polyphenol richness (25% increase), product composition (80% of the anthocyanins was delphinidin), antioxidant capacity (boosted by the pretreatment) and color (variations in red and blue hue depending on conditions). To conclude, a microwave pretreatment in which the material is heated to a temperature of 65 °C with a solvent ratio of 0.30 g/mL was selected as the optimum to maximize process efficiency and product quality.Junta de Castilla y León - (Project VA040U16

El consumo moderado y continuado de vino tinto promueve el metabolismo fenólico intestinal

Los polifenoles presentes en el vino son ampliamente metabolizados por la microbiota a lo largo del tracto gastrointestinal. Estos metabolitos fenólicos de origen microbiano parecen tener un papel relevante en los efectos beneficiosos para la salud derivados del consumo moderado de vino. Entre otros efectos, los polifenoles del vino y/o sus metabolitos pueden modificar o modular selectivamente la microbiota oral y del intestino. Con el objetivo de dilucidar como el consumo de vino afecta al metabolismo fenólico intestinal y conocer la relevancia fisiológica de estos efectos, se ha realizado un estudio de intervención en humanos que incluye a 41 voluntarios sanos (33 casos y 8 controles), basado en el consumo moderado (250mL/día) de vino tinto, durante 4 semanas. Antes y después de la intervención, se recolectaron muestras de heces procedentes de los voluntarios. El análisis de metabolitos fenólicos mediante UPLC-ESI-MS/MS ha revelado un aumento significativo en el contenido total de metabolitos de origen microbiano, principalmente de ácidos benzoicos y 4-hidroxivaléricos, en las heces de los voluntarios tras la ingesta de vino, lo que demuestra que el perfil metabólico microbiano de las heces se modifica significativamente por la ingesta moderada de polifenoles del vino.Los autores agradecen al MINECO y al CSlC la financiación obtenida para este estudio.Peer reviewe

Moderate intake of red wine promotes a significant increase of phenolic metabolites in human faeces

With the final aim of ascertaining consistent data about the changes of phenolic metabolites in faeces after a regular wine consumption, the present paper compiles the data from two previous human intervention studies: a) a pilot study (n = 8), that compared the ingestion of de-alcoholised red wine (272 mL/day), red wine (272 mL/day), or gin (100 mL/day) during 20 days, and b) a large trial study (n = 41, 33 cases and 8 controls), that assessed variability among individuals after the intake of red wine (250 mL/day, 28 days). Great coincidence was observed in the main phenolic metabolites identified in the faecal samples from both studies that included benzoic acids, phenols, hippuric acids, phenylacetic acids, phenylpropionic acids, valeric acids, valerolactones and cinnamic acids. However, significant differences (P < 0.05) in the total phenolic content between faecal samples before and after the wine intervention was only observed for the large trial study (358 ± 270 and 625 ± 380 μg/g faeces, corresponding to the mean values before and after the intervention, respectively), emphasizing the large variability in the phenolic-metabolizing gut-microbial capacity among individuals. The overall results confirm that consumption of wine enhances phenolic metabolism, which might have physiological relevancy at the gut level.This work was funded by the MINECO (AGL2009-13361-C02-01, AGL2012- 04172-C02-01, and CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 (FUN-C-FOOD, CSD2007-063, Projects), and the Comunidad de Madrid (ALIBIRD P2009/AGR-1469 Project). AJ-G and IM-G would like to thank the European Social Fund and Jae-Doc (CSIC) and FPI Programs for their research contracts, respectively.Peer Reviewe

Microwave pretreatment to improve extraction efficiency and polyphenol extract richness from grape pomace. Effect on antioxidant bioactivity

Producción CientíficaMicrowave assisted extraction advantages are widely recognised. However, its implementa-tion at industrial scale is restricted due to microwave limitations. In this work, a microwavepretreatment is proposed as an easy scale-up alternative for grape pomace polyphenolextraction, especially for anthocyanins. The double effect of this pretreatment on extractionyield and on product richness is assessed. Microwaves accelerate the extraction kineticsof most compounds, but their effect on polyphenols is more pronounced than in othersubstances (like sugars and fibres). These differentiated rates are exploited to improve thepolyphenol richness of the final dry product. By selecting the appropriate operating condi-tions, polyphenol yield was increased by 57% and, simultaneously, dry product richness wasenhanced by 32%. Also, anthocyanin extraction boost was remarkable. Its content in the finaldry product was 85% higher than the one obtained without the microwave pretreatment.The cellular bioactivity of these extracts was improved by 83% and 133%

Grain selective Cu oxidation and anomalous shift of graphene 2D Raman peak in the graphene-Cu system

Understanding the interaction between graphene and its supporting substrate is of paramount importance for the development of graphene based applications. In this work the interplay of the technologically relevant graphene-Cu system is investigated in detail as a function of substrate grain orientation in Cu polycrystalline foils. While (100) and (111) Cu grains show the well-known graphene-enhanced oxidation, (110) grains present a superior oxidation resistance compared to uncovered Cu and an anomalous shift of its graphene 2D Raman band which cannot be explained by the known effects of strain and doping. These results are interpreted in terms of a weak graphene-Cu coupling at the (110) grains, and show that graphene can actually be used as anticorrosion coating, contrary to previously reported. The anomalous shift is suggested to be the result of an enhanced outer Raman scattering process which surpasses the usually dominant inner process. Since Raman spectroscopy is widely used as first and main characterization tool of graphene, the existence of an anomalous shift on its 2D band not only challenges the current theory of Raman scattering in graphene, but also has profound implications from an experimental point of view

Horno microondas para el calentamiento de flujos continuos de líquidos y semisólidos

Número de publicación: 2 698 150 Número de solicitud: 201831140Horno microondas aplicable industrialmente para el calentamiento de flujos continuos de líquidos y semisólidos, cuya cavidad resonante presenta una sección con arcos circulares que permiten la concentración de la radiación de microondas multimodal en su eje central; donde el horno dispone de guías de onda cilíndricas metálicas al corte a modo de filtros electromagnéticos que permiten el paso del tubo dieléctrico hueco y el producto a procesar impidiendo la radiación de microondas al exterior, sintonizadores dieléctricos y/o metálicos para el ajuste de la distribución multimodal de la energía en el interior de la cavidad, y soportes dieléctricos sin pérdidas; donde la energía de microondas se propaga a través de una guía de onda rectangular alimentada por un sistema generador de microondas; y donde dicha guía de onda se encuentra cortocircuitada al final de la misma y se comunica con la cavidad cuasicilíndrica a través de ranuras.Universidad Politécnica de Cartagen

Estudiantes y Campus Virtual. Utilidad del Learning Analytics para identificar luces y sombras y caminar hacia metodologías adaptativas

Sección Deptal. de Biología Celular (Medicina)Fac. de MedicinaFALSEsubmitte

SARS-CoV-2 Infection and C-Section: A Prospective Observational Study

Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. In addition to unfavorable perinatal outcomes, there has been an increase in obstetric interventions. With this study, we aimed to clarify the reasons, using Robson's classification model, and risk factors for cesarean section (C-section) in SARS-CoV-2-infected mothers and their perinatal results. This was a prospective observational study that was carried out in 79 hospitals (Spanish Obstetric Emergency Group) with a cohort of 1704 SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive pregnant women that were registered consecutively between 26 February and 5 November 2020. The data from 1248 pregnant women who delivered vaginally (vaginal + operative vaginal) was compared with those from 456 (26.8%) who underwent a C-section. C-section patients were older with higher rates of comorbidities, in vitro fertilization and multiple pregnancies (p < 0.05) compared with women who delivered vaginally. Moreover, C-section risk was associated with the presence of pneumonia (p < 0.001) and 41.1% of C-sections in patients with pneumonia were preterm (Robson's 10th category). However, delivery care was similar between asymptomatic and mild-moderate symptomatic patients (p = 0.228) and their predisposing factors to C-section were the presence of uterine scarring (due to a previous C-section) and the induction of labor or programmed C-section for unspecified obstetric reasons. On the other hand, higher rates of hemorrhagic events, hypertensive disorders and thrombotic events were observed in the C-section group (p < 0.001 for all three outcomes), as well as for ICU admission. These findings suggest that this type of delivery was associated with the mother's clinical conditions that required a rapid and early termination of pregnancy.This project was supported by public funds that were obtained in competitive calls: Grant COV20/00021 (EUR 43,000 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-Spanish Ministry of Health) and co-financed with Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) funds

Impact of the “Law on promotion of personal autonomy and care for people dependent” in population with severe mental disorder

Law 39/2006, known as Dependence Law, has generated skepticism since its approval, for being focused on dependancy and barely promoting personal autonomy, treating it as a secondary issue. As it relates to people with severe mental disorder, a major concern to mental health professional organizations and family associations has been the compatibility of the law with the services provided by the National health service and whether the established selection criteria for qualifying for the service fits the needs of this group. This article reflects the work done across several Spanish autonomous regions by different professionals in an attempt to convince the administration to make the necessary adjustment to suit the characteristics of people with serious mental disorders. After discussing its strengths and weaknesses, it outlines three different ways to offset their risks in three different regions, Extremadura, Andalucia and Madrid. Finally it addresses the key aspects of the law which need to be worked on, in order to become a benefit for people with severe mental disorder, and not a barrierLa Ley 39/2006, conocida como Ley de Dependencia, ha generado, desde su aprobación, desconfianza por estar enfocada a la atención a la dependencia, siendo la promoción de la autonomía personal un elemento apenas desarrollado y secundario. En el caso de las personas con trastorno mental grave, lo que mayor preocupación ha causado a las organizaciones de profesionales de la salud mental y a las asociaciones de familiares ha sido la compatibilidad de dicha Ley con las prestaciones del Sistema Nacional de Salud y si el baremo establecido se ajustaba a las necesidades de este colectivo. Este artículo recoge el trabajo realizado desde diferentes comunidades autónomas por diferentes profesionales en un intento de, tras un análisis de la Ley, plantear a la administración responsable de la misma el necesario ajuste para adaptarla a las características de las personas con trastorno mental grave. Se analizan, en primer lugar, sus fortalezas y debilidades. Posteriormente se exponen tres formas diferentes de contrarrestar sus riesgos, en tres comunidades autónomas diferentes, Extremadura, Andalucía y Madrid. Finalmente se dan las claves de los aspectos de la Ley sobre los que hay que seguir trabajando para que sea una oportunidad para las personas con trastorno mental grave, y no una barrer