Estudio de la composición polifenólica de vinos blancos de Galicia y alternativas de aprovechamiento de los sub-productos de vinificación

Este proyecto de tesis se centra, en síntesis, en el estudio y la caracterización de polifenoles en vinos, fundamentalmente blancos, y en los residuos sólidos resultantes de los correspondientes procesos de vinificación (bagazos), a los que se pretende dar vías alternativas de procesado. Se pretende además investigar la relación entre el contenido en compuestos fenólicos y el poder antioxidante y antimicrobiano, tanto de los vinos como de los subproductos generados en su obtención. La parte más novedosa de este proyecto de tesis pasa por utilizar técnicas de extracción muy recientes, que han sido poco o nada exploradas en este contexto, en conjunción con técnicas cromatográficas acopladas tanto a detectores clásicos como a espectrometría de masas. En algún caso, especialmente en los estudios que tienen que ver con la caracterización antimicrobiana de los extractos polifenólicos de vino y bagazo, se pretende usar aproximaciones puramente analíticas como alternativa a los inconvenientes de las técnicas microbiológicas clásicas

Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis, Krøyer) from EU-Spain Bottom Trawl Survey 2018 in NAFO Div. 3LNO

The Spanish Institute of Oceanography carried out in 2018 two bottom trawl surveys in the NAFO Regulatory Area in Division 3NO and 3L during the months of June and August respectively. The results on Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) are presented and compared with those from previous surveys from the same series. As recent years in 2018the shrimp catch (0.528 kg.) and estimated biomass (2.413 t.) in Divisions 3NO remain between the lowest of the series, confirming the decrease of shrimp importance from 2004. The Northern shrimp catches in 3L Division have declined from 2009, the shrimp catch (1352 kg.) and biomass estimated in 2018 (7807 t.) remain between the lowest values in the historical series

Antioxidant white grape seed phenolics: pressurized liquid extracts from different varieties

Grape seeds represent a high percentage (20% to 26%) of the grape marc obtained as a byproduct from white winemaking and keep a vast proportion of grape polyphenols. In this study, seeds obtained from 11 monovarietal white grape marcs cultivated in Northwestern Spain have been analyzed in order to characterize their polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity. Seeds of native (Albariño, Caiño, Godello, Loureiro, Torrontés, and Treixadura) and non-native (Chardonnay, Gewurtzträminer, Pinot blanc, Pinot gris, and Riesling) grape varieties have been considered. Low weight phenolics have been extracted by means of pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and further analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The results showed that PLE extracts, whatever the grape variety of origin, contained large amounts of polyphenols and high antioxidant activity. Differences in the varietal polyphenolic profiles were found, so a selective exploitation of seeds might be possibleThis research was supported by European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013 (FEDER), and project GPC2014/035 (Consolidated Research Groups Program of Galician Government Xunta de Galicia)S

Vermicompostaje del bagazo de uva: fuente de enmienda orgánica de alta calidad agrícola y de polifenoles bioactivos

El bagazo de uva es un residuo vitivinícola generado en grandes cantidades en regiones como Galicia (España). Posee unas concentraciones polifenólicas elevadas que inhiben el crecimiento de raíces y plantas y son un riesgo para su aplicación como enmienda orgánica en agricultura sin un proceso de tratamiento previo. Pero los polifenoles son también compuestos bioactivos naturales, y por su carácter antioxidante y demás propiedades asociadas son sustancias a considerar en la obtención de ingredientes para la industria cosmética, farmacéutica o alimentaria. En este experimento se realizó un proceso de vermicompostaje del bagazo de uva de la variedad Albariño y se estudiaron los principales cambios físicos, biológicos y químicos (particularmente, polifenólicos) que se producen durante su degradación. Tras 42 días de vermicompostaje, las semillas aisladas presentaban todavía unas concentraciones de polifenoles importantes y de elevado interés industrial. En cuanto al bagazo vermicompostado las concentraciones polifenólicas disminuyeron rápidamente hasta el final del proceso (día 112) y se obtuvo un vermicompost final maduro, estable y de calidad para su uso como enmienda orgánica en campos de cultivoGrape marc is a winery waste generated in large quantities in regions such as Galicia (Spain). It has high polyphenol concentrations that inhibit the growth of roots and plants and that could become a risk in using it as organic amendment in agriculture without pretreatment process. Polyphenols are natural bioactive compounds that for their antioxidant properties and other associated properties are important substances considered in obtaining ingredients for cosmetic, pharmaceutical or food industry. In this experiment we performed a vermicomposting process with grape marc from the Albariño variety. The main physical, biological and chemical changes (particularly, polyphenolics) during the degradation process have been studied. After 42 days of vermicomposting, the isolated seeds still have high concentrations of polyphenols with important industrial interest. The polyphenolic content of the vermicomposted grape marc was decreasing rapidly until the end of the process (day 112); and a mature, stable and high quality vermicompost was obtained for use as organic fertilizer on cropsS

Lo que no sabemos y lo que ya hacemos

En este artículo se narra el enfoque y desarrollo de un taller de formación de profesorado entre iguales alrededor de la evaluación y trabajo por competencias básicas. Los participantes, de siete centros educativos parten del análisis de sus propias actividades de evaluación previas para descubrir qué convierte a una evaluación en competencial y cómo transformar la práctica didáctica en las aulas. Se ofrecen ejemplos y reflexiones sobre el impacto de este enfoque formativo en la práctica en el aula

Association of the PLCB1 gene with drug dependence

Genetic factors involved in the susceptibility to drug addiction still remain largely unknown. MiRNAs seem to play key roles in the drug-induced plasticity of the brain that likely drives the emergence of addiction. In this work we explored the role of miRNAs in drug addiction. With this aim, we selected 62 SNPs located in the 3'UTR of target genes that are predicted to alter the binding of miRNA molecules and performed a case-control association study in a Spanish sample of 735 cases (mainly cocaine-dependent subjects with multiple drug dependencies) and 739 controls. We found an association between rs1047383 in the PLCB1 gene and drug dependence that was replicated in an independent sample (663 cases and 667 controls). Then we selected 9 miRNAs predicted to bind the rs1047383 region, but none of them showed any effect on PLCB1 expression. We also assessed two miRNAs binding a region that contains a SNP in linkage disequilibrium with rs1047383, but although one of them, hsa-miR-582, was found to downregulate PLCB1, no differences were observed between alleles. Finally, we explored the possibility that PLCB1 expression is altered by cocaine and we observed a significant upregulation of the gene in the nucleus accumbens of cocaine abusers and in human dopaminergic-like neurons after cocaine treatment. Our results, together with previous studies, suggest that PLCB1 participates in the susceptibility to drug dependence

The early-life exposome and epigenetic age acceleration in children

The early-life exposome influences future health and accelerated biological aging has been proposed as one of the underlying biological mechanisms. We investigated the association between more than 100 exposures assessed during pregnancy and in childhood (including indoor and outdoor air pollutants, built environment, green environments, tobacco smoking, lifestyle exposures, and biomarkers of chemical pollutants), and epigenetic age acceleration in 1,173 children aged 7 years old from the Human Early-Life Exposome project. Age acceleration was calculated based on Horvath’s Skin and Blood clock using child blood DNA methylation measured by Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChips. We performed an exposure-wide association study between prenatal and childhood exposome and age acceleration. Maternal tobacco smoking during pregnancy was nominally associated with increased age acceleration. For childhood exposures, indoor particulate matter absorbance (PMabs) and parental smoking were nominally associated with an increase in age acceleration. Exposure to the organic pesticide dimethyl dithiophosphate and the persistent pollutant polychlorinated biphenyl-138 (inversely associated with child body mass index) were protective for age acceleration. None of the associations remained significant after multiple-testing correction. Pregnancy and childhood exposure to tobacco smoke and childhood exposure to indoor PMabs may accelerate epigenetic aging from an early ageThe study received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-206) (grant agreement no 308333) (HELIX project), the H2020-EU.3.1.2. - Preventing Disease Programme (grant agreement no 874583) (ATHLETE project), and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant Agreement number: 733206) (Early Life stressors and Lifecycle Health (LIFECYCLE)). BiB received funding from the Welcome Trust (WT101597MA), from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC) (MR/N024397/1). INMA was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, CIBERESP, and the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT. KANC was funded by the grant of the Lithuanian Agency for Science Innovation and Technology (6-04-2014_31V-66). The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research. The Rhea project was financially supported by European projects (EU FP6-2003-Food-3-NewGeneris, EU FP6. STREP Hiwate, EU FP7 ENV.2007.1.2.2.2. Project No 211250 Escape, EU FP7-2008-ENV-1.2.1.4 Envirogenomarkers, EU FP7-HEALTH-2009- single stage CHICOS, EU FP7 ENV.2008.1.2.1.6. Proposal No 226285 ENRIECO, EU- FP7- HEALTH-2012 Proposal No 308333 HELIX), and the Greek Ministry of Health (Program of Prevention of obesity and neurodevelopmental disorders in preschool children, in Heraklion district, Crete, Greece: 2011-2014; “Rhea Plus”: Primary Prevention Program of Environmental Risk Factors for Reproductive Health, and Child Health: 2012-15). We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. OR was funded by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/S03532X/1). MV-U and CR-A were supported by a FI fellowship from the Catalan Government (FI-DGR 2015 and #016FI_B 00272). MC received funding from Instituto Carlos III (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) (CD12/00563 and MS16/00128)S

In utero and childhood exposure to tobacco smoke and multi-layer molecular signatures in children

Background The adverse health effects of early life exposure to tobacco smoking have been widely reported. In spite of this, the underlying molecular mechanisms of in utero and postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke are only partially understood. Here, we aimed to identify multi-layer molecular signatures associated with exposure to tobacco smoke in these two exposure windows. Methods We investigated the associations of maternal smoking during pregnancy and childhood secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure with molecular features measured in 1203 European children (mean age 8.1 years) from the Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) project. Molecular features, covering 4 layers, included blood DNA methylation and gene and miRNA transcription, plasma proteins, and sera and urinary metabolites. Results Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with DNA methylation changes at 18 loci in child blood. DNA methylation at 5 of these loci was related to expression of the nearby genes. However, the expression of these genes themselves was only weakly associated with maternal smoking. Conversely, childhood SHS was not associated with blood DNA methylation or transcription patterns, but with reduced levels of several serum metabolites and with increased plasma PAI1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1), a protein that inhibits fibrinolysis. Some of the in utero and childhood smoking-related molecular marks showed dose-response trends, with stronger effects with higher dose or longer duration of the exposure. Conclusion In this first study covering multi-layer molecular features, pregnancy and childhood exposure to tobacco smoke were associated with distinct molecular phenotypes in children. The persistent and dose-dependent changes in the methylome make CpGs good candidates to develop biomarkers of past exposure. Moreover, compared to methylation, the weak association of maternal smoking in pregnancy with gene expression suggests different reversal rates and a methylation-based memory to past exposures. Finally, certain metabolites and protein markers evidenced potential early biological effects of postnatal SHS, such as fibrinolysis

Low transmission of SARS-CoV-2 derived from children in family clusters: An observational study of family households in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Spain

Background: Family clusters offer a good opportunity to study viral transmission in a stable setting. We aimed to analyze the specific role of children in transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within households. Methods: A prospective, longitudinal, observational study, including children with documented acute SARS-CoV-2 infection attending 22 summer-schools in Barcelona, Spain, was performed. Moreover, other patients and families coming from other school-like environments that voluntarily accessed the study were also studied. A longitudinal follow-up (5 weeks) of the family clusters was conducted to determine whether the children considered to be primary cases were able to transmit the virus to other family members. The household reproduction number (Re*) and the secondary attack rate (SAR) were calculated. Results: 1905 children from the summer schools were screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection and 22 (1.15%) tested positive. Moreover, 32 additional children accessed the study voluntarily. Of these, 37 children and their 26 households were studied completely. In half of the cases (13/26), the primary case was considered to be a child and secondary transmission to other members of the household was observed in 3/13, with a SAR of 14.2% and a Re* of 0.46. Conversely, the SAR of adult primary cases was 72.2% including the kids that gave rise to the contact tracing study, and 61.5% without them, and the estimated Re* was 2.6. In 4/13 of the paediatric primary cases (30.0%), nasopharyngeal PCR was persistently positive > 1 week after diagnosis, and 3/4 of these children infected another family member (p<0.01). Conclusions: Children may not be the main drivers of the infection in household transmission clusters in the study population. A prolonged positive PCR could be associated with higher transmissibility