Design of nanostructured siloxane-gelatin coatings: Immobilization strategies and dissolution properties

Owing to the outstanding service life of metallic prostheses, a substantial effort has been put into their surface modification to improve biocompatibility and reduce metallic ion diffusion. To satisfy these requirements, the coating materials obtained using the sol-gel method, with its wide range of tuning properties, have been extensively explored. The well-known biocompatibility of these materials makes them good candidates for different biomedical applications. We designed a series of siloxane-gelatin hybrids to be used as coatings for metallic implants or in controlled delivery systems. Two different matrixes were designed based on methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) alkoxysilane precursors. In one hybrid coating gelatin was physically entrapped and in the other it was linked to the siloxane network by covalent bonds. Synthesis parameters were established by studying the sol-gel reaction using 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (29Si NMR), which also allowed quantification of the network connectivity. Dissolution and degradation studies showed the effectiveness of GPTMS as a covalent coupling agent between the silica and gelatin phases; it increased the stability of the coatings in aqueous media. The aim of this study was to design a set of hybrid materials with highly tailorable properties, suitable for their potential biomedical application

Effect of topical berberine in murine cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions

Objectives: More effective topical treatments remain an unmet need for the localized forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a topical berberine cream in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major parasites. Methods: A cream containing 0.5% berberine-β-glycerophosphate salt and 2.5% menthol was prepared. Its physicochemical and stability properties were determined. The cream was evaluated for its capacity to reduce lesion size and parasitic load as well as to promote wound healing after twice-a-day administration for 35 days. Clinical biochemical profile was used for estimating off-target effects. In vitro time-to-kill curves in L. major-infected macrophages and skin and plasma pharmacokinetics were determined, aiming to establish pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships. Results: The cream was stable at 40°C for 3 months and at 4°C for at least 8 months. It was able to halt lesion progression in all treated mice. At the end of treatment, parasite load in the skin was reduced by 99.9% (4 log) and genes involved in the wound healing process were up-regulated compared with untreated mice. The observed effects were higher than expected from in vitro time-to-kill kinetic and plasma berberine concentrations, which ranged between 0.07 and 0.22 μM. Conclusions: The twice-a-day administration of a topical berberine cream was safe, able to stop parasite progression and improved the appearance of skin CL lesions. The relationship between drug plasma levels and in vivo effect was unclear

End-User Development of Voice User Interfaces based on Web content

Voice Assistants, and particularly the latest gadgets called smart speakers, allow end users to interact with applications by means of voice commands. As usual, end users are able to install applications (also called skills) that are available in repositories and fulfill multiple purposes. In this work we present an end-user environment to define skills for voice assistants based on the extraction of Web content and their organization into different voice navigation patterns. We describe the approach, the end-user development environment, and finally we present some case studies based on Alexa and Amazon Echo

Tomography analysis of Al–Mg alloys manufactured by wire-arc directed energy deposition with different metal transfer modes

The interest in aluminum-magnesium alloy additive manufacturing through Wire-arc Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technology has substantially grown in recent years. The main challenge in additive manufactured aluminum-magnesium alloys is the occurrence of porosity. In this context, Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) based additive technology is suitable for aluminum printing as it allows high deposition rates and reduces porosity levels through alternative metal transfer modes without adding any extra equipment. Therefore, this research explores the effects of these alternative metal transfer modes, which determine the current signal shape and polarity, on the distribution and morphology of micropores using X-ray computed tomography in both single-bead and double-bead walls. The novelty of this paper lies in the comparison of the porosity obtained using alternative transfer modes, which, unlike CMT (Cold Metal Transfer) modes, have not been exhaustively analyzed. Additionally, to date, there has been no comprehensive comparison of the porosity results obtained in single walls and overlapped walls. The results demonstrate that pulsed-AC transfer mode with a current signal featuring variable polarity yields acceptable porosity fraction values of less than 0.04% in single-bead walls and less than 0.01% in double-bead walls, achieving high productivity

Reproducción de ruiseñor común (Luscinia megarhynchos) en Gipuzkoa

El Ruiseñor Común (Luscinia megarhynchos) es un paseriforme transahariano ampliamente distribuido en el Paleártico Occidental, criando, principalmente, en el SW de Europa, al S de la isoterma de 19 grados en junio, y complementando así la distribución más nórdica y oriental del Ruiseñor Ruso (Luscinia luscinia). (CRAMP, 1988; TUCKER and HEATH, 1994; GRÜLL and FRACASSO, 1997). En Europa está presente la subespecie L. m. megarhynchos, encontrándose el 80% de la población en un total de cinco países: Francia, España, Italia, Bulgaria y Croacia (TUCKER and HEATH, 1994). En España está presente en todo el territorio, excepto en el Cantábrico, Canarias y áreas muy secas de la región mediterránea (INFANTE, 2003). Es típico de medios arbustivos densos, en bosques de galería y sotos, linderos, dehesas y huertas, e incluso parques urbanos (INFANTE, 2003). En Gipuzkoa, NOVAL (1967) lo citó como ave nidificante muy rara, principalmente en el interior, si bien ninguna cita se pudo confirmar. Actualmente, no consta como reproductor (AIERBE et al., 2001)

¿Es importante el carrizal de Asti (Zarautz, Gipuzkoa) como área de descanso para las aves paseriformes transaharianas?

El presente estudio se realizó con el fin de determinar la presencia de especies de pequeñas aves de interés para la conservación en el carrizal de Asti (Zarautz, Gipuzkoa). El muestreo se desarrolló en agosto de 2010, mediante anillamiento (4 jornadas/decena; 12 jornadas en conjunto), durante un periodo de 4 horas desde el amanecer. Se capturaron 22 especies: 21 paseriformes y un pícido. De todas ellas, el 45,5% son especies que sólo aparecen en la zona en paso migratorio, y tan sólo dos especies de carriceros (género Acrocephalus) acumularon un 62,0% de la abundancia. Se capturaron varias especies de gran interés para la conservación: carricerín cejudo A. paludicola (Vieillot, 1817), catalogado como Vulnerable a escala global; ruiseñor pechiazul Luscinia svecica (L., 1758), incluido en el Anexo I de la Directiva Aves, y de los que el 77,3% fueron ejemplares de la subespecie L. s. namnetum Mayaud, 1934, lo cual pone de manifiesto la relevancia de las marismas del Cantábrico en la conservación de esta subespecie; y carricero común A. scirpaceus (Hermann, 1804), escaso en Gipuzkoa, pero presente como reproductor en Asti

Web-Augmentation, Design Thinking, and Collaboration Engineering to Foster Innovation in DSS for Agriculture: A Case Study

International audienceDecision making in agriculture increasingly relies on software, for example to gather important information or to weight alternatives. Information systems innovation in agriculture is a challenging and very active area. Existing software products, frequently implemented as web applications, are found to lack functionality, for example to support collaboration. Aigmenting the web is a widely adopted technique for enhancing existing applications with new features which are not available out of the shelf. Design thinking has proven to be an effective tool to support innovation on many domains. Collaboration Engineering is an effective means to reuse design experience of collaboration strategies. This work presents an approach to involve end-users in enhancing existing web software to produce incremental innovations. The approach relies on Design Thinking, Web Augmenttion and Collaboration Engineering. The approcah was successfully tried in a case study letting end-users add collaboration support to a system that did not provide it

Design of nanostructured siloxane-gelatin coatings: Immobilization strategies and dissolution properties

Owing to the outstanding service life of metallic prostheses, a substantial effort has been put into their surface modification to improve biocompatibility and reduce metallic ion diffusion. To satisfy these requirements, the coating materials obtained using the sol-gel method, with its wide range of tuning properties, have been extensively explored. The well-known biocompatibility of these materials makes them good candidates for different biomedical applications. We designed a series of siloxane-gelatin hybrids to be used as coatings for metallic implants or in controlled delivery systems. Two different matrixes were designed based on methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) alkoxysilane precursors. In one hybrid coating gelatin was physically entrapped and in the other it was linked to the siloxane network by covalent bonds. Synthesis parameters were established by studying the sol-gel reaction using 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance (29Si NMR), which also allowed quantification of the network connectivity. Dissolution and degradation studies showed the effectiveness of GPTMS as a covalent coupling agent between the silica and gelatin phases; it increased the stability of the coatings in aqueous media. The aim of this study was to design a set of hybrid materials with highly tailorable properties, suitable for their potential biomedical application

Effect of topical berberine in murine cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions

Objectives: More effective topical treatments remain an unmet need for the localized forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a topical berberine cream in BALB/c mice infected with Leishmania major parasites. Methods: A cream containing 0.5% berberine-β-glycerophosphate salt and 2.5% menthol was prepared. Its physicochemical and stability properties were determined. The cream was evaluated for its capacity to reduce lesion size and parasitic load as well as to promote wound healing after twice-a-day administration for 35 days. Clinical biochemical profile was used for estimating off-target effects. In vitro time-to-kill curves in L. major-infected macrophages and skin and plasma pharmacokinetics were determined, aiming to establish pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships. Results: The cream was stable at 40°C for 3 months and at 4°C for at least 8 months. It was able to halt lesion progression in all treated mice. At the end of treatment, parasite load in the skin was reduced by 99.9% (4 log) and genes involved in the wound healing process were up-regulated compared with untreated mice. The observed effects were higher than expected from in vitro time-to-kill kinetic and plasma berberine concentrations, which ranged between 0.07 and 0.22 μM. Conclusions: The twice-a-day administration of a topical berberine cream was safe, able to stop parasite progression and improved the appearance of skin CL lesions. The relationship between drug plasma levels and in vivo effect was unclear

Anàlisi de l'ús de l'hàbitat pels passeriformes en el Parque Ecológico de Plaiaundi, maresmes de Txinguidi (N d'Espanya)

En el present estudi s’analitza l’ús de l’hàbitat pels passeriformes en el Parque Ecológico de Plaiaundi (Irún, Gipuzkoa), localitzat a l’entorn de la desembocadura del riu Bidasoa (Txingudi). Txingudi és un dels punts més rellevants d’Espanya pel que fa al pas migratori d’ocells. Es va estudiar el nombre de captures i d’espècies al llarg d’un cicle anual (abril de 2006 a març de 2007) en quatre biotops: bosc de caducifolis, prats inundats, verneda i canyissar. L’abundància va mostrar un màxim en el canyissar i els prats inundables, sense registrar diferències entre ambdós, per bé que aquest patró va mostrar variacions al llarg del cicle anual. En tot cas, els dos biotops es van trobar en tots els mesos entre els hàbitats amb un nombre màxim de captures. La riquesa va atènyer un màxim en els prats inundables, encara que hi va haver diferències entre mesos. Una anàlisi de clusters basat en el nombre d’espècies comunes trobades entre biotops va revelar dos grups de biotops afins: un format per la verneda i l’altre per la resta dels biotops. Es va desenvolupar una anàlisi de correspondències per estudiar la relació entre espècies i biotops. Finalment, mitjançant un índex basat en l’abundància de cada una de les espècies i la seva categoria SPEC, el biotop amb més puntuació va ser el canyissar