Effect of time of annealing on gas permeation through coextruded linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films

[EN] The effect of annealing on the permeation of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide through coextruded linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films is studied. The results indicate that the permeability coefficient P of nitrogen does not show a definite dependence on the time of annealing, ta, whereas for the other gases this parameter increases with ta. The analysis of the variation of the diffusion coefficient of O2 and N2 with ta indicates that D undergoes a sharp decrease from ta ) 0 to ta ) 2 h, but for larger times of annealing the diffusion parameter only undergoes a slight diminution; on the contrary, the diffusion coefficient of CO2 gradually decreases with increasing ta. The fact that annealing increases the solubility of the gases in the polymer films suggests that thermal treatments may favor the formation of microcavities or molecular packing defects in the crystalline amorphous interface that can accommodate individual site molecules without disturbing the natural dissolution process in the rubbery region of the polymer matrix. Finally, free volume theories are not sensitive enough to interpret the effect of annealing on the permeation characteristics of coextruded LLDPE films.This work was supported by the DGICYT through Grant PB95-0134-C02.Compañ Moreno, V.; Andrio, A.; Lopez, ML.; Alvarez, C.; Riande, E. (1997). Effect of time of annealing on gas permeation through coextruded linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films. Macromolecules. 30:3317-3322. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/147741S331733223

REPISALUD, un repositorio multiinstitucional: la gestión, difusión y preservación del conocimiento en organismos de investigación.

XVI Jornadas Nacionales de Información y Documentación en Ciencias de la salud. Oviedo. 2019La presente comunicación expone el proyecto de creación, implantación y desarrollo de un repositorio institucional, llamado REPISALUD, en el seno de un Organismo Público de Investigación Biomédica: el Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) y sus Fundaciones; Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) y Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO).Se describen los principales aspectos en la implementación del repositorio y se plantean las acciones y desarrollos futuros que conduzcan a su consolidación. La creación de REPISALUD se enmarca dentro de un proyecto institucional de promoción del conocimiento abierto, que se inició tras la firma por parte de los directores de las tres instituciones de la Declaración de Berlín en 2016, y de cuya gestión se están ocupando las unidades de biblioteca o servicio de documentación de las instituciones implicadas. La oportunidad de este proyecto surge de la necesidad de creación de una plataforma unificada de acceso abierto y común a las publicaciones científico-técnicas del ISCIII y sus fundaciones, de tal modo que REPISALUD ofrezca la ventaja de unir en un solo repositorio la producción de las tres instituciones y, de esta manera, contar con un punto de consulta único para todas las colecciones. En la comunicación se describen los procedimientos seguidos y los aspectos más relevantes del desarrollo en relación a la definición, elección del software sobre el que funcionará el repositorio, planificación e implementación del proyecto, así como sus principales características: política de contenidos abierta, interoperabilidad y servicio al investigador, etc., creando así una herramienta fundamental para la preservación, difusión y organización de la producción científica generada en el seno de las instituciones participantes. En el diseño del repositorio, se ha prestado especial atención a la inclusión de los datos de financiación, el enriquecimiento de la información sobre los autores de las tres instituciones, a través de enlaces a sus identificadores (ORCID, Researcher ID y Scopus Author ID) y la política de inclusión de todo tipo de producción científica, incluyendo, además de artículos y contribuciones a congresos, material formativo, institucional, de divulgación, datos de investigación, etc. para que el repositorio pueda llegar a ser un fiel reflejo de toda la actividad científica de las tres instituciones. This communication presents the Project aimed to create, implement and develop an institutional repository, called REPISALUD, within the context of a Public Biomedical Research Organization: the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and its Foundations, the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO). It describes the main aspects in the implementation of the repository, suggesting future actions and developments that will lead to the consolidation of REPISALUD. The creation of REPISALUD is part of an institutional project to promote Open Access, which began after the signing by the directors of the three institutions of the Berlin Declaration in 2016. The Project is being led by the libraries or documentation units of the institutions involved. This Project is based on the need to create a unified Open Access platform for the scientific and technical publications of the ISCIII and its foundations. REPISALUD offers the advantage of uniting in a single repository the scientific production of the three institutions and, therefore, having a single Access point for all the collections. The communication describes the procedures to be followed and the most relevant aspects of the development in relation to the definition of the repository, choice of the software, the planning and implementation of the project, as well as its maincharacteristics: open content policy, interoperability and service to the researcher, etc., thus creating a fundamental tool for the preservation, dissemination and organization of the scientific productivity generated within the participating institutions. In thedesign of the repository, special attention has been paid to the inclusion of funding data, theen richment of information on the authors of the three institutions, through links to their identifiers (ORCID, ResearcherID and Scopus Author ID), and the policy of inclusion of all types of scientific productivity, including, in addition to the articles and contributions to conferences, training material, institutional, dissemination, research data, etc., so that the repository can become a true reflection of all scientific activity of the three institutions

Radiografía de los repositorios de ciencias de la salud en España. Póster

Póster presentado en XVIII Workshop Rebiun y VIII Jornadas OS-Repositorios (León, 25-27 de septiembre de 2019)Se realiza una revisión de los repositorios de ciencias de la salud en España y se describen sus principales características: sóftware utilizado, metadatos, contenidos y estructura, de sta forma se puede determinar la evolución y estado actual del desarrollo de este tipo de repósitorios como herramientas imprenscindibles para alcanzar la ciencia abierta.N

Rural-urban gradients and all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality in Spain using individual data

The literature reporting on rural-urban health status disparities remains inconclusive. We analyzed data from a longitudinal population-based study using individual observations. Our results show that the risks of all-cause and cancer mortality are greater in large cities than in other municipalities, with no clear urban-rural gradient. Not differences were found among territories in cardiovascular mortality.This work was supported by the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Ministry of Science and Innovation [grant number PI19CIII/00021 and FI17CIII/00003].S

Determinants of Progression and Regression of Subclinical Atherosclerosis Over 6 Years.

BACKGROUND Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease that frequently begins early in life. However, knowledge about the temporal disease dynamics (ie, progression or regression) of human subclinical atherosclerosis and their determinants is scarce. OBJECTIVES This study sought to investigate early subclinical atherosclerosis disease dynamics within a cohort of middle-aged, asymptomatic individuals by using multiterritorial 3-dimensional vascular ultrasound (3DVUS) imaging. METHODS A total of 3,471 participants from the PESA (Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis) cohort study (baseline age 40-55 years; 36% female) underwent 3 serial 3DVUS imaging assessments of peripheral arteries at 3-year intervals. Subclinical atherosclerosis was quantified as global plaque volume (mm3) (bilateral carotid and femoral plaque burden). Multivariable logistic regression models for progression and regression were developed using stepwise forward variable selection. RESULTS Baseline to 6-year subclinical atherosclerosis progression occurred in 32.7% of the cohort (17.5% presenting with incident disease and 15.2% progressing from prevalent disease at enrollment). Regression was observed in 8.0% of those patients with baseline disease. The effects of higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) on 6-year subclinical atherosclerosis progression risk were more pronounced among participants in the youngest age stratum (Pinteraction = 0.04 and 0.02, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Over 6 years, subclinical atherosclerosis progressed in one-third of middle-age asymptomatic subjects. Atherosclerosis regression is possible in early stages of the disease. The impact of LDL-C and SBP on subclinical atherosclerosis progression was more pronounced in younger participants, a finding suggesting that the prevention of atherosclerosis and its progression could be enhanced by tighter risk factor control at younger ages, with a likely long-term impact on reducing the risk of clinical events. (Progression of Early Subclinical Atherosclerosis [PESA; also PESA-CNIC-Santander]; NCT01410318).S

Transforming an esterase into an enantioselective catecholase through bioconjugation of a versatile metal-chelating inhibitor

4 pags., 3 figs.Metal complexes introduced into protein scaffolds can generate versatile biomimetic catalysts endowed with a variety of catalytic properties. Here, we synthesized and covalently bound a bipyridinyl derivative to the active centre of an esterase to generate a biomimetic catalyst that shows catecholase activity and enantioselective catalytic oxidation of (+)-catechin.We acknowledge the financial support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 (GA 101000327), and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio´n and Agencia Estatal de Investigacio´n (AEI) (DOI 10.13039/501100011033), and the ‘‘NextGenerationEU/PRTR’’ (PID2020-112758RB-I00, PDC2021-121534-I00, TED2021-130544B-I00, PID2019-105838RB-C31, PID2019-105838RB-C33).Peer reviewe

Arsenic concentrations in seagrass around the Mediterranean coast and seasonal variations

Arsenic’s occurrence in the environment could be due to human activities as well as to natural sources. In this study, Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa are collected in 84 sites around the Mediterranean basin. In addition, both seagrass are collected monthly, in two sites (Calvi in Corsica and Salammbô in Tunisia). Arsenic concentrations in C. nodosa present seasonal variations in relation with spring phytoplankton blooms. For both species arsenic concentration is higher in the vicinity of geological sources (mining), lagoon outlets and industrial activities. Moreover, Mediterranean islands (Balearic, Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, Crete and Cyprus) and the Southern basin coastline exhibit lower concentrations in Arsenic than the rest of the Mediterranean basin. The wide spread distribution of these two species would encourage their use in a global monitoring network devoted to Arsenic contamination.peer-reviewe

Obstetric outcomes of sars-cov-2 infection in asymptomatic pregnant women

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)Around two percent of asymptomatic women in labor test positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Spain. Families and care providers face childbirth with uncertainty. We determined if SARS-CoV-2 infection at delivery among asymptomatic mothers had different obstetric outcomes compared to negative patients. This was a multicenter prospective study based on universal antenatal screening for SARS-CoV-2 infection. A total of 42 hospitals tested women admitted for delivery using polymerase chain reaction, from March to May 2020. We included positive mothers and a sample of negative mothers asymptomatic throughout the antenatal period, with 6-week postpartum follow-up. Association between SARS-CoV-2 and obstetric outcomes was evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analyses. In total, 174 asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive pregnancies were compared with 430 asymptomatic negative pregnancies. No differences were observed between both groups in key maternal and neonatal outcomes at delivery and follow-up, with the exception of prelabor rupture of membranes at term (adjusted odds ratio 1.88, 95% confidence interval 1.13-3.11; p = 0.015). Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive mothers have higher odds of prelabor rupture of membranes at term, without an increase in perinatal complications, compared to negative mothers. Pregnant women testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 at admission for delivery should be reassured by their healthcare workers in the absence of symptoms

A clathrin-dependent pathway leads to KRas signaling on late endosomes en route to lysosomes

Ras proteins are small guanosine triphosphatases involved in the regulation of important cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Understanding the intracellular trafficking of Ras proteins is crucial to identify novel Ras signaling platforms. In this study, we report that epidermal growth factor triggers Kirsten Ras (KRas) translocation onto endosomal membranes (independently of calmodulin and protein kinase C phosphorylation) through a clathrin-dependent pathway. From early endosomes, KRas but not Harvey Ras or neuroblastoma Ras is sorted and transported to late endosomes (LEs) and lysosomes. Using yellow fluorescent protein–Raf1 and the Raichu-KRas probe, we identified for the first time in vivo–active KRas on Rab7 LEs, eliciting a signal output through Raf1. On these LEs, we also identified the p14–MP1 scaffolding complex and activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2. Abrogation of lysosomal function leads to a sustained late endosomal mitogen-activated protein kinase signal output. Altogether, this study reveals novel aspects about KRas intracellular trafficking and signaling, shedding new light on the mechanisms controlling Ras regulation in the cell