Straightforward nano patterning on optical fiber for sensors development

A simple method to prepare a nano pattern along the surface of an optical fiber is applied in this Letter to develop a pH sensor. The template is made of a block copolymer that defines specific locations where gold nano particles are adsorbed on forming clusters. The average diameter of the resulting agglomerates is 121 nm, and the mean distance between the centers is 182 nm. The morphology of the gold cluster array produces localized surface plasmon resonance. The absorbance spectrum is affected by pH variations, and the ratio between the absorption at two different wavelengths is used to characterize the response, which is repetitive and reversible. This Letter highlights the potentiality of this type of chemical nano patterning for the development of optical fiber sensors.Agencia Estatal de Investigación; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (TEC2016-79367-C2-2-R); Government of Navarra (PI035 BINACS)

Antiretroviral therapy duration and immunometabolic state determine efficacy of ex vivo dendritic cell-based treatment restoring functional HIV-specific CD8+ T cells in people living with HIV.

Dysfunction of CD8+ T cells in people living with HIV-1 (PLWH) receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has restricted the efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapies against HIV-1. Heterogeneous immune exhaustion and metabolic states of CD8+ T cells might differentially associate with dysfunction. However, specific parameters associated to functional restoration of CD8+ T cells after DC treatment have not been investigated. We studied association of restoration of functional HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell responses after stimulation with Gag-adjuvant-primed DC with ART duration, exhaustion, metabolic and memory cell subsets profiles. HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell responses from a larger proportion of PLWH on long-term ART (more than 10 years; LT-ARTp) improved polyfunctionality and capacity to eliminate autologous p24+ infected CD4+ T cells in vitro. In contrast, functional improvement of CD8+ T cells from PLWH on short-term ART (less than a decade; ST-ARTp) after DC treatment was limited. This was associated with lower frequencies of central memory CD8+ T cells, increased co-expression of PD1 and TIGIT and reduced mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis induction upon TCR activation. In contrast, CD8+ T cells from LT-ARTp showed increased frequencies of TIM3+ PD1- cells and preserved induction of glycolysis. Treatment of dysfunctional CD8+ T cells from ST-ARTp with combined anti-PD1 and anti-TIGIT antibodies plus a glycolysis promoting drug restored their ability to eliminate infected CD4+ T cells. Together, our study identifies specific immunometabolic parameters for different PLWH subgroups potentially useful for future personalized DC-based HIV-1 vaccines. NIH (R21AI140930), MINECO/FEDER RETOS (RTI2018-097485-A-I00) and CIBERINF grants.NIH (R21AI140930), MINECO/FEDER RETOS (RTI2018-097485-A-I00) and CIBERINF grants. We would like to thank the NIH AIDS Reagent Pro- gram, Division of AIDS, NIAID, NIH for providing HIV-1 PTE Gag Peptide Pool from NIAID, DAIDS (cat #11057) for the study. We would also like to thank Alvaro Serrano Navarro, for his help on adapting the lin- ear mixed model previously described by Martin- C ofreces N. et al83 to our data. Graphical schematic rep- resentations were created with BioRender.com. EMG was supported by the NIH R21 program (R21AI140930), the Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC2018- 024374-I), the MINECO/FEDER RETOS program (RTI2018-097485-A-I00), by Comunidad de Madrid Talento Program (2017-T1/BMD-5396) and by Gilead becas de investigaci on (GLD19/00168). EMG and IDS are supported by Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBERINF) de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CB21/ 13/00107). MCM was supported by NIH R21 program (R21AI140930), “La Caixa Banking Foundation (H20- 00218) and Gilead becas de investigaci on (GLD19/ 00168). MJB is supported by the Miguel Servet program funded by the Spanish Health Institute Carlos III (CP17/00179), the MINECO/FEDER RETOS program (RTI2018-101082-B-100), and Fundació La Marat o TV3 (201805-10FMTV3). EMG and MJB are both funded by “La Caixa Banking Foundation (H20-00218) and by REDINCOV grant from Fundació La Marat o TV3. FSM was supported by SAF2017-82886-R and PDI-2020- 120412RB-I00 grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci on, and HR17-00016 grant from “La Caixa Banking Foundation. HF was funded by PI21/01583 grant from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Instituto de Salud Carlos III. MJC was supported by PID2019- 104406RB-I00 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. ISC was funded by the CM21/00157 Rio- Hortega grant. IT was supported by grant for the pro- motion of research studies master-UAM 2021.S

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Relación entre los parámetros morfológicos, de gameto a blastocito, con las anomalías cromosómicas y el éxito reproductivo

El uso de la estimulación ovárica controlada (EOC) en los tratamientos de reproducción asistida (TRA) tiene como consecuencia, en la mayoría de los ciclos, la obtención de múltiples ovocitos maduros, por lo que el número de embriones disponibles para transferir suele ser elevado. Muchos embriones morfológicamente óptimos, que son transferidos al útero, no logran implantar o generan gestaciones que finalizan en abortos espontáneos. Algunos de estos fracasos pueden ser explicados por la presencia de anomalías cromosómicas de los embriones seleccionados para la transferencia. La estrategia más común, en la mayoría de los laboratorios de fecundación in vitro (FIV), para identificar los embriones viables capaces de dar lugar a una gestación evolutiva (mayor o igual a 12 semanas), está basada en criterios morfológicos tales como el número de células y la simetría de las mismas, la presencia de multinucleación, el porcentaje de fragmentación y la velocidad de desarrollo. Sin embargo, alguno de los aspectos más importantes de la viabilidad embrionaria, como la carga cromosómica, son indetectables mediante la clásica observación morfológica. El objetivo principal de la presente tesis doctoral fue valorar la posible correlación entre la morfología del embrión en día 3 de desarrollo, y sus anomalías cromosómicas, con el fin de establecer un modelo predictivo..

El efecto del entorno en la emisión de fluorescencia. Modelos teóricos y aplicaciones analíticas

En esta Tesis Doctoral se abordan aspectos teóricos y prácticos de la fluorescencia molecular, en medio líquido y sólido, que pueden resumirse en: 1.- Estudio y utilización del efecto del entorno molecular en la intensidad de fluorescencia, que se refiere a cómo las interacciones no covalentes que sufre un fluoróforo en presencia de un analito y un disolvente afectan a su emisión y a la utilización de esos cambios para obtener información analítica del entorno. Para ello se ha desarrollado un modelo teórico matemático donde se explica cómo las interacciones no covalentes disolvente-fluoróforo afectan a la absorbancia y a la intensidad de fluorescencia, proponiendo un modelo de uso analítico que relacione la concentración del analito con las propiedades químicas de analito, disolvente y fluoróforo. Este modelo se ha validado experimentalmente. Finalmente se presenta una aplicación para la caracterización de la distribución del peso molecular de mezclas de polímeros convencionales (PS, PC, PEGs) mediante GPC en modo HPLC, discutiendo la aplicación y validación del modelo desarrollado. 2.- Modelado de la señal fluorescente en sensores ópticos de fluorescencia, entendidos éstos como dispositivos en los que un fluoróforo es inmovilizado en una matriz sólida. Se han desarrollado asimismo nuevos sensores generales de este tipo usando los efectos del entorno molecular.Plan Nacional de I+D+i(CTQ2005-00227/PPQ. Instituto de Carboquímica,CSIC.Plan Nacional de I+D+i (CTQ2008-00959,FLUOSENSO.Instituto de Carboquímica,CSIC.Plan Nacional I+D+i (CTQ2008-06751-C02-01/BQU.Instº Universitario de Investigación en Nanociencia de Aragón, Univ. de Zaragoza).Peer reviewe

Medium-Term Effect of Organic Amendments on the Chemical Properties of a Soil Used for Vegetable Cultivation with Cereal and Legume Rotation in a Semiarid Climate

The response of a Petrocalcic Palexeroll dedicated to the cultivation of vegetables (Apium graveolens L.) with a rotation of a mixture of cereals and legumes when organic amendments are added has been studied; specifically, three fertilization treatments were experimented with: two organic (LSM and COA) and one with chemical fertilizers (I). The LSM and COA plots were managed according to the regulations governing organic production, while in I, conventional agricultural production practices were used. Over a three-year period, monthly samples were taken from the topsoil and analyzed for organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N ratio, total P (P), electrical conductivity of the saturation extract (ECext) and extract ions, pH in water (pHw) and 1 M KCl (pHKCl), cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable bases (Mg2+, K+, Na+), and assimilable elements (Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn). The results obtained indicated significant differences between the treatments for the OC, TN, C/N, and P; specifically, in the case of OC the mean concentrations were 22.2 > 20.1 > 17.5 g kg−1 for the LSM, COA, and I, respectively. The addition of organic amendments also improved the soil function for food production, evidenced by the higher concentrations of K, Mg, and micronutrients. The ECext and extracted ions were also sensitive to the treatments such that the sequence of ECext in the third year was COA = LSM > I, with values of 5.0, 4.8, and 3.3 dSm−1, which forced a rethink of the doses of the amendments applied. These results suggest that the LSM-based agronomic model had a beneficial effect on the soil properties and contributed to its function as a C sink

Changes in emission induced by non-covalent analyte-fluorophore interactions in silica gel as a general detection procedure for TLC

14 slides.-- Slideshow of the talk delivered in the International Symposium for High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography, HPTLC 2008, 11th-13th, June 2008, Helsinki (Finland).Peer reviewe

Antiretroviral therapy duration and immunometabolic state determine efficacy of ex vivo dendritic cell-based treatment restoring functional HIV-specific CD8+ T cells in people living with HIV

Dysfunction of CD8 + T cells in people living with HIV-1 (PLWH) receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has restricted the efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapies against HIV-1. Heterogeneous immune exhaustion and metabolic states of CD8 + T cells might differentially associate with dysfunction. However, specific parameters associated to functional restoration of CD8 + T cells after DC treatment have not been investigated. We studied association of restoration of functional HIV-1-specific CD8 + T cell responses after stimulation with Gag-adjuvant-primed DC with ART duration, exhaustion, metabolic and memory cell subsets profiles. HIV-1-specific CD8 + T cell responses from a larger proportion of PLWH on long-term ART (more than 10 years; LT-ARTp) improved polyfunctionality and capacity to eliminate autologous p24 + infected CD4 + T cells in vitro. In contrast, functional improvement of CD8 + T cells from PLWH on short-term ART (less than a decade; ST-ARTp) after DC treatment was limited. This was associated with lower frequencies of central memory CD8 + T cells, increased co-expression of PD1 and TIGIT and reduced mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis induction upon TCR activation. In contrast, CD8 + T cells from LT-ARTp showed increased frequencies of TIM3 + PD1 − cells and preserved induction of glycolysis. Treatment of dysfunctional CD8 + T cells from ST-ARTp with combined anti-PD1 and anti-TIGIT antibodies plus a glycolysis promoting drug restored their ability to eliminate infected CD4 + T cells. Together, our study identifies specific immunometabolic parameters for different PLWH subgroups potentially useful for future personalized DC-based HIV-1 vaccines. NIH (R21AI140930), MINECO/FEDER RETOS (RTI2018-097485-A-I00) and CIBERINF grants

Fluorescence detection by intensity changes (FDIC) for Automated Multiple Development (AMD)-HPTLC separation of lipids

10 slides.-- Slideshow of the talk delivered in the International Symposium for TLC, HPTLC 2011, Basel (Switzerland), 06th-8th July 2011