Comparison of porous starches obtained from different enzyme types and levels

The objective was to compare the action of different hydrolases for producing porous corn starches. Amyloglucosidase (AMG), α-amylase (AM), cyclodextrin-glycosyltransferase (CGTase) and branching enzyme (BE) were tested using a range of concentrations. Microstructure, adsorptive capacity, pasting and thermal properties were assessed on the porous starches. SEM micrographs showed porous structures with diverse pore size distribution and pore area depending on the enzyme type and its level; AMG promoted the largest holes. Adsorptive capacity was significantly affected by enzymatic modification being greater influenced by AMG activity. Unexpectedly, amylose content increased in the starch treated with AMG and BE, and the opposite trend was observed in AM and CGTase treated samples, suggesting different mode of action. A heatmap illustrated the diverse pasting properties of the different porous starches, which also showed significant different thermal properties, with lower To and Tp. Porous starch properties could be modulated by using different enzymes and concentrations.Financial support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project AGL2014-52928-C2-1-R) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). Y. Benavent-Gil would like to thank predoctoral fellowship from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.Peer reviewe

Structure and antigenicity changes in 7S soyabean allergen by enzymic deglycosylation

peer-reviewedno abstract availablePUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Profitable mixed capacitated arc routing and related problems

Mixed Capacitated Arc Routing Problems (MCARP) aim to identify a set of vehicle trips that, starting and ending at a depot node, serve a given number of links, regarding the vehicles capacity, and minimizing a cost function. If both profits and costs on arcs are considered, the Profitable Mixed Capacitated Arc Routing Problem (PMCARP) may be defined. We present compact flow based models for the PMCARP, where two types of services are tackled, mandatory and optional. Adaptations of the models to fit into some other related problems are also proposed. The models are evaluated, according to their bounds quality as well as the CPU times, over large sets of test instances. New instances have been created from benchmark ones in order to solve variants that have been introduced here for the first time. Results show the new models performance within CPLEX and compare, whenever available, the proposed models against other resolution methods.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ocean loading effects from tidal tilt observations in Lanzarote Island

Comunicación presntada a la 3ª Asamblea Hispano-Portuguesa de Geodesia y Geofísica = 3ª Assembleia Luso-Espanhola de Geodesia e Geofisica, celebrada en Valencia entre el 4 y el 8 de febrero de 2002.Since 1995 two short base-length horizontal pendulums are continuously recording at the station Cueva de los Verdes (Geodynamics laboratory of Lanzarote). Both tilt-meters are modified from the classical Ostrovsky pendulums and are adapted to the local features of the station. The tilt-meters have a working range of measurements of +-20seconds of arc and can resolve up to one second of arc. Such technical properties allow determining the precise tilt response to Earth tides. The tidal tilt models obtained show an important influence from ocean tides. Thus, the estimated amplitude for the main harmonic constituents is of some 4-5 times larger than values measured at continental stations. In this work, the ocean loading and attraction effect, which are computed from global ocean tidal models supplemented with precise regional and local ones will be evaluated. Hence, tidal tilt observations can be corrected from this effect.Peer reviewe

Facts about the formation of newantioxidants in natural samples after subcritical water extraction

8 páginas, 3 figuras, 3 tablas.-- El pdf del artículo es la versión pre-print.Subcritical water extraction (SWE) is a very promising technique for obtaining bioactives (mainly antioxidants) from natural sources; even if sometimes the high operation temperatures have been suggested as responsible for thermal degradation of bioactives, the fact is that this type of extraction processes may generate new bioactive (antioxidant) compounds. The present study involved the analysis of antioxidants either naturally found in raw samples and/or those formed during extraction via Maillard reaction and other chemical events. Samples of different nature like microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris), algae (Sargassum vulgare, Porphyra spp., Cystoseira abies-marina, Sargassum muticum, Undaria pinnatifida, and Halopitys incurvus) and plants (rosemary, thyme and verbena) were studied. Amino acid availability, sugar content, fluorescence and absorbance at different wavelengths were determined to follow chemical changes due to reactions such as Maillard, caramelization and thermoxidation. Folin reaction also provided information related to total phenol content of the samples. ABTS•+, peroxyl as well as superoxide radical scavenging assays were used to measure the antioxidant capacity of the extracts. Results obtained from this study suggest that neoformed compounds derived from Maillard, caramelization and thermoxidation reactions affect the overall antioxidant capacity of water subcritical extracts depending on the nature of the sample. The brown algae U. pinnatifida was the sample in which these chemical events contributed to a higher extent to improve the antioxidant capacity (from 0.047 to 1.512 mmol/g and from 45.356 to 1522.692 μmol/g for the TEAC and ORACFL methods, respectively) when the extraction temperature was raised from 100 to 200 °C. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work supporting the formation of neoantioxidants in natural complex matrices during subcritical water extraction.This work has been financed by AGL2008-05108-C03-01 (Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia), CSD2007-00063 FUN-CFOOD (Programa CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010) and by ALIBIRD, S2009/AGR- 1469 (Comunidad de Madrid) projects. M.H. would like to thank the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry (MICINN) for a post-doc contract (“Juan de la Cierva” programme). M.P. thanks CSIC for her I3P fellowship. M.A.B. thanks for a Danone Institute fellowship.Peer reviewe

Real-life burden of hospitalisations due to COPD exacerbations in Spain

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often suffer episodes of exacerbation of symptoms (ECOPD) that may eventually require hospitalisation due to several, often overlapping, causes. We aimed to analyse the characteristics of patients hospitalised because of ECOPD in a real-life setting using a "big data" approach.The study population included all patients over 40 years old with a diagnosis of COPD (n=69 359; prevalence 3.72%) registered from 1 January 2011 to 1 March 2020 in the database of the public healthcare service (SESCAM) of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) (n=1 863 759 subjects). We used natural language processing (Savana Manager version 3.0) to identify those who were hospitalised during this period for any cause, including ECOPD.During the study 26 453 COPD patients (38.1%) were hospitalised (at least once). Main diagnoses at discharge were respiratory infection (51%), heart failure (38%) or pneumonia (19%). ECOPD was the main diagnosis at discharge (or hospital death) in 8331 patients (12.0% of the entire COPD population and 31.5% of those hospitalised). In-hospital ECOPD-related mortality rate was 3.11%. These patients were hospitalised 2.36 times per patient, with a mean hospital stay of 6.1 days. Heart failure was the most frequent comorbidity in patients hospitalised because of ECOPD (52.6%).This analysis shows that, in a real-life setting, ECOPD hospitalisations are prevalent, complex (particularly in relation to heart failure), repetitive and associated with significant in-hospital mortality.Copyright ©The authors 2022

An Investigation of the Protein Quality and Temporal Pattern of Peripheral Blood Aminoacidemia following Ingestion of 0.33 g·kg−1 Body Mass Protein Isolates of Whey, Pea, and Fava Bean in Healthy, Young Adult Men

An increase in the intake of legumes is recommended in the promotion of plant-sourced (PSP) rather than animal-sourced (ASP) protein intake to produce a more sustainable diet. This study evaluated the quality of novel PSP isolates from pea (PEA) and fava bean (FAVA) and an ASP isolate of whey (WHEY) and compared the magnitude and temporal pattern of peripheral arterial aminoacidemia following ingestion of 0.33 g·kg−1 body mass of protein isolate in healthy young adult men (n = 9). Total indispensable amino acids (IAA) comprised 58% (WHEY), 46% (PEA), and 42% (FAVA) of the total amino acid (AA) composition, with the ingested protein providing 108% (WHEY), 77% (PEA), and 67% (FAVA) of the recommended per diem requirement of IAA. Reflecting the AA composition, the area under the curve (∆AUC0-180), post-ingestion increase in total IAA for WHEY was 41% (p < 0.001) and 57% (p < 0.001) greater than PEA and FAVA, respectively, with PEA exceeding FAVA by 28% (p = 0.003). As a sole-source, single-dose meal-size serving, the lower total IAA for PEA and FAVA would likely evoke a reduced post-prandial anabolic capacity compared to WHEY. Incorporated into a food matrix, the promotion of PSP isolates contributes to a more sustainable diet.Funder: Enterprise Ireland, Innovation Partnership; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/10.13039/501100001588; Grant(s): IP/2019/087

The active metabolite of leflunomide, A77 1726, inhibits the production of prostaglandin E2, matrix metalloproteinase 1 and interleukin 6 in human fibroblast‐like synoviocytes

Objectives. To investigate the effects of the active metabolite of leflunomide, A77 1726, on fibroblast‐like synoviocytes. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synoviocytes participate in tissue destruction by producing metalloproteinases (MMP), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interleukin (IL) 6, which are involved in extracellular matrix degradation, resorption of the mineral phase and osteoclast‐mediated bone resorption. Methods. Human synoviocytes were stimulated with IL‐1α or tumour necrosis factor α (TNF‐α) in the presence of A77 1726. Culture supernatants were analysed for production of interstitial collagenase (MMP‐1), tissue‐inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP‐1), PGE2 and IL‐6. Total RNA was isolated and analysed for steady‐state levels of MMP‐1, cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) and IL‐6 mRNA. Results. A77 1726 inhibited the production of PGE2 in synoviocytes activated by TNF‐α and IL‐1α with median inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 7 and 3 µm respectively. In contrast, MMP‐1 and IL‐6 production was inhibited at high A77 1726 concentrations (> 10 µm), whereas TIMP‐1 was not affected. The inhibition of MMP‐1 and IL‐6 production was due to the known inhibitory effect of A77 1726 on pyrimidine synthesis, as it was reversed by the addition of uridine. This did not apply to PGE2 production, which was inhibited via direct action of A77 1726 on COX‐2, as shown by the increasing amount of substrate (arachidonic acid) in the culture medium. Conclusion. This study shows that some of the beneficial effect of leflunomide in RA patients may be due to the inhibition of PGE2, IL‐6 and MMP‐1 production in synoviocytes. This effect, coupled with its multiple inhibitory effects on T lymphocyte functions, might account for the significant reduction in the rate of disease progression in RA patients treated with leflunomid

Un programa de educación en valores. La formación moral en alumnos de educación secundaria obligatoria

The expression “educating in values” may seem redundant at first sight, because we think it’s impossible to educate in a different way. However, it’s not enough that the teachers declare the values, it would be necessary to implement a certain teaching styles that would promote the relations between teachers and students, and between them and the curriculum content. The family enviroment should not be oblivious to this reality. Thus, any serious attempt to develop a program on values should have as a fundamental base an adequate and solid pedagogical formation of teachers, with a good knowledge of specific techniques and strategies for the education in human values. Therefore, there is a need to present in a personalized way – both for groups and individuals – a program of values education for pupils of Compulsory Secondary Education in the city of Valencia, which can respond to the needs of the recipients of the same.La expresión “educar en valores” puede parecer, a primera vista, redundante, pues se piensa que no es posible educar de otra manera. No obstante, no basta con que el profesorado proclame los valores, sino que es necesaria la implementación de unos determinados estilos docentes que favorezcan las relaciones entre profesores y alumnos y de éstos con los contenidoscurriculares.El ámbito familiar no debería ser ajeno a esta realidad. Así pues, todo intento serio de elaborar un programa en valores debe tener como base fundamental una adecuada y sólida formación pedagógica del profesorado, con un buen dominio de técnicas y estrategias específicas para la educación en valores. Por ello, se plantea la necesidad de presentar, de manera personalizada -grupal e individualmente- un programa de educación en valores para alumnos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria de la ciudad de Valencia, que pueda dar respuesta a las necesidades de los sujetos destinatarios de la misma