Research directions for kidney stone disease

Kidney stone disease poses a major burden to patients and healthcare systems around the world. The formation of kidney stones may occur over months or years, but many patients are diagnosed at a late stage, suffer excruciating pain, and require surgical intervention to physically remove the stones. The prevalence of kidney stones has increased during recent decades to over 10% in many developed countries, suggesting a link with environmental and behavioral factors. Recurrence rates are also high. In terms of their impact and scale, kidney stones are an ongoing pandemic. The causes and mechanisms of kidney stone formation are diverse and often unknown, resulting in varied compositions and different anatomical locations being affected. A better understanding of these processes could enable earlier diagnoses through more sensitive and scalable biomarkers, as well as more effective preventives and therapeutics

Estudio y optimización de nuevos catalizadores para la producción selectiva de olefinas ligeras

El cambio climático ha sido calificado como el mayor de los problemas a los que se enfrenta la humanidad actualmente. Sus consecuencias pueden ser extremas y pueden poner en peligro a todas las especies que habitan este planeta. La solución implica necesariamente un esfuerzo global, tanto a nivel político como científico. Afortunadamente, los químicos e ingenieros químicos tienen a su alcance poderosas herramientas con las que contribuir, incluyendo la química sostenible y, en particular, la catálisis. La catálisis permite hacer un uso más eficiente de los recursos que requieren de una transformación química. Los recursos fósiles son la principal reserva de carbono al alcance del ser humano. El carbono está presente en una gran proporción de los bienes de consumo, incluidos los plásticos, los cuales produce la industria petroquímica a partir, en gran medida, de olefinas ligeras (etileno, propileno y butenos). En esta tesis estudiamos la catálisis de la transformación de recursos fósiles en olefinas ligeras, intentando hacerla más eficiente, esto es, más selectiva y a un menor coste energético. Más todavía, se propone emplear como materia prima otras olefinas de longitud de cadena intermedia, las cuales son subproductos con un valor limitado en la industria. El estudio realizado aborda el problema desde diversos ángulos, incluyendo el estudio termodinámico, la caracterización de materiales en combinación con los resultados catalíticos y cinéticos, la modificación de los mismos, e incluso algunas propuestas de esquemas de proceso en base a los resultados obtenidos. Los resultados tienen el potencial de reducir el consumo energético en la industria química y pueden contribuir a un uso más eficiente de los recursos de que disponemos para mantener o mejorar el bienestar de nuestra sociedad ahora y en el futuro.Climate change has been described as the greatest challenge mankind faces today. Its consequences can be extreme and can threaten all the species that inhabit the planet. The solution requires a global effort, both politically and scientifically. Fortunately, chemists and chemical engineers have powerful tools at their disposal to make their contribution, including Green Chemistry and, in particular, Catalysis. Catalysis allows to make a more efficient use of the resources that require a chemical transformation. Fossil resources are the main reservoir of carbon available to humans. Carbon is present in a large proportion of consumer goods, including plastics, which are produced by the petrochemical industry to a large extent from light olefins (ethene, propene, and butenes). In this thesis, we study the catalysis of the transformation of fossil resources into light olefins, trying to make it more efficient, that is, more selective and at a lower energetic cost. Moreover, it is proposed to use intermediate chain length olefins as raw materials. These intermediate olefins are currently by-products in the industry with a limited value. Our study approaches the problem from different perspectives, including Thermodynamics, characterization of materials in combination with catalytic and kinetic results, modification of the materials, and even some proposals for process schemes based on the results obtained. The findings have the potential to reduce energy consumption in the chemical industry and can contribute to a more efficient use of resources, which is necessary to improve the welfare of the society of tomorrow

Converting olefins to propene: Ethene to propene and olefin cracking

Demand for propene as a petrochemical building block keeps growing, while its availability has been decreased by the adoption of shale gas resources, among others. Efforts to optimize its production by conventional means (including modified fluid catalytic cracking) and new on-purpose production technologies (including ethene to propene (ETP) and olefin cracking) are being pursued. This work reviews the progress made on olefin conversion processes, including the ETP reaction, which is still under development, and the cracking of butenes and higher olefins (C5–C8). The factors analyzed include the catalytic performance of different zeolite materials and their modifications to increase catalyst stability, yield, and selectivity to propene, as well as the effect of operating conditions, reaction thermodynamics, and mechanisms involved. The work is complemented by a survey of commercial technologies and developments on olefin conversion processes

Evidence of new Ni-O-K catalytic sites with superior stability for methane dry reforming

Liquid fuels produced via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis from biomass-derived syngas constitute an attractive and sustainable energy vector for the transportation sector. This study focuses on the role of potassium as a promoter in Ni-based catalysts for reducing coke deposition during catalytic dry reforming. The study provides a new structural link between catalytic performance and physicochemical properties. We identify new Ni-O-K chemical states associated with high stability in the reforming process, evidenced by different characterization techniques. The nickel particles form a core surrounded by a Ni-O-K phase layer (Ni@Ni-O-K) during the reduction of the catalyst. This phase likely presents an alkali-nickelate-type structure, in which nickel is stabilized in oxidation state + 3. The Ni-O-K formation induces essential changes in the electronic, physical, structural, and morphological properties of the catalysts, notably enhancing their long-term stability in dry reforming. This work thus provides new directions for designing more efficient catalysts for sustainable gas-to-liquids processes.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad RTI2018-096294-B-C33Universidad de Sevilla US-126328

Comparison of ATP-binding pockets and discovery of homologous recombination inhibitors

The ATP binding sites of many enzymes are structurally related, which complicates their development as therapeutic targets. In this work, we explore a diverse set of ATPases and compare their ATP binding pockets using different strategies, including direct and indirect structural methods, in search of pockets attractive for drug discovery. We pursue different direct and indirect structural strategies, as well as ligandability assessments to help guide target selection. The analyses indicate human RAD51, an enzyme crucial in homologous recombination, as a promising, tractable target. Inhibition of RAD51 has shown promise in the treatment of certain cancers but more potent inhibitors are needed. Thus, we design compounds computationally against the ATP binding pocket of RAD51 with consideration of multiple criteria, including predicted specificity, drug-likeness, and toxicity. The molecules designed are evaluated experimentally using molecular and cell-based assays. Our results provide two novel hit compounds against RAD51 and illustrate a computational pipeline to design new inhibitors against ATPases.This work was supported by Academia Sinica (P.C.), National Taiwan University (P.C.), Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST 110-2326-B-002-012 to P.C), Scottish Funding Council (V.B.), and the Generalitat Valenciana and European Social Fund (APOSTD/2020/120 to V.B.).Peer reviewe

Genetic markers in clinical subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Poster presentatationInternational audienc

The transiting multi-planet system HD3167: a 5.7 MEarth Super-Earth and a 8.3 MEarth mini-Neptune

HD3167 is a bright (V=8.9 mag) K0V star observed by the NASA's K2 space mission during its Campaign 8. It has been recently found to host two small transiting planets, namely, HD3167b, an ultra short period (0.96 d) super-Earth, and HD3167c, a mini-Neptune on a relatively long-period orbit (29.85 d). Here we present an intensive radial velocity follow-up of HD3167 performed with the FIES@NOT, [email protected], and HARPS-N@TNG spectrographs. We revise the system parameters and determine radii, masses, and densities of the two transiting planets by combining the K2 photometry with our spectroscopic data. With a mass of 5.69+/-0.44 MEarth, radius of 1.574+/-0.054 REarth, and mean density of 8.00(+1.0)(-0.98) g/cm^3, HD3167b joins the small group of ultra-short period planets known to have a rocky terrestrial composition. HD3167c has a mass of 8.33 (+1.79)(-1.85) MEarth and a radius of 2.740(+0.106)(-0.100) REarth, yielding a mean density of 2.21(+0.56)(-0.53) g/cm^3, indicative of a planet with a composition comprising a solid core surrounded by a thick atmospheric envelope. The rather large pressure scale height (about 350 km) and the brightness of the host star make HD3167c an ideal target for atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy across a broad range of wavelengths. We found evidence of additional signals in the radial velocity measurements but the currently available data set does not allow us to draw any firm conclusion on the origin of the observed variation.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 5 table