Influence of ellagitannins extracted by pomegranate fruit on disulfide isomerase PDIA3 activity

Pomegranate fruit is a functional food of high interest for human health due to its wide range of phytochemicals with antioxidant properties are implicated in the prevention of inflammation and cancer. Ellagitannins, such as punicalagin and ellagic acid, play a role as anti-atherogenic and neuroprotective molecules in the complex fighting against the degenerative diseases. The aim of this work was to evaluate the composition in punicalagins and ellagic acid of differently obtained extracts from whole fruit, peels and juices, prepared by squeezing or by centrifugation, of pomegranate belonging to different cultivars. Moreover, a wider phenolic fingerprint was also determined. The bioactivity of the extracts was tested on the redox activity of PDIA3 disulfide isomerase, an enzyme involved in the regulation of several cellular functions and associated with different diseases such as cancer, prion disorders, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The results demonstrate that the different ratios between punicalagin and ellagic acid modulate the enzyme activity and other ellagitannins could interfere with this activity

Saffron samples of different origin. An NMR study of microwave-sssisted extracts

An NMR analytical protocol is proposed to characterize saffron samples of different geographical origin (Greece, Spain, Hungary, Turkey and Italy). A microwave-assisted extraction procedure was developed to obtain a comparable recovery of metabolites with respect to the ISO specifications, reducing the solvent volume and the extraction time needed. Metabolite profiles of geographically different saffron extracts were compared showing significant differences in the content of some metabolites

Commercial hemp seed oils: a multimethodological characterization

Nine commercial hemp seed oils from different countries were studied using a multimethodological approach to obtain information about their quality and chemical composition. Due to the lack of a specific regulation for hemp seed oils, quality parameters used in the case of olive oils (free acidity, peroxides number, spectrophotometer parameters) and anisidine number were measured and compared with those reported for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Free acidity and peroxides number showed a great variability, ranging from 0.4 to 17.24% and from 4.32 to 22.14 meqO2/kg, respectively, whereas the anisidine number ranged from 0.11 to 3.58. K232 value turned out to be generally below the limit reported for EVOO, whereas K270 and ΔK values were higher, with respect to EVOO limits, due to the high amount of tri-unsaturated fatty chains. Colorimetric analysis showed a peculiar curve trend that could represent the fingerprint of this product. Untargeted nuclear magnetic resonance methodology allowed to measure the amount of fatty chains, ω-6:ω-3 ratio, β-sitosterol, and aldehydes. The ω-6:ω-3 ratio turned out to be, in some cases, different from that reported on the bottle labels. Finally, lipoperoxidation assays were also carried out under different storage (light and temperature) and time exposure conditions, confirming that the exposure to direct light is the condition that interferes more with the product quality

Emergency response for evaluating SARS-CoV-2 immune status, seroprevalence and convalescent plasma in Argentina

We report the emergency development and application of a robust serologic test to evaluate acute and convalescent antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in Argentina. The assays, COVIDAR IgG and IgM, which were produced and provided for free to health authorities, private and public health institutions and nursing homes, use a combination of a trimer stabilized spike protein and the receptor binding domain (RBD) in a single enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) plate. Over half million tests have already been distributed to detect and quantify antibodies for multiple purposes, including assessment of immune responses in hospitalized patients and large seroprevalence studies in neighborhoods, slums and health care workers, which resulted in a powerful tool for asymptomatic detection and policy making in the country. Analysis of antibody levels and longitudinal studies of symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections in over one thousand patient samples provided insightful information about IgM and IgG seroconversion time and kinetics, and IgM waning profiles. At least 35% of patients showed seroconversion within 7 days, and 95% within 45 days of symptoms onset, with simultaneous or close sequential IgM and IgG detection. Longitudinal studies of asymptomatic cases showed a wide range of antibody responses with median levels below those observed in symptomatic patients. Regarding convalescent plasma applications, a protocol was standardized for the assessment of end point IgG antibody titers with COVIDAR with more than 500 plasma donors. The protocol showed a positive correlation with neutralizing antibody titers, and was used for clinical trials and therapies across the country. Using this protocol, about 80% of convalescent donor plasmas were potentially suitable for therapies. Here, we demonstrate the importance of providing a robust and specific serologic assay for generating new information about antibody kinetics in infected individuals and mitigation policies to cope with pandemic needs.Fil: Ojeda, Diego Sebastian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: González López Ledesma, María Mora. Fundación Instituto Leloir; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pallarés, Horacio Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Costa Navarro, Guadalupe Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez, Lautaro Nicolas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Perazzi, Beatriz Elizabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Villordo, Sergio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Alvarez, Diego Ezequiel. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Echavarría, Marcela Silvia. Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Oguntuyo, Kasopefoluwa Y.. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Estados UnidosFil: Stevens, Christian S.. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Estados UnidosFil: Lee, Benhur. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Estados UnidosFil: Carradori, Jorge. Laboratorio Lemos S.R.L; ArgentinaFil: Caramelo, Julio Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Yanovsky, Marcelo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Gamarnik, Andrea Vanesa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Long-term efficacy of boosted and unboosted atazanavir-containing regimens: results from the SCOLTA project

In this study we evaluated the efficacy of boosted and unboosted ATV in different regimens in a cohort of HIV-1 infected patients

El prólogo como acto performativo: una lectura con enfoque de género de la obra de autoras del Caribe hispánico entre los siglos XIX y XX

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en LiteraturaLa cubana Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda (1814 – 1873), las puertorriqueñas Ana Roqué de Duprey (1853 – 1933) y Carmela Eulate Sanjurjo (1871-1961) y la venezolana Teresa de la Parra (1989-1936), son autoras de novelas que han sido objeto de interesantes relecturas e interpretaciones por parte de la crítica feminista desde los años 70 y 80 del siglo XX. La hipótesis central es que se puede estudiar el espacio prefacial como un acto performativo de género y que esta condición permite fortalecer un análisis de los prólogos como lugar de legitimación de las escritoras en su campo literario. Mi investigación se mueve entre la búsqueda de elementos performativos y la observación de tales elementos por sí solos y en relación con la novela. El trabajo se basa en las ideas propuestas por Gérard Genette sobre la liminalidad de los prólogos y por Bourdieu sobre el concepto de campo cultural. A través de las observaciones de ambos estudiosos, intenté resaltar las características principales de los prólogos como tales y trazar líneas generales y comunes de la situación sociopolítica de los países de origen de las autoras (Cuba, Venezuela y Puerto Rico) entre finales del siglo XIX e inicio del siglo XX, enfocándome en la condición de las mujeres a lo largo de ese periodo. Finalmente, presenté algunas categorías performativas utilizadas en el análisis de los prólogos, y que son producto de una reelaboración que José González hizo de la teoría de Erika Fischer-Lichte sobre la representación teatral y de Judith Butler sobre la performatividad del género. El resultado es la elaboración de una herramienta de análisis que evidencie las consecuencias de este diálogo entre prólogo, novela y realidad: legitimar a las autoras en el campo literario correspondiente y resignificar el contenido de las novelas, moviéndose entre un mecanismo de “treta del débil” y una (re)lectura de las obras bajo un enfoque de género.Proyecto FONDECYT N°1140745 2014-201

La literatura como espacio de reflexión y resistencia: la maternidad (de)construida en “Aguas abajo” de Marta Brunet

Following the revisionism in a feminist key both of a part of the history of Chile and the literary production by Marta Brunet, it proposes an analysis of the maternal figure, presented in the tale “Aguas abajo”. This analysis is based on the concepts of Sex-Gender System, immortality of the Virgin Mary, kinship system and objectification of women. This has a double purpose: to display motherhood as a socially constructed status and to present the text of Brunet as a space of observation, reflection, and resistance. At the same time, we give relevance to some elements of the biography of the author and to some events of the history of Chile between the 19th and 20th centuries, in order to contextualize the analyzed tale within the framework of the development of the national State and the creation of the figure of the “madres de la patria” (mothers of the homeland), as well as to insert this analysis on the long road (perhaps yet to meet) of the Latin American female authors toward the right to belong to the cultural field.Siguiendo el revisionismo en clave feminista tanto de una parte de la historia de Chile, como de la producción literaria de Marta Brunet, se propone un análisis de la figura materna, presentada en el cuento “Aguas abajo”. Este análisis se basará en los conceptos de Sistema Sexo-Género, inmortalidad de la Virgen María, sistema de parentesco y objetivización de las mujeres. Esto con una doble intención: mostrar la maternidad como una condición socialmente construida y presentar el texto de Brunet como un espacio de observación, reflexión y resistencia. Paralelamente, se da espacio a elementos de la biografía de la autora y a acontecimientos en la historia de Chile entre los siglos XIX y XX, para contextualizar el cuento analizado en el marco del desarrollo del Estado nacional y la creación de la figura de las “madres de la patria”, e insertarlo en el largo camino (quizás todavía a cumplir) de las autoras latinoamericanas hacia el derecho a pertenecer al campo cultural

I cittadini e il sistema sanitario: c'è bisogno di fiducia?

Obiettivi. La fiducia negli altri ha una grande rilevanza nella vita economica, politica e sociale di un paese: infatti, laddove la fiducia reciproca è elevata, la società funziona meglio, è più produttiva, più cooperativa, più coesa, meno diffusi sono i comportamenti opportunistici e più ridotto è il livello della corruzione. Alla luce dei dati più recenti, ci proponiamo di indagare la fiducia come componente fondamentale della cura, che si costruisce nel tempo attraverso i contatti ripetuti tra il cittadino e i servizi sanitari. Metodi. Sono stati analizzati i principali studi nazionali-internazionali che dal 2003 ad oggi hanno posto al centro il tema della fiducia dei cittadini nelle istituzioni sociali, sanitarie e in maniera più dettagliata si sono interrogati sulla fiducia dopo un’esperienza di cura. Risultati. La proporzione di italiani che ha fiducia nei confronti delle istituzioni sociali (54%) risulta essere una delle più basse tra i paesi dell’area OECD, mostrando una forbice di disuguaglianza tra centro Nord e Sud dell’Italia (41,3% vs 26,3%). Risulta, invece, largamente apprezzata la professionalità e la competenza di medici e infermieri per il 64,2% degli intervistati. Aumenta inoltre la percentuale degli italiani soddisfatti del Servizio Sanitario Nazionale se si chiede di esprimersi sulla base dell’esperienza diretta e non secondo una generica opinione. Conclusioni. La fiducia è un valore che richiede alle istituzioni di vigilare sull’equilibrio fragile tra delega e valutazione, in particolare valorizzando le buone pratiche e la comunicazione trasparente dei dati, indagando l’esperienza dei pazienti e creando una partnership tra tutti gli attori coinvolti. Ulteriori approfondimenti sono necessari per comprendere quali siano i più efficaci metodi di costruzione di partnership all’interno delle organizzazioni sanitarie

Validation of the OPportunity for Treatment In ONcology (OPTION) questionnaire measuring continuity of care

Increasing efforts are ongoing to deliver effective cancer care through integrated networks of services. Measuring patients' experience of care is essential to identify problematic areas that require organisational adjustments. The aim of the present study was to examine the validity of OPTION questionnaire, designed to measure patient's perceived continuity of care across different phases of their care pathway. The study was carried at the Institute for Cancer Treatment and Research, Meldola and the oncology departments of the Local Health Authority of Romagna, Italy. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify factors underlying patients' perception of continuity of care. Factor scores were compared between patients with or without a care coordinator using Mann-Whitney test. The study sample consisted of 214 patients with breast or colorectal cancer, with a mean age of 62.3 years. Most patients identified the oncologist as their care coordinator. Five factors were extracted using PCA: (1) "trustful relationship with health care staff," (2) "information on care pathway," (3) "information on changes related to the illness," (4) "feelings of abandonment" and (5) "collaboration among health care professionals." The scores of factors 2 and 3 were significantly higher among those with a care coordinator. The OPTION questionnaire is a reliable instrument that can help clinicians and administrative stakeholder target efforts and resources in the pursuit of quality of care