Corrosion study of pipeline carbon steel in sourbrine under turbulent flow conditions at 60°C

This work presents the electrochemical results obtained during the corrosion study of X52 pipeline steel sample, immersed in “sour” solution under turbulent flow conditions at 60°C. In order to obtain information on the corrosion kinetics, weight loss method, linear polarization resistance, impedance and polarization curves were used at different immersion times. In order to control the turbulent flow conditions, a rotating cylinder electrode was used at two different rotation rates, 0 and 1000 rpm. A surface analysis was carried out in order to identify the corrosion morphology and the corrosion product formed on the steel sample. In general, it was found that flow has a considerable influence upon the electrochemical process occurring on the surface of the steel. It was observed as the flow rate increased the corrosion rate also increased. In surface analysis three phases were found, mackinawite (Fe,Ni)  1+xS ,pyrrhothite (Fe(1-x)S) and marcasite (FeS2). In addition, a “localized attack” was found

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of cancer patients in Spain

Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Càncer; EspanyaCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Cáncer; EspañaCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Cancer; SpainBackground Studies evaluating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on public healthcare systems are limited, particularly in cancer management. As no such studies have been carried out in Spain, our objective is to describe and quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer patients in Spanish hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic. Materials and methods This retrospective, multicenter, nationwide study collected information from hospital departments treating oncology patients. An electronic questionnaire comparing outcomes and management of oncohematological patients for the March-June 2019 and March-June 2020 periods was used. Results Information from 78 departments (36 tertiary hospitals) was analyzed. Forty-four departments implemented adapted protocols during March 2020. Most of these (n = 38/44; 86.4%) carried out COVID-19 triage, while 26 of 44 (59.1%) carried out onsite polymerase chain reaction tests for clinically suspected cases. A shift from in-person to telephone visits was observed in 43 of 44 (97.7%) departments. Comparing the March-June 2019 and March-June 2020 periods, the number of new patients decreased by 20.8% (from 160.2 to 126.4). Decreases were also seen in the mean number of total (2858.2 versus 1686.1) and cancer (465.5 versus 367.2) biopsies, as well as the mean number of bone marrow biopsies (30.5 versus 18.6). Concerning the number of patients visiting specific cancer care departments, a decrease from 2019 to 2020 was seen for mean number of chemotherapy treatments (712.7 versus 643.8) and radiation therapy (2169.9 versus 2139.9). Finally, a reduction from 2019 to 2020 of 12.9% (from 8.6 to 7.4) in the mean number of patients included in clinical trials was noted. Conclusions This study provides the first comprehensive data concerning the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care in Spain. The pandemic caused a 20.8% decrease in newly diagnosed patients, which may impact future outcomes. Measures must be taken to ensure cancer management receives priority in times of healthcare emergencies.This work was supported by funding from the AECC, a non-profit organization, whose medical department funded the study and the medical writing (no grant number)

Pyronaridine exerts potent cytotoxicity on human breast and hematological cancer cells through induction of apoptosis

The potent antimalarial drug pyronaridine (PND) was tested for its potential as an anticancer drug. After exposing cancerous (17) and non-cancerous (2) cells to PND for 72 hr, PND was found to exhibit consistent and potent cytotoxic activity at low micromolar (μM) concentrations that ranged from 1.6 μM to 9.4 μM. Moreover, PND exerted a significant selective cytotoxicity index (SCI) on five out of seven breast cancer cell lines tested, with favorable values of 2.5 to 4.4, as compared with the non-cancerous breast MCF-10A cell line. By using the same comparison, PND exhibited a significant SCI on three out of four leukemia/lymphoma cell lines with promising values of 3.3 to 3.5. One breast cancer and one leukemia cell line were tested further in order to determine the likely mode of action of PND. PND was found to consistently elicit phosphatidylserine externalization, mitochondrial depolarization, and DNA fragmentation, in both the triple negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer and HL-60 leukemia cell lines. In addition, PND treatment altered cell cycle progression in both cancer cells. Subsequent DNA mobility-shift assays, UV-Visible spectroscopic titrations, and circular dichroism (CD) experiments revealed that PND intercalates with DNA. The findings presented in this study indicates that PND induces apoptosis and interfered with cell cycle progression of cancer cell lines and these results indicate that this drug has the potential as a repurposed drug for cancer therapy

A simulation analysis of an influenza vaccine production plant in areas of high humanitarian flow. A preliminary study for the region of norte de santander (colombia)

The production of vaccines of biological origin presents a tremendous challenge for re-searchers. In this context, animal cell cultures are an excellent alternative for the isolation and production of biologicals against several viruses, since they have an affinity with viruses and a great capacity for their replicability. Different variables have been studied to know the system’s ideal parameters, allowing it to obtain profitable and competitive products. Consequently, this work fo-cuses its efforts on evaluating an alternative for producing an anti‐influenza biological from MDCK cells using SuperPro Designer v8.0 software. The process uses the DMEN culture medium supple-mented with nutrients as raw material for cell development; the MDCK cells were obtained from a potential scale‐up with a final working volume of 500 L, four days of residence time, inoculum volume of 10%, and continuous working mode with up to a total of 7400 h/Yr of work. The scheme has the necessary equipment for the vaccine’s production, infection, and manufacture with yields of up to 416,698 units/h. In addition, it was estimated to be economically viable to produce recom-binant vaccines with competitive prices of up to 0.31 USD/unit

Effects of coffee with different roasting degrees on obesity and related metabolic disorders

This study aimed to assess the effect of unroasted, dark and very dark roasted coffee on obesity and metabolic disorders in obese rats. All coffee samples significantly reduced weight gain (∼17%) compared to obese control. Coffee reduced glucose levels (∼17%) upon a glucose tolerance test in all cases compared to the control, while fasting glucose only decreased (∼26%) with very dark coffee. Insulin levels and insulin resistance significantly decreased (∼77% and 65% respectively) with all coffee samples compared to the control. Unroasted and dark roasted coffee decreased triglycerides (∼21% and ∼ 11%, respectively), and unroasted coffee also reduced free fatty acids (∼43%) and adipocyte size. Coffee decreased liver steatosis (∼55%) and Caspase-3 levels (∼27%), regardless of the roasting degree. Overall, coffee plays a positive role in restraining obesity and related metabolic disorders but, depending on the metabolic pathway and relevant marker, an effect of roasting could be either found or not

Replication stress caused by low MCM expression limits fetal erythropoiesis and hematopoietic stem cell functionality

Replicative stress during embryonic development influences ageing and predisposition to disease in adults. A protective mechanism against replicative stress is provided by the licensing of thousands of origins in G1 that are not necessarily activated in the subsequent S-phase. These `dormant' origins provide a backup in the presence of stalled forks and may confer flexibility to the replication program in specific cell types during differentiation, a role that has remained unexplored. Here we show, using a mouse strain with hypomorphic expression of the origin licensing factor mini-chromosome maintenance (MCM)3 that limiting origin licensing in vivo affects the functionality of hematopoietic stem cells and the differentiation of rapidly-dividing erythrocyte precursors. Mcm3-deficient erythroblasts display aberrant DNA replication patterns and fail to complete maturation, causing lethal anemia. Our results indicate that hematopoietic progenitors are particularly sensitive to replication stress, and full origin licensing ensures their correct differentiation and functionality.We thank members of our laboratories for helpful discussions, Marcos Malumbres (CNIO) for advice on the design of the Mcm3-Lox allele, Isabel Blanco for her administrative help with mouse work and Soraya Ruiz for excellent handling of the mouse colony in J.M.'s group. Research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grants BFU2013-49153-P and Consolider-Ingenio CSD2007-00015 to J.M., SAF2011-23753 to O.F.-C., BFU2012-35892 to J.I.) and RO1 HL092471 to E.P., S.A. was the recipient of an EMBO short-term fellowship to visit E.P.'s laboratory at UCSF. We are grateful to Manuel Serrano (CNIO), Almudena Ramiro (CNIC) and Arkaitz Ibarra (The Salk Institute, USA) for useful comments on the manuscript.S

The effect of LEDs on biomass and phycobiliproteins production in thermotolerant oscillatoria sp

Featured Application: The selection of LEDs wavelength, intensity, and light: Dark cycle positively enhances the biomass production and phycocyanin synthesis in Oscillatoria sp. This study evaluates the role of different LED lights (white, blue/red), intensity (µmol m−2 s−1), and photoperiod in the production of biomass and phycocyanin-C, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin (C-PC, APC, and PE respectively) from a novel thermotolerant strain of Oscillatoria sp. Results show that a mixture of white with blue/red LEDs can effectively double the biomass concentration up to 1.3 g/L, while the concentration of the selected phycobiliproteins increased proportionally to biomass. Results also indicate that high light intensities (>120 µmol m−2 s−1) can diminish the final concentration of C-PC, APC, and PE, significantly reducing the overall biomass produced. Finally, the photoperiod analysis showed that longer light exposure times (18:6 h) improved both biomass and phycobiliproteins concentration. These results demonstrate that the application of LEDs to produce a novel strain of Oscillatoria sp can double the biomass concentration, and the photoperiod regulation can eventually enhance the final concentration of specific phycobiliproteins such as APC and PE

Oncology-led early identification of nutritional risk: a pragmatic, evidence-based protocol (PRONTO)

Simple Summary Early identification of patients on antineoplastic therapy who are at risk for or already malnourished is critical for optimizing treatment success. Malnourished patients are at increased risk for being unable to tolerate the most effective 'level' and 'duration' of treatment, with grave implications for both the short- (during treatment) and long-term outcomes. Herein, we provide a practical PROtocol for NuTritional risk in Oncology (PRONTO) to enable oncologists to identify patients with or at risk of malnutrition for further evaluation and follow-up with members of the multidisciplinary care team (MDT). Additional guidance is included on the oncologist-led provision of nutritional support if referral to a dietary service is not available. Nutritional issues, including malnutrition, low muscle mass, sarcopenia (i.e., low muscle mass and strength), and cachexia (i.e., weight loss characterized by a continuous decline in skeletal muscle mass, with or without fat loss), are commonly experienced by patients with cancer at all stages of disease. Cancer cachexia may be associated with poor nutritional status and can compromise a patient's ability to tolerate antineoplastic therapy, increase the likelihood of post-surgical complications, and impact long-term outcomes including survival, quality of life, and function. One of the primary nutritional problems these patients experience is malnutrition, of which muscle depletion represents a clinically relevant feature. There have been recent calls for nutritional screening, assessment, treatment, and monitoring as a consistent component of care for all patients diagnosed with cancer. To achieve this, there is a need for a standardized approach to enable oncologists to identify patients commencing and undergoing antineoplastic therapy who are or who may be at risk of malnutrition and/or muscle depletion. This approach should not replace existing tools used in the dietitian's role, but rather give the oncologist a simple nutritional protocol for optimization of the patient care pathway where this is needed. Given the considerable time constraints in day-to-day oncology practice, any such approach must be simple and quick to implement so that oncologists can flag individual patients for further evaluation and follow-up with appropriate members of the multidisciplinary care team. To enable the rapid and routine identification of patients with or at risk of malnutrition and/or muscle depletion, an expert panel of nutrition specialists and practicing oncologists developed the PROtocol for NuTritional risk in Oncology (PRONTO). The protocol enables the rapid identification of patients with or at risk of malnutrition and/or muscle depletion and provides guidance on next steps. The protocol is adaptable to multiple settings and countries, which makes implementation feasible by oncologists and may optimize patient outcomes. We advise the use of this protocol in countries/clinical scenarios where a specialized approach to nutrition assessment and care is not available