The Entropy of Laughter: Discriminative Power of Laughter’s Entropy in the Diagnosis of Depression

Laughter is increasingly present in biomedical literature, both in analytical neurological aspects and in applied therapeutic fields. The present paper, bridging between the analytical and the applied, explores the potential of a relevant variable of laughter’s acoustic signature—entropy—in the detection of a widespread mental disorder, depression, as well as in gauging the severity of its diagnostic. In laughter, the Shannon–Wiener entropy of the distribution of sound frequencies, which is one of the key features distinguishing its acoustic signal from the utterances of spoken language, has not been a specific focus of research yet, although the studies of human language and of animal communication have pointed out that entropy is a very important factor regarding the vocal/acoustic expression of emotions. As the experimental survey of laughter in depression herein undertaken shows, it was possible to discriminate between patients and controls with an 82.1% accuracy just by using laughter’s entropy and by applying the decision tree procedure. These experimental results, discussed in the light of the current research on laughter, point to the relevance of entropy in the spontaneous bona fide extroversion of mental states toward other individuals, as the signal of laughter seems to imply. This is in line with recent theoretical approaches that rely on the optimization of a neuro-informational free energy (and associated entropy) as the main “stuff” of brain processing

Separation and identification of peptides in hydrolysed protein extracts from edible macroalgae by HPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS

Macroalgae contain significant amounts of high-quality proteins which, because of their structural diversity, contain a range of yet undiscovered peptides within their primary structures. In this work, an analytical methodology was developed for the separation and identification of peptides present in protein hydrolysates from three different edible macroalgae used for human consumption (Saccharina latissima (brown macroalga), Codium spp. (green macroalga), and Mastocarpus stellatus (red macroalga)). The extraction of aqueous and alkaline soluble proteins was carried out followed by their precipitation with HCl or acetone. The protein extracts obtained were submitted to enzymatic digestion with alcalase and subsequently analyzed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of flight mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC-QTOF/MS) and de novo sequencing tool to separate and identify different short chain peptides. Thirty-seven peptides were identified in the hydrolysed protein extracts from the three macroalgae, five of them being common in brown and red macroalgae. After checking against BIOPEP database, several sequenced peptides were found within longer peptides with potential antibacterial activity. Any of the identified peptides had previously been identified in macroalgae

Plausibility of a Neural Network Classifier-Based Neuroprosthesis for Depression Detection via Laughter Records

The present work explores the diagnostic performance for depression of neural network classifiers analyzing the sound structures of laughter as registered from clinical patients and healthy controls. The main methodological novelty of this work is that simple sound variables of laughter are used as inputs, instead of electrophysiological signals or local field potentials (LFPs) or spoken language utterances, which are the usual protocols up-to-date. In the present study, involving 934 laughs from 30 patients and 20 controls, four different neural networks models were tested for sensitivity analysis, and were additionally trained for depression detection. Some elementary sound variables were extracted from the records: timing, fundamental frequency mean, first three formants, average power, and the Shannon-Wiener entropy. In the results obtained, two of the neural networks show a diagnostic discrimination capability of 93.02 and 91.15% respectively, while the third and fourth ones have an 87.96 and 82.40% percentage of success. Remarkably, entropy turns out to be a fundamental variable to distinguish between patients and controls, and this is a significant factor which becomes essential to understand the deep neurocognitive relationships between laughter and depression. In biomedical terms, our neural network classifier-based neuroprosthesis opens up the possibility of applying the same methodology to other mental-health and neuropsychiatric pathologies. Indeed, exploring the application of laughter in the early detection and prognosis of Alzheimer and Parkinson would represent an enticing possibility, both from the biomedical and the computational points of view

Capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry metabolic fingerprinting of green and roasted coffee

The aim of this work was to develop a capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-ESI-QToF-MS) method to carry out the metabolic fingerprinting of green and roasted coffee samples (Arabica variety). To evaluate changes in the metabolic profiles of coffee occurring along the roasting process, green coffee beans were submitted to different roasting degrees. The effect of different parameters concerning the electrophoretic separation (background electrolyte, temperature, voltage, and injection time), the MS detection (temperature and flow of drying gas, sheath gas of jet stream temperature, and capillary, fragmentator, nozzle, skimmer, and octapole voltages) and the sheath liquid (composition and flow rate) was studied to achieve an adequate separation and to obtain the largest number of molecular features. The analyses were carried out in positive ESI mode allowing to detect highly polar cationic metabolites present in coffee beans. Non-supervised and supervised multivariate analyses were performed showing a good discrimination among the different coffee groups. Those features having a high variable importance in the projection values on supervised analyses were selected as significant metabolites for their identification. Thus, 13 compounds were proposed as potential markers of the coffee roasting process, being 7 of them tentatively identified and 2 of them unequivocally identified. Different families of compounds such as pyridines, pyrroles, betaines, or indoles could be pointed out as markers of the coffee roasting process. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Untargeted HILIC-MS-based metabolomics approach to evaluate coffee roasting process: contributing to an integrated metabolomics multiplatform

An untargeted metabolomics strategy using hydrophilic interaction chromatography-mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS) was developed in this work enabling the study of the coffee roasting process. Green coffee beans and coffee beans submitted to three different roasting degrees (light, medium, and strong) were analyzed. Chromatographic separation was carried out using water containing 10 mM ammonium formate with 0.2 % formic acid (mobile phase A) and acetonitrile containing 10mM ammonium formate with 0.2% formic acid (mobile phase B). A total of 93 molecular features were considered from which 31 were chosen as the most statistically significant using variable in the projection values. 13 metabolites were tentatively identified as potential biomarkers of the coffee roasting process using this metabolomic platform. Results obtained in this work were complementary to those achieved using orthogonal techniques such as reversed-phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (RPLC-MS) and capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) since only one metabolite was found to be common between HILIC-MS and RPLC-MS platforms (caffeoylshikimic acid isomer) and other between HILIC-MS and CE-MS platforms (choline). On the basis of these results, an untargeted metabolomics multiplatform is proposed in this work based on the integration of the three orthogonal techniques as a powerful tool to expand the coverage of the roasted coffee metabolome

A non-targeted metabolomic approach based on reversed-phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to evaluate coffee roasting process

In this work, a non-targeted metabolomics approach based on the use of reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to a high-resolution mass spectrometer has been developed to provide the characterization of coffee beans roasted at three different levels (light, medium, and dark). In this way, it was possible to investigate how metabolites change during the roasting process in order to identify those than can be considered as relevant markers. Twenty-five percent methanol was selected as extracting solvent since it provided the highest number of molecular features. In addition, the effect of chromatographic and MS parameters was evaluated in order to obtain the most adequate separation and detection conditions. Data were analyzed using both non-supervised and supervised multivariate statistical methods to point out the most significant markers that allow group discrimination. A total of 24 and 33 compounds in positive and negative ionization modes, respectively, demonstrated to be relevant markers; most of them were from the hydroxycinnamic acids family

Sustained effect of zero-valent iron nanoparticles under semi-continuous anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge: Evolution of nanoparticles and microbial community dynamics

The effects of adding zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) on the physicochemical, biological and biochemical responses of a semi-continuous anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge have been assessed. Two sets of consecutive experiments of 103 and 116 days, respectively, were carried out in triplicate. nZVI were magnetically retained in the reactors, and the effect of punctual doses (from 0.27 to 4.33 g L) over time was studied. Among the different parameters monitored, only methane content in the biogas was significantly higher when nZVI was added. However, this effect was progressively lost after the addition, and in 5–7 days, the methane content returned to initial values. The increase in the oxidation state of nanoparticles seems to be related to the loss of effect over time. Higher dose (4.33 g L) sustained positive effects for a longer time along with higher methane content, but this fact seems to be related to microbiome acclimation. Changes in microbial community structure could also play a role in the mechanisms involved in methane enhancement. In this sense, the microbial consortium analysis reported a shift in the balance among acetogenic eubacterial communities, and a marked increase in the relative abundance of members assigned to Methanothrix genus, recognized as acetoclastic species showing high affinity for acetate, which explain the rise in methane content in the biogas. This research demonstrates that biogas methane enrichment in semicontinuous anaerobic digesters can be achieved by using nZVI nanoparticles, thus increasing energy production or reducing costs of a later biogas upgrading process.Raquel Barrena is grateful to TECNIOspring fellowship programme (TECSPR15-1-0051) co-financed by the European Union through the Marie Curie Actions and ACCIÓ (Generalitat de Catalunya)

Beyond the CNS: The many peripheral roles of APOE

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a multifunctional protein synthesized and secreted by multiple mammalian tissues. Although hepatocytes contribute about 75% of the peripheral pool, APOE can also be expressed in adipose tissue, the kidney, and the adrenal glands, among other tissues. High levels of APOE production also occur in the brain, where it is primarily synthesized by glia, and peripheral and brain APOE pools are thought to be distinct. In humans, APOE is polymorphic, with three major alleles (e2, e3, and e4). These allelic forms dramatically alter APOE structure and function. Historically, the vast majority of research on APOE has centered on the important role it plays in modulating risk for cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease. However, the established effects of this pleiotropic protein extend well beyond these two critical health challenges, with a demonstrated roles for APOE across a wide spectrum of biological conditions, including adipose tissue function and obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes, fertility and longevity, and immune function. While the spectrum of biological systems in which APOE plays a role seems implausibly wide at first glance, there are some potential unifying mechanisms that could tie these seemingly disparate disorders together. In the current review, we aim to concisely summarize a wide breadth of APOE-associated pathologies and to analyze the influence of APOE in the development of several distinct disorders in order to provide insight into potential shared mechanisms implied in these various pathophysiological processes

Elaboración de cortos en video para ilustración en el manejo de diferentes aparatos y técnicas relacionados con la histología

El objeto del trabajo que se presenta, motivo de un Proyecto de Innovación Educativa financiado por la Universidad de Jaén, consiste en la creación de una colección de videos recogidos en una página web, que pueden visualizarse, bien directamente a través de Internet o formando parte de los contenidos de un DVD. Los contenidos de estos documentales versan sobre el manejo de equipamiento científico y materiales propios de la Histología y que en muchos casos no se encuentran al alcance de los alumnos, así como sobre el desarrollo de diferentes técnicas de uso habitual en este ámbito. Estos aspectos son de un gran interés para estudiantes de materias de contenido histológico impartidas en las enseñanzas de grado y postgrado de cualquier Universidad, sirviendo de eficaz herramienta de apoyo en la docencia de tales materias

Sustained effect of zero-valent iron nanoparticles under semi-continuous anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge : Evolution of nanoparticles and microbial community dynamics

Altres ajuts: Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICThe effects of adding zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) on the physicochemical, biological and biochemical responses of a semi-continuous anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge have been assessed. Two sets of consecutive experiments of 103 and 116 days, respectively, were carried out in triplicate. nZVI were magnetically retained in the reactors, and the effect of punctual doses (from 0.27 to 4.33 g L) over time was studied. Among the different parameters monitored, only methane content in the biogas was significantly higher when nZVI was added. However, this effect was progressively lost after the addition, and in 5-7 days, the methane content returned to initial values. The increase in the oxidation state of nanoparticles seems to be related to the loss of effect over time. Higher dose (4.33 g L) sustained positive effects for a longer time along with higher methane content, but this fact seems to be related to microbiome acclimation. Changes in microbial community structure could also play a role in the mechanisms involved in methane enhancement. In this sense, the microbial consortium analysis reported a shift in the balance among acetogenic eubacterial communities, and a marked increase in the relative abundance of members assigned to Methanothrix genus, recognized as acetoclastic species showing high affinity for acetate, which explain the rise in methane content in the biogas. This research demonstrates that biogas methane enrichment in semicontinuous anaerobic digesters can be achieved by using nZVI nanoparticles, thus increasing energy production or reducing costs of a later biogas upgrading process