Fiskaltza instrukzio lanetan, oraindik argitu gabeko eztabaida

[EUS] Lan honetan azaltzen da nola dagoen araututa Ministeritza Fiskalaren erakundea gaur egun Espainiako Estatuan. Era berean, erakunde honen inguruan sortu diren eztabaida desberdinak landuko dira, hala nola, MF izatea zigor instrukzioaren zuzendaria, adingabeen jurisdikzioan gertatzen den moduan. Horrez gain, orain arte proposatu diren baina arrakasta izan ez duten aurreproiektu eta erreformak aztertuko dira. Azkenik, MFk zigor instrukzioa eramatearen abantailak eta desabantailak zeintzuk diren argudiatuko dira, kontuan izanda zein den doktrinaren iritzia ere

Scorpion sting: a public health problem in El Kelaa des Sraghna (Morocco)

The present study aimed at verifying the impact of a Moroccan strategy against scorpion stings and specifically at identifying the epidemiological features of patients envenomed or just stung by scorpions. It included 11,907 patients from El Kelaa des Sraghna Province, Morocco, who were evaluated over five years (2001-2005). Most stings occurred during the hot period and mainly at night. The average incidence was 3.2 per 1,000 inhabitants; patients <15 years accounted for 34%, and the envenomation rate was 12%. Average lethality rate was 0.7%. Our work evaluated the efficacy of the adopted strategy based on indicators of follow-up, morbidity and lethality due to scorpion sting and envenomation

Four-week short chain fructo-oligosaccharides ingestion leads to increasing fecal bifidobacteria and cholesterol excretion in healthy elderly volunteers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) are increasingly used in human diet for their prebiotic properties. We aimed at investigating the effects of scFOS ingestion on the colonic microflora and oro-fecal transit time in elderly healthy humans.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Stools composition, oro-fecal transit time, and clinical tolerance were evaluated in 12 healthy volunteers, aged 69 ± 2 yrs, in three consecutive periods: basal period (2 weeks), scFOS (Actilight^®) ingestion period (8 g/d for 4 weeks) and follow-up period (4 weeks). Two-way ANOVA, with time and treatment as factors, was used to compare the main outcome measures between the three periods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fecal bifidobacteria counts were significantly increased during the scFOS period (9.17 ± 0.17 log cfu/g vs 8.52 ± 0.26 log cfu/g during the basal period) and returned to their initial values at the end of follow-up (8.37 ± 0.21 log cfu/g; P < 0.05). Fecal cholesterol concentration increased during the scFOS period (8.18 ± 2.37 mg/g dry matter vs 2.81 ± 0.94 mg/g dry matter during the basal period) and returned to the baseline value at the end of follow-up (2.87 ± 0.44 mg/g dry matter; P < 0.05). Fecal pH tended to decrease during scFOS ingestion and follow-up periods compared to the basal period (P = 0.06). Fecal bile acids, stool weight, water percentage, and oro-fecal transit time did not change throughout the study. Excess flatus and bloating were significantly more frequent during scFOS ingestion when compared to the basal period (P < 0.05), but the intensity of these symptoms was very mild.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Four-week 8 g/d scFOS ingestion is well tolerated and leads to a significant increase in fecal bifidobacteria in healthy elderly subjects. Whether the change in cholesterol metabolism found in our study could exert a beneficial action warrants further studies.</p

Bioengineering approaches to simulate human colon microbiome ecosystem

Background Several diseases associated to colon microbial imbalance (dysbiosis), such as obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer, are being reverted by modulation of gut microbiota composition through treatment with prebiotics and probiotics. Multiple in vitro models have been developed over the past three decades, with several experimental configurations, as they provide a quick, easy, and cost-effective approach to study the gut microbiome, as compared to troublesome and time-consuming in vivo studies. Scope and approach This review aims to provide an overview of the most relevant available in vitro models used to mimic the human colon microbiome dynamics, including macro-scale and microfluidic-based models. Main characteristics, functionalities, current applications and advantages or disadvantages of the models are discussed in order to provide useful information for end users (namely food and pharmaceutical researchers), when selecting the most appropriated model for assessing health claims and safety of novel functional food and drugs. Finally, the use of these colon models as a tool to study prebiotic and probiotic response in host-microbiota interaction is reviewed. Key findings and conclusions A wide range of in vitro models representing specific colon parts have been developed. However, none of these models can simultaneously cover all the key conditions found in the human colon (namely anatomical, physical, biochemical, and biological characteristics), as well as the complex microbiome-host interaction. Thus, there is a significant opportunity for further improvement of the models experimental setups towards more realistic operating systems, including mucosal surfaces, intestinal cells and tissues allowing microbiomehost crosstalk representation.SFRH/BD/139884/2018 from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). This study was supported by the FCT under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/04469/2020 unit and the Project ColOsH PTDC/BTM–SAL/30071/2017 (POCI–01–0145–FEDER–030071)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Resistant Starch: Promise for Improving Human Health

Ongoing research to develop digestion-resistant starch for human health promotion integrates the disciplines of starch chemistry, agronomy, analytical chemistry, food science, nutrition, pathology, and microbiology. The objectives of this research include identifying components of starch structure that confer digestion resistance, developing novel plants and starches, and modifying foods to incorporate these starches. Furthermore, recent and ongoing studies address the impact of digestion-resistant starches on the prevention and control of chronic human diseases, including diabetes, colon cancer, and obesity. This review provides a transdisciplinary overview of this field, including a description of types of resistant starches; factors in plants that affect digestion resistance; methods for starch analysis; challenges in developing food products with resistant starches; mammalian intestinal and gut bacterial metabolism; potential effects on gut microbiota; and impacts and mechanisms for the prevention and control of colon cancer, diabetes, and obesity. Although this has been an active area of research and considerable progress has been made, many questions regarding how to best use digestion-resistant starches in human diets for disease prevention must be answered before the full potential of resistant starches can be realized

Phenol adsorption in aqueous medium on nanoporous adsorbent carbon : experiments and numerical simulation

L'adsorption sur carbones nanoporeux désordonnés (carbones adsorbants) est l'une des techniques les plus performantes pour la dépollution des eaux. La complexité du processus d’adsorption en milieu aqueux est due aux nombreux paramètres qui gouvernent les interactions adsorbant-adsorbat et adsorbat-adsorbat. Une étude combinant l’approche expérimentale et numérique est proposée pour mettre en évidence le rôle de paramètres comme la structure du carbone, la mobilité électronique de surface, la morphologie et la topologie du réseau poreux, la présence des groupements de surface ainsi que la sélectivité en milieu aqueux. L’étude cible l’adsorption du phénol en solution aqueuse sur un tissu activé nanoporeux. Les propriétés adsorbantes du tissu vis-à-vis du phénol ont d’abord été étudiées expérimentalement en traçant les isothermes d’adsorption (spectroscopie UV) et en caractérisant la composition chimique (analyse CHONS et thermodésorption programmée), la structure atomique (diffraction des RX) et la texture microporeuse (adsorption N2 et CO2 et SAXS). Une étude comparative a été menée sur l’adsorption de la caféine, afin de mettre en évidence le rôle de la taille et des fonctions chimiques de l’adsorbat. L’approche numérique a d’abord consisté à générer différentes structures atomiques de l’adsorbant carboné à partir de la méthode HRMC en s’appuyant sur les données expérimentales (analyse élémentaire, facteur de structure/fonction de corrélation de paires et texture poreuse). Deux champs de force ont été comparés : EDIP et Erhard-Albe. Les structures obtenues ont été caractérisées numériquement (surface spécifique, distribution en taille des pores, distribution du nombre d’atomes par cycle, facteur de structure, fonction de distribution radiale) et comparées avec les grandeurs expérimentales. La structure atomique a ensuite servi de réseau hôte pour simuler l’adsorption de la molécule de phénol par la méthode Grand Canonique Monte Carlo (GCMC). Afin de réduire les temps de calcul, un code parallèle a été développé et implémenté sous MPI C++. L’originalité de la méthode réside également dans l’étude de l’impact de la mobilité électronique du support carboné en s’appuyant sur la méthode CSM (Charge Simulation Method). Les résultats des simulations numériques sont discutés et comparés aux données expérimentales.Adsorption on disordered nanoporous carbons (activated carbons) is known as the most interesting techniques in dealing with water treatment. The complexity of the adsorption process in an aqueous medium is due to the many parameters which govern the adsorbent-adsorbate and adsorbate-adsorbate interactions. A study combining the experiments and molecular simulations is proposed to study the role of parameters like the conductivity of carbon surface, morphology, and topology of the porous network, presence of surface groups, and selectivity in an aqueous medium. The study targets the adsorption of phenol in aqueous solution on an activated carbon cloth. The adsorption properties of phenol on the activated carbon have been studied experimentally by tracing the adsorption isotherms (UV spectroscopy) and characterizing the chemical composition (CHONS analysis and programmed thermoresorption), atomic structure (X-ray diffraction) and microporous texture (N2 / CO2 adsorption and SAXS). A comparative study has been conducted on the adsorption of caffeine, to highlight the role of the size and chemical functions of the adsorbate.By using HRMC, different atomic structures of activated carbon have been constructed based on experimental data (analysis elementary, structure factor/radial distribution function, and pore volume data). Two force fields have been applied and compared, i.e. EDIP and Erhart-Albe. The constructed models have been numerically characterized (specific surface, pore size distribution, number of rings per atom histogram, structure factor, radial distribution function), and compared to the experiments.The atomic structure has been applied as an adsorbent to simulate the adsorption of phenol/water binary mixture by the Grand Canonique Monte Carlo method (GCMC). To reduce calculation times, parallel codes have been developed and implemented using MPI C++. The originality of the method also lies in taking into account the carbon surface conductivity using the CSM method (Charge Simulation Method). The results of numerical simulations are discussed and compared to experimental data

Using Ensemble-Based Systems with Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Data to Estimate Seasonal Snowpack Density

Estimating the seasonal density of the snowpack has many financial and environmental benefits. Rapid assessment and daily monitoring of its evolution are therefore key to effective prevention. Traditionally, the physical characteristics of snow are measured directly in the field, which involves high costs and personnel mobilization. Hyperspectral imaging is a reliable and efficient technique to study and evaluate this physical property. The spectral reflectance of snow is partly defined by changes in its physical properties, particularly in the Near infrared (NIR) part of the spectrum. Recently, a hybrid snow density estimation model allowing retrieval of density from NIR hyperspectral data was developed, based on an a priori classification of snow samples. However, in order to obtain optimal density estimates with the Hybrid model (HM), the sources of classification and estimation error must be controlled. Following the same principle as the HM, an Ensemble-based system (EBS) was developed. This model reduces the number of misclassification errors produced by the HM. The general concept of EBS algorithms is based on the principle that obtaining more opinions before making a decision is part of human nature, especially when economic and environmental benefits are at stake. This approach has helped to reduce the risk of classification and estimation errors and to develop more robust density results. One hundred and fourteen snow samples collected during three winters (2018&ndash;2020) were used to calibrate and validate the EBS. The performance of the EBS was validated using an independent database and the results were satisfactory (R2 = 0.90, RMSE = 44.45 kg m&minus;3, BIAS = 3.87 kg m&minus;3 and NASH = 0.89)

Risk factors for scorpion stings in the beni mellal province of morocco

Scorpion stings comprise a serious problem throughout the globe, especially in regions where they are more frequent. In Morocco, Beni Mellal is one of the provinces most affected by this burden. This study aimed to trace the epidemiological profile of scorpion stings in Beni Mellal in order to improve patient care and prevent both morbidity and mortality. Our work is a retrospective study of scorpion stings based on medical charts of Beni Mellal. From 2002 to 2007, 8,340 cases were registered in this province with an average incidence of 1.36‰. The stings were more frequent in summer months, particularly July and August, and between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. (59.8%). The average age of victims was 26.54 ± 18.42 years. Children were affected in 30.3% of the cases. Of all registered cases, 67.3% of the patients received medical aid in less than an hour after the sting. The envenomation rate (Class II and Class III) was 12.4% and the overall case-fatality rate was 0.42% with a mortality rate of 0.005‰. Statistical analysis of the various studied factors revealed a significant connection among the envenomation class, patient age and evolution