Phosphate-Based Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials: Design, Construction and Technological Applications

The art of designing and synthesizing organic molecules has reached very high levels of sophistication, based on a relatively simple set of rules that guide both the invention and synthesis of new compounds. This set of rules is construed as the rational synthetic method of organic chemistry. As material chemists confronted to the task of building new solid structures with tailored chemical properties, we do inevitably need to develop some rational approach and to establish the corresponding set of rules allowing a realistic level of predictive knowledge in the construction of solid scaffolds. These conditions are reasonably accomplished by the use of layered salts of tetravalent transition metals, namely zirconium phosphate (ZrP). The placing of organic molecules between the layers of ZrP is quite straightforward, can easily be controlled and leads to enduring, solid materials where the confinement makes the organic molecules to show new properties at the supramolecular level. The chemistry of metal phosphates/phosphonates will be detailed in relation with the following topics: (i) molecular recognition, (ii) chemically driven porosity changes, (iii) chiral memory and supramolecular chirality, (iv) luminescence signalling, (v) photo-induced electron-transfer processes, (vi) hydrogen storage, (vii) confinement of drugs and (viii) metal uptake

Estructuras geométricas jerárquicas para la modelización de escenas 3d

This work surveys on the principal hierarchical geometric structures used to represent 3D scenes. We also present the basic algorithms to work with them, an overview on some recent works and a comparative discussion. This work has been the outcomes of the graduate course "Estructuras geometricas jerarquicas" given within the Software Phd. program at Software Department of this university

Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for screening contamination by chlorophenols in environmental waters

The development of an immunoassay for screening contamination by chlorophenols is presented. Two haptens were synthesized and conjugated to immunizing proteins to raise rabbit polyclonal antibodies. The antibody-coated format (direct) gave better sensitivity than the conjugate-coated format (indirect) if 2,4,6-trichlorophenol is used as target analyte. The measurement range was 86.4 mg l 21 to 0.7 mg l 21 , with an average I 50 of 7.8 mg l 21 and a detection limit of 0.2 mg l 21 . The assay detects the presence of trichloropyridinol and other chlorophenols such as di-, tetra-and pentachlorophenols constituting thus a suitable tool for the early warning of the presence of such family contaminants. The optimized method permits the detection of the most important chlorophenols in a fast and reproducible way using no more than one antibody and a single assay. The results achieved with water samples spiked with different chlorophenols fit with a multiple linear regression model when expressing the total concentration of chlorophenols as equivalent of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (P v 0.01), demonstrating the usefulness of the assay as a screening tool to detect contamination by chlorophenols

Breaking chirality in nonequilibrium systems on the lattice

We study the dynamics of fronts in parametrically forced oscillating lattices. Using as a prototypical example the discrete Ginzburg-Landau equation, we show that much information about front bifurcations can be extracted by projecting onto a cylindrical phase space. Starting from a normal form that describes the nonequilibrium Ising-Bloch bifurcation in the continuum and using symmetry arguments, we derive a simple dynamical system that captures the dynamics of fronts in the lattice. We can expect our approach to be extended to other pattern-forming problems on lattices

Percutaneous treatment of a duodenocutaneous high-flow fistula using a new biological plug

Enterocutaneous fistula is a challenging entity and a gold-standard treatment is not settled so far. Here, we describe the successful closure of a duodenocutaneous fistula with the use of the Biodesign enterocutaneous fistula plug (Cook Medical), which is derived from a biological plug that has been used in recent years in order to close anorectal fistula tracts

A Formal [3 1 2] Alkene Addition to Benzhydrol Cations. A Practical and Mild Methodology for the Synthesis of Substituted 1-Arylindanes and Related Compounds

ABSTRACT We report the single step synthesis of several 1-arylindanes in good yield via a formal [3 þ 2] atom cycloaddition. cycloaddition relies on the Lewis acid activation of a bibenzylic alcohol in the presence of an alkene. The cation generated from the alcohol can be trapped by the alkene to afford a new benzylic cation which can then undergoes cyclization leading to 1-arylindanes with three stereogenic centres

Potent Antioxidant and Genoprotective Effects of Boeravinone G, a Rotenoid Isolated from Boerhaavia diffusa

Background and Aims: Free radicals are implicated in the aetiology of some gastrointestinal disorders such as gastric ulcer, colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. In the present study we investigated the antioxidant and genoprotective activity of some rotenoids (i.e. boeravinones) isolated from the roots of Boerhaavia diffusa, a plant used in the Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Methods/Principal Findings: Antioxidant activity has been evaluated using both chemical (Electron Spin Resonance spectroscopy, ESR) and Caco-2 cells-based (TBARS and ROS) assays. DNA damage was evaluated by Comet assay, while pERK 1/2 and phospho-NF-kB p65 levels were estimated by western blot. Boeravinones G, D and H significantly reduced the signal intensity of ESR induced by hydroxyl radicals, suggesting a scavenging activity. Among rotenoids tested, boeravinone G exerted the most potent effect. Boeravinone G inhibited both TBARS and ROS formation induced by Fenton's reagent, increased SOD activity and reduced H 2O 2-induced DNA damage. Finally, boeravinone G reduced the levels of pERK 1 and phospho-NF-kB p65 (but not of pERK 2) increased by Fenton's reagent. Conclusions: It is concluded that boeravinone G exhibits an extraordinary potent antioxidant activity (significant effect in the nanomolar range). The MAP kinase and NF-kB pathways seem to be involved in the antioxidant effect of boeravinone G. Boeravinone G might be considered as lead compound for the development of drugs potentially useful against those pathologies whose aetiology is related to ROS-mediated injuries

Generación de escenarios regionalizados de cambio climático para España

El presente informe resume la primera fase del proyecto del Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (INM), actualmente Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMet), de generación de proyecciones regionalizadas de cambio climático para suministrar a los diferentes sectores sensibles a las condiciones climáticas. En esta fase primó la urgencia de proporcionar unas primeras estimaciones de la evolución del clima en el siglo XXI con resoluciones temporales y espaciales que pudieran ser útiles para los diferentes modelos de impacto. Esta necesidad motivó que se utilizasen tanto las bases de datos ya disponibles como los métodos suficientemente probados en otros contextos y que no se abordasen largos desarrollos que pudiesen retrasar la disponibilidad de este primer suministro de datos de proyecciones regionalizadas. Este informe tiene el carácter de documento de acompañamiento de los datos, en el que además de explicar los métodos de generación de los datos, se explican sus limitaciones en un contexto lo más amplio posible. Dentro de estas explicaciones se han incluido secciones dedicadas a describir las incertidumbres del proceso de generación de proyecciones climáticas y secciones dedicadas a discutir cuestiones metodológicas. Esta es la primera entrega de un proceso continuo de revisión periódica de las proyecciones regionales con los mejores datos procedentes de modelos globales, las mejores observaciones y las mejores técnicas de regionalización. La segunda fase del proyecto busca involucrar a la mayor parte de la comunidad científica española activa en este campo. En esta segunda fase ya no es tan prioritaria la inmediatez de los resultados como el desarrollo de nuevos métodos y la apuesta decidida por una investigación de calidad que respalde las proyecciones climáticas futuras con una mayor comprensión de las condiciones climáticas presentes y pasadas

b-tagging in DELPHI at LEP

Abstract: The standard method used for tagging b-hadrons in the DELPHI experiment at the CERN LEP Collider is discussed in detail. The main ingredient of b-tagging is the impact parameters of tracks, which relies mostly on the vertex detector. Additional information, such as the mass of particles associated to a secondary vertex, significantly improves the selection efficiency and the background suppression. The paper describes various discriminating variables used for the tagging and the procedure of their combination. In addition, applications of b-tagging to some physics analyses, which depend crucially on the performance and reliability of b-tagging, are described briefly

Un mundo de moléculas, bellas y funcionales

La Química es un mundo fascinante. Es la única Ciencia que puede crear por sí misma los objetos de su estudio: las moléculas. Su número, forma y función son infinitos. La informática hoy día permite tocar virtualmente cada una de ellas. Este es el objetivo fundamental de este curso: observar la belleza que poseen las moléculas de las que estamos hechos nosotros mismos y de las sustancias que nos rodean