The internationalisation of the Spanish SME sector

As part of a wider research program, we analysed the theoretical framework and the recent developments of the process of internationalisation (transnationalisation) of the small- and medium-sized enterprises in Spain. The paper highlights the main trends and barriers of this internationalisation process. Methodology included document analyses, interviews, and the analyses of statistical databases

Molecular rearrangement of an Aza-Scorpiand macrocycle induced by pH: A computational study

Rearrangements and their control are a hot topic in supramolecular chemistry due to the possibilities that these phenomena open in the design of synthetic receptors and molecular machines. Macrocycle aza-scorpiands constitute an interesting system that can reorganize their spatial structure depending on pH variations or the presence of metal cations. In this study, the relative stabilities of these conformations were predicted computationally by semi-empirical and density functional theory approximations, and the reorganization from closed to open conformations was simulated by using the Monte Carlo multiple minimum method

PeneloPET simulations of the Biograph ToF clinical PET scanner

Proceedings of: 2011 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC). Valencia, Spain, 23-29 October 2011Monte Carlo simulations are widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for optimizing detector design, acquisition protocols, as well as for developing and assessing corrections and reconstruction methods. PeneloPET is a Monte Carlo code for PET simulations which considers detector geometry, acquisition electronics and materials, and source definitions. PeneloPET is based on PENELOPE, a Monte Carlo code for the simulation of the transport in matter of electrons, positrons and photons, with energies up to 1 GeV. In this work we use PeneloPET to simulate the Biograph TruePoint (B-TP), Biograph TruePoint with TrueV (B-TPTV) and Biograph mCT PET/CT scanners. These configurations consist of three (B-TP) and four (B-TPTV and mCT) rings of 48 detector blocks. Each block comprises a 13 × 13 matrix of 4 × 4 × 20 mm3 LSO crystals. Simulations were adjusted to reproduce some experimental results from the actual scanners and validated by comparing their predictions to further experimental results. Sensitivity, spatial resolution, noise equivalent count (NEC) rate and scatter fraction (SF) were estimated. The simulations were then employed to estimate the optimum values of system parameters, such as energy and time coincidence windows and to assess the effect of system modifications (such as number of rings) on performance.This work was supported in part by Comunidad de Madrid (ARTEMIS S2009IDPI 1802), Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (ENTEPRASE Grant, PSE 300000 2009 5) and PRECISION grant IPT 300000 2010 3 and european regional funds and CPAN, Centro de Fisica de Particulas, Astroparticulas y Nuclear (CSD 2007 00042@Ingenio2010 12). This study has been (partially) funded by CDTI under the CENIT Programme (AMIT Project). Part of the calculations of this work was performed in the "Cluster de Calculo de Alta Capacidad para Tecnicas Fisicas "funded in part by UCM and in part by UE with European regional funds"Publicad

Atlas de la pteridoflora ibérica y balear

Tomando como base el Atlas Florae Europeae se ha realizado una revisión corológica de la pteridoflora ibérica y balear.En prennant comme base Atlas Florae Europeae onus ascos réalisé una révision chorologique de la pteridoflore ibérique et balear

An imbalance in Akt/mTOR is involved in the apoptotic and acantholytic processes in a mouse model of pemphigus vulgaris

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune blistering disease characterized by the presence of IgG autoantibodies against Dsg3. Our aim was to investigate the molecular events implicated in the development and localization of apoptosis and acantholysis in PV. We used a passive transfer mouse model together with immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques and the TUNEL assay, with quantification analysis in the basal layer of the epidermis. The activated signalling molecules analysed and apoptotic cells detected showed an identical localization. Herein, we found for the first time in vivo an increased expression of activated HER receptor isoforms in the basal layer in PV lesions. Besides, we observed the almost total lack of activated Akt compared with a higher level of activated mTOR within the basal cells of the epidermis. Our observations strongly support that the restriction of acantholysis to the basal layer may be due, at least in part, to the selective and increased presence of activated HER receptor isoforms in these cells. After phosphorylation of HER receptor isoforms, intracellular signalling pathways are activated in the basal layer. In addition, the imbalance in Akt/mTOR that takes place in the basal cells may provide intracellular signals necessary for the development of apoptosis and acantholysi

Hologrphy and holographic dark energy model

The holographic principle is used to discuss the holographic dark energy model. We find that the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy bound is far from saturation under certain conditions. A more general constraint on the parameter of the holographic dark energy model is also derived.Comment: no figures, use revtex, v2: use iop style, some typos corrected and references updated, will appear in CQ

Inhibitory Effect of Azamacrocyclic Ligands on Polyphenol Oxidase in Model and Food Systems

This document is the unedited Author's version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.0c02407[EN] Enzymatic browning is one of the main problems faced by the food industry due to the enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) provoking an undesirable color change in the presence of oxygen. Here, we report the evaluation of 10 different azamacrocyclic compounds with diverse morphologies as potential inhibitors against the activity of PPO, both in model and real systems. An initial screening of 10 ligands shows that all azamacrocyclic compounds inhibit to some extent the enzymatic browning, but the molecular structure plays a crucial role on the power of inhibition. Kinetic studies of the most active ligand (L2) reveal a S-parabolic I-parabolic noncompetitive inhibition mechanism and a remarkable inhibition at micromolar concentration (IC50 = 10 mu M). Furthermore, L2 action has been proven on apple juice to significantly reduce the enzymatic browning.Financial support by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (project RTI2018-100910-B-C44), Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (projects CTQ2016-78499-C6-1-R, Unidad de Excelencia MDM 2015-0038 and CTQ2017-90852-REDC), and Generalitat Valenciana (Project PROMETEOII2015-002) is gratefully acknowledged.Muñoz-Pina, S.; Ros-Lis, JV.; Delgado-Pinar, E.; Martínez-Camarena, Á.; Verdejo, B.; García-España, E.; Argüelles Foix, AL.... (2020). Inhibitory Effect of Azamacrocyclic Ligands on Polyphenol Oxidase in Model and Food Systems. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 68(30):7964-7973. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.0c02407796479736830Simpson, B. K. (Ed.). (2012). 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(2008). Polyphenol Oxidase: Characteristics and Mechanisms of Browning Control. Food Reviews International, 24(4), 361-375. doi:10.1080/87559120802089332Seo, S.-Y., Sharma, V. K., & Sharma, N. (2003). Mushroom Tyrosinase:  Recent Prospects. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 51(10), 2837-2853. doi:10.1021/jf020826fTRONC, J.-S., LAMARCHE, F., & MAKHLOUF, J. (1997). Enzymatic Browning Inhibition in Cloudy Apple Juice by Electrodialysis. Journal of Food Science, 62(1), 75-78. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.1997.tb04371.xJiang, S., & Penner, M. H. (2019). The nature of β-cyclodextrin inhibition of potato polyphenol oxidase-catalyzed reactions. Food Chemistry, 298, 125004. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.125004Buckow, R., Kastell, A., Terefe, N. S., & Versteeg, C. (2010). Pressure and Temperature Effects on Degradation Kinetics and Storage Stability of Total Anthocyanins in Blueberry Juice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 58(18), 10076-10084. doi:10.1021/jf1015347Massini, L., Rico, D., & Martin-Diana, A. B. (2018). Quality Attributes of Apple Juice. Fruit Juices, 45-57. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-802230-6.00004-7McEvily, A. J., Iyengar, R., & Otwell, W. S. (1992). Inhibition of enzymatic browning in foods and beverages. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 32(3), 253-273. doi:10.1080/10408399209527599Iyengar, R., & McEvily, A. J. (1992). Anti-browning agents: alternatives to the use of sulfites in foods. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 3, 60-64. doi:10.1016/0924-2244(92)90131-fMuñoz-Pina, S., Ros-Lis, J. V., Argüelles, Á., Coll, C., Martínez-Máñez, R., & Andrés, A. (2018). Full inhibition of enzymatic browning in the presence of thiol-functionalised silica nanomaterial. Food Chemistry, 241, 199-205. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.08.059Muñoz-Pina, S., Ros-Lis, J. V., Argüelles, Á., Martínez-Máñez, R., & Andrés, A. (2020). Influence of the functionalisation of mesoporous silica material UVM-7 on polyphenol oxidase enzyme capture and enzymatic browning. Food Chemistry, 310, 125741. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.125741Castillo, C. E., Máñez, M. A., Basallote, M. G., Clares, M. P., Blasco, S., & García-España, E. (2012). Copper(ii) complexes of quinoline polyazamacrocyclic scorpiand-type ligands: X-ray, equilibrium and kinetic studies. Dalton Transactions, 41(18), 5617. doi:10.1039/c2dt30223cSantra, S., Mukherjee, S., Bej, S., Saha, S., & Ghosh, P. (2015). Amino-ether macrocycle that forms CuII templated threaded heteroleptic complexes: a detailed selectivity, structural and theoretical investigations. Dalton Transactions, 44(34), 15198-15211. doi:10.1039/c5dt00596eFan, R., Serrano-Plana, J., Oloo, W. N., Draksharapu, A., Delgado-Pinar, E., Company, A., … Münck, E. (2018). Spectroscopic and DFT Characterization of a Highly Reactive Nonheme FeV–Oxo Intermediate. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140(11), 3916-3928. doi:10.1021/jacs.7b11400Martínez-Camarena, Á., Liberato, A., Delgado-Pinar, E., Algarra, A. G., Pitarch-Jarque, J., Llinares, J. M., … García-España, E. (2018). Coordination Chemistry of Cu2+ Complexes of Small N-Alkylated Tetra-azacyclophanes with SOD Activity. Inorganic Chemistry, 57(17), 10961-10973. doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b01492Algarra, A. G., Basallote, M. G., Belda, R., Blasco, S., Castillo, C. E., Llinares, J. M., … Verdejo, B. (2009). Synthesis, Protonation and CuIIComplexes of Two Novel Isomeric Pentaazacyclophane Ligands: Potentiometric, DFT, Kinetic and AMP Recognition Studies. European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2009(1), 62-75. doi:10.1002/ejic.200800576Díaz, P., Basallote, M. G., Máñez, M. A., García-España, E., Gil, L., Latorre, J., … Luis, S. V. (2003). Thermodynamic and kinetic studies on the Cu2+ coordination chemistry of a novel binucleating pyridinophane ligandElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Table S1: observed rate constants for the acid-promoted decomposition of Cu2+ complexes with ligand L. Table S2: observed rate constants for the acid-promoted decomposition of Cu2+ complexes with macrocycle L1. Fig. S1: Variation of some selected 13C chemical shifts as a function of pH. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/dt/b2/b209013a/. Dalton Transactions, (6), 1186-1193. doi:10.1039/b209013aBasallote, M. G., Doménech, A., Ferrer, A., García-España, E., Llinares, J. M., Máñez, M. A., … Verdejo, B. (2006). Synthesis and Cu(II) coordination of two new hexaamines containing alternated propylenic and ethylenic chains: Kinetic studies on pH-driven metal ion slippage movements. 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Cutaneous Biology: In vivo blockade of pemphigus vulgaris acantholysis by inhibition of intracellular signal transduction cascades

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune disease characterized by mucocutaneous intraepithelial blisters and pathogenic autoantibodies against desmoglein 3. The mechanism of blister formation in pemphigus has not been defined; however, in vitro data suggest a role for activation of intracellular signalling cascades. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the contribution of these signalling pathways to the mechanism of PV IgG-induced acantholysis in vivo. METHODS: We used the passive transfer mouse model. Mice were injected with IgG fractions of sera from a patient with PV, with or without pretreatment with inhibitors of proteins that mediate intracellular signalling cascades. RESULTS: Inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, phospholipase C, calmodulin and the serine/threonine kinase protein kinase C prevented PV IgG-induced acantholysis in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These observations strongly support the role of intracellular signalling cascades in the molecular mechanism of PV IgG-induced acantholysi