El mundo escriturario y la contribución notarial al estudio de la Zaragoza de Alfonso V el Magnánimo (1416-1458)

El protocolo notarial es una fuente de noticias de suma importancia para el historiador. La tesis desarrollada en este espacio pretende conocer el subsuelo de la sociedad zaragozana de la primera mitad del siglo XV. Para alcanzar este objetivo, se bucea en la labor notarial de 20 escribanos zaragozanos con la intención de proponer un corpus teórico concerniente a aspectos económicos, sociales y culturales del espacio y momento elegidos, lo que se sustancia finalmente en un discurso que habla de la mentalidad que da vida a la Zaragoza tardomedieval. Palabras clave: Notario, protocolo, mentalidades y sociedad

El mundo escriturario y el papel del notariado en la Zaragoza de Alfonso V el Magnánimo (1416-1458). Contribución al estudio social de una época

La documentación notarial tramitada en la escribanía origina un flujo de datos que, relacionados con sentido temático, permiten conocer aspectos relacionados con la historia social, económica, religiosa o cultural de una sociedad. Este es el motivo del trabajo aquí desarrollado. La producción notarial en la primera mitad del siglo XV en Zaragoza fue muy abundante, propia de una ciudad y de una sociedad emergente, en un reinado -el de Alfonso V el Magnánimo- trascendente. En este contexto, la revisión de los protocolos de 14 notarios ubicados en Zaragoza ha permitido conocer aspectos de la judería relacionados con aspectos urbanísticos, económicos e institucionales, y se ha profundizado más en la conversión y la familia de los Caballería. Igualmente se ha tratado el papel del notario mudéjar en esta sociedad plural y la importancia de la cultura y la instrucción académica, tomando como referencia el Estudio de Artes de Zaragoza. Finalmente, se ha dedicado un capítulo a la comunidad bernarda del monasterio cisterciense de Santa María de Santa Fe, de Cadrete, y se ha prestado atención especial a la relación de dicha comunidad con el mundo notarial. De este modo, el mundo de la escritura y la figura del notario permiten conocer aspectos de una sociedad en gran medida ágrafa, es cierto, pero que utiliza la escritura y el notario como elementos fundamentales de su aportación a la construcción del estado moderno en el marco de la Corona de Aragón. Abstrac: The notarial´s document dealded in notary´s office creates a flow of information that it allows knowing different aspects about social, economy, religious and cultural history of a society. This is the “leit motiv” that develops this work. The notarial production in the first part o XV Century was so plentiful, like a city and society emerging in a transcendent reign. In this context, the registry´s review of 14 notaries located in Zaragoza has allow knowing some aspects about the Jewish quarter, related with the urban, economics and institutionals aspects, and I have deepened more in the conversion and in the Caballeria family. Equally, I have talked the Mudejar notary rol in the plural society and the importance of culture and education academies, taking as reference the office from Zaragoza. Finally, this chapter was dedicated to bernarda´s community from Cistercian Monastery of Santa María of Santa Fe, from Cadrete (Zaragoza), and I have focused in the relation between this community and the notarial world. For this reason, the writing world and the notary´s figure allows knowing different aspects about agraph society, but this society uses the writing and the notary like basic elements to build the modern state in the Corona of Aragon frame

El mundo escriturario y el papel del notariado en la Zaragoza de Alfonso V el Magnánimo (1416-1458): la contribución al estudio social, económico y cultural de una época y su trascendencia

Esta tesis nace por la necesidad de ahondar en el conocimiento de la sociedad tardomedieval zaragozana a través de los protocolos notariales, fuente de primer orden para el escrutinio y valoración de los diferentes segmentos que constituyen su entramado social. Esta idea, junto con la creencia de que cientos y cientos de momentos anónimos recogidos en las escribanías configuran momentos estelares para interpretar la Historia de las mentalidades, forjan el núcleo originario de esta investigación. De este modo, una introducción bifocal, que inspecciona el campo metodológico y bibliográfico, avisa de la estructura cuatripartita que presenta el corpus central de la obra. En la parte primera de dicha organización temática, se presenta una visión histórica e historiográfica del momento estudiado, exactamente el reinado de Alfonso V El Magnánimo, para favorecer la ubicación del hecho analizado en unas coordenadas cronoespaciales y bibliográficas precisas. Es así como se formula una breve revisión histórica de la figura del monarca, se describe una semblanza de la Zaragoza del momento y se postula un estado de la cuestión del notariado. La segunda parte, de marcado carácter economicista, pone su atención en los aspectos laborales y estadísticos del desempeño notarial y profundiza en el conocimiento de dos de ellos, Justo de Salas y Antón Martínez de Cuerla, lo que favorece esa aproximación a la intrahistoria, carácter subyacente en esta investigación. La parte tercera se adentra definitivamente en la disección de los diferentes campos temáticos que la sociedad zaragozana ofrece , lo que permite un tratamiento emocional de la mentalidad social del momento. De este modo, se indaga en la vida íntima de una sociedad a través de su sentir en cuanto a la muerte, el casamiento o la toma de hábitos, en cuanto a su posición ante el trabajo infantil o la esclavitud o en su capacidad para valorar el hecho cultural escriturario. La parte cuarta ilustra con profusión de documentos el discurso organizado en torno a las tres partes ya descritas, lo que permite acceder a un capítulo final que concluye con unas precisiones específicas referidas a la investigación articulada

Quantitative plasma profiling by 1H NMR-based metabolomics: impact of sample treatment

Introduction: There is evidence that sample treatment of blood-based biosamples may affect integral signals in nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomics. The presence of macromolecules in plasma/serum samples makes investigating low-molecular-weight metabolites challenging. It is particularly relevant in the targeted approach, in which absolute concentrations of selected metabolites are often quantified based on the area of integral signals. Since there are a few treatments of plasma/serum samples for quantitative analysis without a universally accepted method, this topic remains of interest for future research. Methods: In this work, targeted metabolomic profiling of 43 metabolites was performed on pooled plasma to compare four methodologies consisting of Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) editing, ultrafiltration, protein precipitation with methanol, and glycerophospholipid solid-phase extraction (g-SPE) for phospholipid removal; prior to NMR metabolomics analysis. The effect of the sample treatments on the metabolite concentrations was evaluated using a permutation test of multiclass and pairwise Fisher scores. Results: Results showed that methanol precipitation and ultrafiltration had a higher number of metabolites with coefficient of variation (CV) values above 20%. G-SPE and CPMG editing demonstrated better precision for most of the metabolites analyzed. However, differential quantification performance between procedures were metabolite-dependent. For example, pairwise comparisons showed that methanol precipitation and CPMG editing were suitable for quantifying citrate, while g-SPE showed better results for 2-hydroxybutyrate and tryptophan. Discussion: There are alterations in the absolute concentration of various metabolites that are dependent on the procedure. Considering these alterations is essential before proceeding with the quantification of treatment-sensitive metabolites in biological samples for improving biomarker discovery and biological interpretations. The study demonstrated that g-SPE and CPMG editing are effective methods for removing proteins and phospholipids from plasma samples for quantitative NMR analysis of metabolites. However, careful consideration should be given to the specific metabolites of interest and their susceptibility to the sample treatment procedures. These findings contribute to the development of optimized sample preparation protocols for metabolomics studies using NMR spectroscop

Impact in Plasma Metabolome as Effect of Lifestyle Intervention for Weight-Loss Reveals Metabolic Benefits in Metabolically Healthy Obese Women

Little is known regarding metabolic benefits of weight loss (WL) on the metabolically healthy obese (MHO) patients. We aimed to examine the impact of a lifestyle weight loss (LWL) treatment on the plasma metabolomic profile in MHO individuals. Plasma samples from 57 MHO women allocated to an intensive LWL treatment group (TG, hypocaloric Mediterranean diet and regular physical activity, n = 30) or to a control group (CG, general recommendations of a healthy diet and physical activity, n = 27) were analyzed using an untargeted 1H NMR metabolomics approach at baseline, after 3 months (intervention), and 12 months (follow-up). The impact of the LWL intervention on plasma metabolome was statistically significant at 3 months but not at follow-up and included higher levels of formate and phosphocreatine and lower levels of LDL/VLDL (signals) and trimethylamine in the TG. These metabolites were also correlated with WL. Higher myo-inositol, methylguanidine, and 3-hydroxybutyrate, and lower proline, were also found in the TG; higher levels of hippurate and asparagine, and lower levels of 2-hydroxybutyrate and creatine, were associated with WL. The current findings suggest that an intensive LWL treatment, and the consequent WL, leads to an improved plasma metabolic profile in MHO women through its impact on energy, amino acid, lipoprotein, and microbial metabolism. Keywords: NMR; hypocaloric diet; metabolically healthy obesity; metabolomics; physical activity

Biomarkers of legume intake in human intervention and observational studies: A systematic review

There is a growing interest in assessing dietary intake more accurately across different population groups, and biomarkers have emerged as a complementary tool to replace traditional dietary assessment methods. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature available and evaluate the applicability and validity of biomarkers of legume intake reported across various observational and intervention studies. A systematic search in PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Knowledge identified 44 studies which met the inclusion criteria for the review. Results from observational studies focused on soy or soy-based foods and demonstrated positive correlations between soy intake and urinary, plasma or serum isoflavonoid levels in different population groups. Similarly, intervention studies demonstrated increased genistein and daidzein levels in urine and plasma following soy intake. Both genistein and daidzein exhibited dose-response relationships. Other isoflavonoid levels such as O-desmethylangolensin (O-DMA) and equol were also reported to increase following soy consumption. Using a developed scoring system, genistein and daidzein can be considered as promising candidate markers for soy consumption. Furthermore, genistein and daidzein also served as good estimates of soy intake as evidenced from long-term exposure studies marking their status as validated biomarkers. On the contrary, only few studies indicated proposed biomarkers for pulses intake, with pipecolic acid and S-methylcysteine reported as markers reflecting dry bean consumption, unsaturated aliphatic, hydroxyl-dicarboxylic acid related to green beans intake and trigonelline reported as marker of peas consumption. However, data regarding criteria such as specificity, dose-response and time-response relationship, reliability, and feasibility to evaluate the validity of these markers is lacking. In conclusion, despite many studies suggesting proposed biomarkers for soy, there is a lack of information on markers of other different subtypes of legumes. Further discovery and validation studies are needed in order to identify reliable biomarkers of legume intake

Impact of chlorogenic acids from coffee on urine metabolome in healthy human subjects

Several studies suggest that coffee has some benefits for health; however, little is known about the specific role of the main polyphenol compounds of coffee, chlorogenic acids (CGAs), without caffeine interaction. A 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR)-based metabolomics approach was used to assess the effect of CGAs from coffee on the human urine metabolome. Ten male volunteers participated in a dietary crossover randomized intervention study with a rich CGAs coffee extract beverage (CEB: 223 mg/100 ml of CGAs). The study consisted of a daily intake of CEB or a control beverage with equal caffeine dose during 28 days. Fasting urines collected at the first and last days of each period of the study were analyzed using an CGAs untargeted 1H-NMR approach. Additionally, 4-hour postpandrial urines after the first intake of each beverage were also analyzed. Uni- and multi-variate statistic approaches were used to strengthen the results. Multilevel partial least squares discriminant analysis (ML-PLS-DA) was used to paired comparisons across the crossover design. A further univariate analysis model for crossover studies was performed to assess the significant changes. Acute consumption of CEB resulted in high excretion of 2-furoylglycine, likewise endogenous compounds such as succinic, citric, 3-methyl-2-oxovaleric and isobutyric acids. Sustained consumption of CEB showed an increase of microbiota-derived compounds such as hippuric, 3-(3-Hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropionic and 3-hydroxyhippuric acids in urine. Moreover, trigonelline was found in urine after both acute and sustained intakes, as well as in the composition of the beverage exhibiting a direct excretion of this biomarker without any biotransformation, suggesting a non-interindividual variation

Metabolic signature of a functional high-catechin tea after acute and sustained consumption in healthy volunteers through 1H NMR-based metabolomics analysis of urine.

Functional tea beverages have emerged as a novel approach to achieving health benefits associated with tea. The use of metabolomics may improve the evaluation of their consumption and their effects. The current study aimed to explore the urinary signature of the exposure to a functional high-catechin tea (HCT) using untargeted NMR-based metabolomics. Ten volunteers participated in a crossover intervention study. Individuals consumed an HCT or a control beverage over a period of 28 days. Multilevel partial least squares discriminant analysis (ML-PLS-DA) was used for paired comparisons. A further crossover model was performed to assess the significant changes. The consumption of the HCT resulted in the excretion of theanine, epicatechin, pyrogallol sulfate, higher levels of 3-methyl-2-oxovalerate and succinate, as well as unknown compounds. In conclusion, the present work established novel urinary signatures of a functional drink. Such signatures may be potential biomarkers and/or reflect certain benefits of functional tea beverages

Biomarkers of intake for coffee, tea and sweetened beverages

Non-alcoholic beverages are important sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds that may influence human health and increase or decrease the risk of chronic diseases. A wide variety of beverage constituents are absorbed in the gut, found in the systemic circulation and excreted in urine. They may be used as compliance markers in intervention studies or as biomarkers of intake to improve measurements of beverage consumption in cohort studies and reveal new associations with disease outcomes that may have been overlooked when using dietary questionnaires. Here, biomarkers of intake of some major non-alcoholic beverages coffee, tea, sugar-sweetened beverages, and low-calorie-sweetened beverages are reviewed. Results from dietary intervention studies and observational studies are reviewed and analyzed, and respective strengths and weaknesses of the various identified biomarkers discussed. A variety of compounds derived from phenolic acids, alkaloids, and terpenes were shown to be associated with coffee intake and trigonelline and cyclo(isoleucylprolyl) showed a particularly high specificity for coffee intake. Epigallocatechin and 4′-O-methylepigallocatechin appear to be the most sensitive and specific biomarkers for green or black tea, while 4-O-methylgallic acid may be used to assess black tea consumption. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages has been assessed through the measurement of carbon-13 enrichment of whole blood or of blood alanine in North America where sugar from sugarcane or corn is used as a main ingredient. The most useful biomarkers for low-calorie-sweetened beverages are the low-calorie sweeteners themselves. Further studies are needed to validate these biomarkers in larger and independent populations and to further evaluate their specificity, reproducibility over time, and fields of application

Urinary 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomic Fingerprinting Reveals Biomarkers of Pulse Consumption Related to Energy-Metabolism Modulation in a Subcohort from the PREDIMED study

Little is known about the metabolome fingerprint of pulse consumption. The study of robust and accurate biomarkers for pulse dietary assessment has great value for nutritional epidemiology regarding health benefits and their mechanisms. To characterize the fingerprinting of dietary pulses (chickpeas, lentils and beans), spot urine samples from a subcohort from the PREDIMED study were stratified, using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Non-pulse consumers (≤ 4 g/day of pulse intake) and habitual pulse consumers (≥ 25 g/day of pulse intake) were analysed using a 1H-NMR metabolomics approach combined with multi- and univariate data analysis. Pulse consumption showed differences through 16 metabolites coming from (i) choline metabolism, (ii) protein-related compounds, and (iii) energy metabolism (including lower urinary glucose). Stepwise logistic regression analysis was applied to design a combined model of pulse exposure, which resulted in glutamine, dimethylamine and 3-methylhistidine. This model was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC > 90% in both training and validation sets). The application of NMR-based metabolomics to pulse exposure highlighted new candidates for biomarkers of pulse consumption, the role of choline metabolism and the impact on energy metabolism, generating new hypotheses on energy modulation. Further intervention studies will confirm these findings