La redención de cautivos entre los musulmanes

Sessió inaugural del curs acadèmic 1928-192

Los mercedarios en la Real Academia de Buenas Letras de Barcelona

Fray Manuel Mariano Ribera; Fray Pedro Nolasco Mora; Fray José Mudarra; Fray Vicente Giralt y Canyadó; Fray Manel Casamada y Comella

The Importance of Housing for the Elderly in Spain

Treball Final de Grau en Economia. Codi: EC1049. Curs acadèmic: 2019-2020Contrary to the standard life-cycle model, it has been observed that individuals not only do not reduce their level of savings during retirement but also reduce their consumption. In this paper, we review the most important aspects of the use of housing in the saving behaviour of households and as an option to complement the retirement period. Spain is one of the countries where homeownership is most important, so throughout the paper we will analyze the main socio-demographic factors that affect homeownership for the elder Spanish population. Moreover, at the beginning of the century, Spain, like the rest of the world, experienced a speculative attack on the real estate market that could have had an effect on the homeownership behaviour of retirees . To analyze this, we will carry out a comparative study between the homeownership rate before and after the crisi

Multiple-system atrophy

Fanciulli and Wenning's review (Jan. 15 issue) on multiple-system atrophy is comprehensive and up to date. In it, the authors state that the open-label administration of gabapentin could ameliorate cerebellar symptoms in single cases of this disease. However, the cited reference describes a noticeable improvement in gait in one patient who received a diagnosis of olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) after a single dose of 400 mg of gabapentin and alleviation of dysarthria and oscillopsia in another patient with OPCA during long-term therapy with gabapentin. These patients could not have received a diagnosis of multiple-system atrophy, since neither had features of autonomic dysfunction. In contrast, gabapentin was found to cause generalized weakness and to worsen gait and dysarthria in three patients with multiple-system atrophy, forcing withdrawal of the drug..

Construction21- compartiendo buenas prácticas para una construcción más eficiente.

Reducir el impacto ambiental que genera el sector de la edificación necesita de la participación y colaboración de los distintos agentes del sector: arquitectos, urbanistas, promotores, ingenieros, constructores, administraciones, investigadores, etc. En este sentido, las redes sociales son extremadamente útiles para compartir, informar, debatir y,en definitiva, intercambiar experiencias y conocimientos sobre aquello que realmente funciona. Bajo esta idea y con el apoyo del programa Intelligent Energy Europe de la UE, se ha lanzado la plataforma web Construction21 en España, Francia, Alemania, Italia, Rumania y Lituania y con el objetivo de que pronto se extienda al resto de países de la UE-27. La plataforma contiene información detallada sobre edificios reales construidos bajo criterios ambientales, demostrando que otra manera de construir es posible. También facilita ejemplos de productos y soluciones constructivas innovadoras y ya testadas en casos reales. Las comunidades temáticas relativas a distintos temas clave de la construcción sostenible (como la eficiencia energética, la certificación ambiental, el análisis de ciclo de vida, la rehabilitación energética, etc.) constituyen otro de los contenidos principales de esta plataforma. En Construction21 son los propios usuarios los encargados de publicar los contenidos, fomentando así procesos de inteligencia compartida, tanto a nivel de las plataformas nacionales como a nivel europeo. Esta comunicación pretende explicar los alcances conseguidos hasta la fecha, así como los resultados esperados

hAGT inhibitors as chemotherapy enhancers

[cat] La proteïna de reparació de l’ADN alquilguanina-ADN-O6-alquiltransferasa (hAGT) elimina productes d'alquilació en la posició O6 de les guanines, bloquejant la citotoxicitat dels agents alquilants i produint resistència a la quimioteràpia. Es considera rellevant com a marcador de pronòstic en càncer i representa una potencial diana terapèutica. L’objectiu a llarg termini d’aquesta tesi doctoral és trobar inhibidors de l’activitat d’hAGT per millorar l'efecte de la quimioteràpia en pacients amb càncer. En primer lloc, es va avaluar la capacitat de 10 compostos, potencials inhibidors d’h!GT, de formar un complexe amb hAGT utilitzant espectrometria de masses, i es va estudiar la seva toxicitat en cultius cel·lulars a través d'assajos de MTT i de formació de colònies. A continuació, es desenvolupen diferents mètodes per a la detecció de l’activitat d’hAGT, per a avaluar els potencials inhibidors d’aquesta proteïna in vitro. Dos d’aquests mètodes utilitzen el canvi conformacional que es produeix en l’aptàmer d’unió a la trombina (TBA) en introduir una O6-metilguanina, substracte d’hAGT, en una de les seves tètrades centrals. En el primer mètode es va emprar el TBA per generar un sensor de fluorescència incorporant un fluoròfor i un inhibidor de fluorescència a cadascun dels seus extrems. Aquest sensor permet la detecció de la disminució en la fluorescència deguda al canvi conformacional del TBA produït per l’activitat d’hAGT. Posteriorment, el canvi conformacional del TBA va permetre dissenyar un biosensor de l'activitat d'hAGT a nivell unimolecular sobre la superficie d’un origami d'ADN. La interacció del TBA amb la seva proteïna diana, l’alfa-trombina, es va seguir per AFM per detectar que l’estructura de G-quàdruplex metilada es restableix per la reparació d’hAGT. El tercer mètode es basa en la transferència de fluorescència al centre actiu d’h!GT degut a la reparació d’un oligonucleòtid que conté una guanina modificada amb un grup alquil marcat amb un fluoròfor. Amb aquest objectiu, es va portar a terme la síntesi química d’aquesta guanina modificada. En el marc d’una estada en la Universitat de Milà, es descriu l’estudi de nanopartícules funcionalitzades amb TBAs per a detectar una metilació en una guanina utilitzant espectroscòpia d’UV, DLS o MRI, amb l’objectiu de desenvolupar un nou assaig de l’activitat reparadora d’ADN d’hAGT.[eng] The O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (hAGT or MGMT) is a DNA repair protein in charge of removing alkyl adducts from the O6 position of guanines, blocking their cytotoxic effects and playing an important role as a resistance mechanism to chemotherapy in cancer patients. For these reasons, it is considered relevant as a prognosis marker of cancer and represents a potential therapeutic target. Intense research efforts have been devoted to the identification of small molecules capable of inhibiting hAGT activity and enhancing the cytotoxic effect of the alkylating agents in tumour cells. In this doctoral thesis, we have explored 10 compounds with potential inhibitory activity against hAGT. The analysis by mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) confirmed the complex formation of hAGT with 5 of them (compounds 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9). MTT cytotoxicity studies in cell culture showed that 2 compounds (5 and 8) were non-toxic and showed enhancement of carmustine toxicity. This compounds were further analysed by colony formation assays, which confirmed that compound 8 was non-toxic at long-term experiments and exhibited a stimulation effect of carmustine. Compound 8 seem to be the best candidates for hAGT inhibition, as it forms a complex with hAGT and it enhances BCNU without being toxic in MTT and colony formation assays. Due to the lack of a consistent in vitro assay for the activity of hAGT, we have devoted part of this doctoral thesis to the search of bio and nanotechnologies to detect hAGT activity which enable the evaluation of potential inhibitors of the protein. Chapter 2 describes the development of a new fluorescence method using the conformational change of a DNA Gquadruplex, the thrombin binding aptamer (TBA), as a molecular beacon for the detection of hAGT activity and the development of new inhibitor compounds. The conformational change of TBA is further explored to develop a detection platform on DNA origami which allows de quantification of the repair activity of hAGT on a single molecules basis, through the direct visualization by AFM of the interaction of TBA-thrombin when its G-quadruplex structure is restored. In addition, this work reports the synthesis of guanine derivatives modified at position 6 and properly functionalized for their incorporation into double stranded oligonucleotides that are used for the development of another novel fluorescence methodology to evaluate hAGT activity and to assess potential inhibitors as enhancers of chemotherapy. Finally, during a short stay in the University of Milan, we have developed a new sensor to detect a methylation in TBA using three types of nanoparticles: AuNPs, SPIONs and AuSPIONs. AuSPIONs combine the features of the gold coating and the magnetic core, and exhibit similar performance as AuNPs and SPIONs in UV, DLS and MRI assays to detect thrombin and a single methylation in TBA. Ths results provide the basis for the development of a new straightforward method to study hAGT activity and to evaluate potential inhibitors

Preparation of reference materials for frit chemical analysis

A study was undertaken on how to prepare frit reference materials in which the following elements are analysed: Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, N, K, Ti , Zr, Ba, Pb, Zn, Hf, P, B and Li . The following analytical techniques were used: X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) and titrimetry. Boron and lithium were analysed by ICP OES, sodium and lithium by AAS, and boron by titrimetry, while the remaining frit elements and sodium were analysed by XRF. The results found by the different methods were compared and each method was validated by means of reference materials. A procedure was established for preparing frit reference materials for calibrating and validating working methods on an industrial scale