Characterization of nutritional, physicochemical, and phytochemical composition and antioxidant capacity of three strawberry “Fragaria X ananassa Duch.” Cultivars (“Primoris”, “Endurance”, and “Portola”) from western region of Portugal

In this study, nutritional composition (protein, lipids, carbohydrates, ash, and moisture), physicochemical properties (soluble solid content, titratable acidity, texture and instrumental colour on surface, and internal section), phytochemicals (total phenolic content and anthocyanin content), and antioxidant capacity (DPPH—2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging capacity and ferric-reducing antioxidant power) of three strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa Duch.) cultivars (cv. “Primoris”, cv. “Endurance”, and cv. “Portola”) produced in the western region of Portugal (Caldas da Rainha) were evaluated. From the obtained, results no significant differences (P > 0.05) in nutritional composition were detected in all of the cultivars; with the exception of lower protein content observed in cv. “Portola” (0.57 g/100 g +- 0.04; P 0.05) were found in any of the cultivars, which revealed a similar redness. The cv. “Endurance” revealed the highest bioactivity content compared to the other cultivars. Overall, these results provide important information about the high quality of strawberry produced in the western region of Portugal and may be used as a tool for adding value to a functional food in the Mediterranean diet due to the phytochemical composition and nutritional value of strawberry fruits.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Building a collaboratory in an engineering R&D organization

This paper presents the results achieved throughout the process of preparing the ground to develop a collaboratory in an Engineering R&D organization. This case study is part of a broader research project engaged in building a collaboratory in order to share knowledge and resources among the Portuguese State laboratories. In the process of preparing the ground to develop the collaboratory in the first of the laboratories studied, an information audit was conducted and an online survey was launched. The survey targeted 241 people, including mainly professional researchers, but also research trainees and some technical staff integrating the research teams. The questionnaire was designed so as to collect data on the organization’s information management and information culture, and on the information flows taking place, and their relationship with the objectives of the organization. The questionnaire comprised two distinct and independent parts. The first (on the organization’s information culture and information management) obtained seventy nine responses, while the second (information flows) achieved ninety two, corresponding to 32,8% and 38,2% of the total population, respectively. The work carried out provided the basic requirements for the task of developing a software infrastructure to support the collaboratory, addressing the various aspects of collaborative tools, information archiving, hierarchical tag classification, search, transparent integration of the user local environment with the platform and remote control of scientific instruments

Etiología de la dermatofitosis en el sector 3 de Zaragoza. años 2013-2014

Introducción: Los dermatofitos son la causa más frecuente de micosis superficiales, infectando estructuras queratinizadas. Las infecciones por dermatofitos son denominadas tiñas, tineas, dermatofitosis o herpes circinado. Entre las más frecuentes tenemos tinea unguium, tinea pedís, tinea corporis y tinea capitis. Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio es conocer la etiología de la dermatofitosis en el sector 3 de Zaragoza en el periodo 2013-2014. Resultados: durante ese período se diagnosticaron 263 pacientes de tiña aislándose 265 dermatofitos. Los dermatofitos más frecuentes fueron T.rubrum (52.47%), M.canis (19.39%), T.mentagrophytes (14.67%) y T.tonsurans (10,18%), representando en su conjunto el 95.47% (253/265) del total. Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum audouinii, Microsporum fulvum, Microspsorum gypseum, Trichophyton verrucosum y Trichophyton violaceum suponen aproximadamente el 5% del total. La localización más frecuente fue tinea unguium pedís, seguida por tinea corporis y tinea capitis en segundo y tercer lugar respectivamente. Hallamos dos pacientes con dos localizaciones al mismo tiempo, uno de ellos tinea unguium pedís y tinea unguium manuum, y el otro con tinea capitis y tinea corporis. También obtuvimos dos pacientes con dermatofitosis mixta, una ocasionada por T.rubrum y T.mentagrophytes y otra por T.rubrum y M.canis. No se observó diferencias en cuanto al género, siendo el 50.19% hombres y 49.43% mujeres. La población más afectada fue la adulta, en la que predomina tinea unguium pedís. En la población infantil, tinea capitis fue la localización más frecuente. La nacionalidad española fue la más frecuentemente afectada, seguida por la africana. Conclusiones: el dermatofito más frecuente fue T.rubrum y la localización tinea unguium pedís. La dermatofitosis tiene una distribución muy similar entre hombres y mujeres. La nacionalidad más frecuente fue la española y la edad la adulta la más afectada

Prognosis Relevance of Serum Cytokines in Pancreatic Cancer

The overall survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is extremely low. Although gemcitabine is the standard used chemotherapy for this disease, clinical outcomes do not reflect significant improvements, not even when combined with adjuvant treatments. There is an urgent need for prognosis markers to be found. The aim of this study was to analyze the potential value of serum cytokines to find a profile that can predict the clinical outcome in patients with pancreatic cancer and to establish a practical prognosis index that significantly predicts patients’ outcomes. We have conducted an extensive analysis of serum prognosis biomarkers using an antibody array comprising 507 human cytokines. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate Cox’s proportional hazard models were used to analyze prognosis factors. To determine the extent that survival could be predicted based on this index, we used the leave-one-out cross-validation model. The multivariate model showed a better performance and it could represent a novel panel of serum cytokines that correlates to poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer. B7-1/CD80, EG-VEGF/PK1, IL-29, NRG1-beta1/HRG1-beta1, and PD-ECGF expressions portend a poor prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer and these cytokines could represent novel therapeutic targets for this disease.The study was fully supported by ROCHE FARMA S.A (ref. H/OH-TAR-10/131 and ref. H/OH-TRR-08/59) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Clinical trial ref. EC08/00009), and the Government of Andalusia Project P12-TIC-2082

PD-1 blockade in recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer: Data from cemiplimab phase I expansion cohorts and characterization of PD-L1 expression in cervical cancer

Objectives: To characterize the safety, tolerability, and anti-tumor activity of cemiplimab as monotherapy or in combination with hypofractionated radiation therapy (hfRT) in patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer. To determine the association between histology and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Methods: In non-randomized phase I expansion cohorts, patients (squamous or non-squamous histology) received cemiplimab 3 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks for 48 weeks, either alone (monotherapy cohort) or with hfRT during week 2 (combination cohort). Due to insufficient tissue material, PD-L1 protein expression was evaluated in commercially purchased samples and mRNA expression levels were analyzed from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Results: Twenty patients enrolled in both cohorts in total; 10 had squamous histology. The most common adverse events of any grade were diarrhea, fatigue, and hypokalemia, occurring in 35%, 25%, and 25%, respectively. Objective response rate was 10% in each cohort; responders had squamous histology. Duration of response was 11.2 months and 6.4 months for the responder in the monotherapy and combination cohort, respectively. Irradiated lesions were not included in the response assessments. In separate archived specimens (N = 155), PD-L1 protein expression in tumor and immune cells was negative (<1%) more commonly in adenocarcinoma than in squamous tumors. PD-L1 mRNA levels were lower in adenocarcinoma than squamous cell tumors (1.2 vs 5.0 mean transcripts per million, respectively) in TCGA. Conclusions: Cemiplimab has activity in cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The phase I results, combined with results from other anti-PD-1 trials in cervical cancer and our biomarker analyses have informed the design of the ongoing phase III trial, with the primary overall survival hierarchical analyses being done first in patients with squamous histology

Evaluation of alternative preservation treatments (water heat treatment, ultrasounds, thermosonication and UV-C radiation) to improve safety and quality of whole tomato

Previously optimised postharvest treatments were compared to conventional chlorinated water treatment in terms of their effects on the overall quality of tomato (‘Zinac’) during storage at 10 °C. The treatments in question were water heat treatment (WHT = 40 °C, 30 min), ultrasounds (US = 45 kHz, 80 %, 30 min), thermosonication (TS =40 °C, 30 min, 45 kHz, 80 %) and ultraviolet irradiation (UV-C: 0.97 kJ m−2). The quality factors evaluated were colour, texture, sensorial analysis, mass loss, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content, peroxidase and pectin methylesterase enzymatic activities, and microbial load reduction. The results demonstrate that all treatments tested preserve tomato quality to some extent during storage at 10 °C. WHT, TS and UV-C proved to be more efficient on minimising colour and texture changes with the additional advantage of microbial load reduction, leading to a shelf life extension when compared to control trials. However, at the end of storage, with exception of WHT samples, the antioxidant activity and phenolic content of treated samples was lower than for control samples. Moreover, sensorial results were well correlated with instrumental colour experimental data. This study presents alternative postharvest technologies that improve tomato (Zinac) quality during shelf life period and minimise the negative impact of conventional chlorinated water on human safety, health and environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

HTLV-1 infection in solid organ transplant donors and recipients in Spain

HTLV-1 infection is a neglected disease, despite infecting 10-15 million people worldwide and severe illnesses develop in 10% of carriers lifelong. Acknowledging a greater risk for developing HTLV-1 associated illnesses due to immunosuppression, screening is being widely considered in the transplantation setting. Herein, we report the experience with universal HTLV testing of donors and recipients of solid organ transplants in a survey conducted in Spain. All hospitals belonging to the Spanish HTLV network were invited to participate in the study. Briefly, HTLV antibody screening was performed retrospectively in all specimens collected from solid organ donors and recipients attended since the year 2008. A total of 5751 individuals were tested for HTLV antibodies at 8 sites. Donors represented 2312 (42.2%), of whom 17 (0.3%) were living kidney donors. The remaining 3439 (59.8%) were recipients. Spaniards represented nearly 80%. Overall, 9 individuals (0.16%) were initially reactive for HTLV antibodies. Six were donors and 3 were recipients. Using confirmatory tests, HTLV-1 could be confirmed in only two donors, one Spaniard and another from Colombia. Both kidneys of the Spaniard were inadvertently transplanted. Subacute myelopathy developed within 1 year in one recipient. The second recipient seroconverted for HTLV-1 but the kidney had to be removed soon due to rejection. Immunosuppression was stopped and 3 years later the patient remains in dialysis but otherwise asymptomatic. The rate of HTLV-1 is low but not negligible in donors/recipients of solid organ transplants in Spain. Universal HTLV screening should be recommended in all donor and recipients of solid organ transplantation in Spain. Evidence is overwhelming for very high virus transmission and increased risk along with the rapid development of subacute myelopathy

Educación ambiental y sociedad. Saberes locales para el desarrollo y la sustentabilidad

EL LIBRO PERMITE REFLEXIONAR SOBRE LA IMPORTANCIA DE FOMENTAL LA EDUCACIÓN AMBIENTAL PARA RESOLVER LA PROBLEMÁTICA AMBIENTALEL LIBRO PRESENTA DIFERENTES TRABAJOS QUE ESTUDIAN EL TEMA D ELA SUSTENTABILIDAD, ENFATIZANDO LA IMPORTANCIA DE LA EDUCACIÓN AMBIENTAL Y LA TRANSDISCIPLINANINGUN