Modificación hidrotérmica del almidón de yuca para su empleo como estabilizador de helados

En el trabajo se desarrolla un procedimiento de modificación física de almidón nativo de yuca a través de un tratamiento hidrotérmico en la zona previa a la gelatinización, de la cual no existen reportes de experimentación. El objetivo es determinar la influencia de las principales variables del proceso sobre el comportamiento reológico, con el propósito de ser empleado como estabilizador en la Industria heladera. Se alcanzaron buenos resultados reológicos con una concentración de 6% p/p de almidón nativo a 56 0C. El material obtenido se usó en formulaciones de helados, sustituyendo parte de los productos convencionales con efectos muy positivos en cuanto a la evaluación sensorial y el índice de aireación. Los resultados alcanzados permiten establecer perspectivas para el empleo de almidones modificados de yuca cuyo tratamiento hidrotérmico en la zona previa a la gelatinización ofrece efectos positivos, como estabilizante de suspensiones acuosas, similares a los que se alcanzan con almidones pregelatinizados, además con la ventaja de obtener el producto modificado con mayor facilidad

Synbiotic therapy decreases microbial translocation and inflammation and improves immunological status in HIV-infected patients: a double-blind randomized controlled pilot trial

BACKGROUND: HIV-infection results in damage and dysfunction of the gastrointestinal system. HIV enteropathy includes pronounced CD4+ T-cell loss, increased intestinal permeability, and microbial translocation that promotes systemic immune activation, which is implicated in disease progression. A synbiotic is the combination of probiotics and prebiotics that could improve gut barrier function. Our study goal was to determine whether the use of a synbiotic, probiotics or a prebiotic can recover immunological parameters in HIV-infected subjects through of a reduction of microbial translocation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production. METHODS: A randomized, double-blind controlled study was performed; twenty Antiretroviral treatment-naïve HIV-infected subjects were subgrouped and assigned to receive a synbiotic, probiotics, a prebiotic, or a placebo throughout 16 weeks. RESULTS: We had no reports of serious adverse-events. From baseline to week 16, the synbiotic group showed a reduction in bacterial DNA concentrations in plasma (p = 0.048). Moreover, the probiotic and synbiotic groups demonstrated a decrease in total bacterial load in feces (p = 0.05). The probiotic group exhibited a significant increment of beneficial bacteria load (such as Bifidobacterium; p = 0.05) and a decrease in harmful bacteria load (such as Clostridium; p = 0.063). In the synbiotic group, the CD4+ T-cells count increased (median: +102 cells/μL; p = 0.05) and the level of Interleukin 6 cytokine decreased significantly (p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed a significant increase in CD4+ T lymphocyte levels in the synbiotic group, which could delay the initiation of antiretroviral therapy and decrease costs in countries with limited resources

Characterization of oral yeasts isolated from healthy individuals attended in different Colombian dental clinics

The aim of this study was to identify the most frequent yeasts in the oral cavity of adult individuals without immune disorders and to associate the presence of these oral yeasts with different characteristics of each individual. Oral rinse samples were obtained from 96 healthy adults and cultured in Sabouraud dextrose agar media and CHROMagar. Yeasts were identified by sequencing the D1/D2 region of the 28S rRNA gene. Probable association among the socio-demographic characteristics, body mass index, family and personal medical history, oral hygiene, tobacco and/or alcohol consumption habits and presence of oral fungi was analyzed. Contingency tables and logistic regression were employed to evaluate possible relationships between the presence of oral fungi and mixed colonization with these variables. 57.3% of the healthy individuals had oral yeasts and 21.8% had mixed colonization. The most prevalent yeasts were Candida albicans (52%), C. parapsilosis (17.9%), and C. dubliniensis (7.57%). Yeasts with most frequently mixed colonization were C. albicans and C. parapsilosis. No relationships were found among the variables analyzed. However, the presence of mixed colonization was related to the presence of dental prostheses (P less than 0.006), dental apparatuses (P=0.016) and O'Leary index (P=0.012). This is the first study that characterized oral yeasts in Colombian healthy individuals, determined the most prevalent oral yeasts C. albicans, C. parapsilosis and C. dublinensis and an association of mixed colonization with the use of dental prostheses and aparatology and poor hygiene. © 2019 by the Journal of Biomedical Research

Lack of replication of higher genetic risk load in men than in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

Introduction: We aimed to replicate a recent study which showed higher genetic risk load at 15 loci in men than in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This difference was very significant, and it was interpreted as indicating that men require more genetic susceptibility than women to develop SLE. Methods: Nineteen SLE-associated loci (thirteen of which are shared with the previous study) were analyzed in 1,457 SLE patients and 1,728 healthy controls of European ancestry. Genetic risk load was calculated as sex-specific sum genetic risk scores (GRS(s)). Results: Our results did not replicate those of the previous study at either the level of individual loci or the global level of GRS(s). GRS(s) were larger in women than in men (4.20 ± 1.07 in women vs. 3.27 ± 0.98 in men). This very significant difference (P < 10(-16)) was more dependent on the six new loci not included in the previous study (59% of the difference) than on the thirteen loci that are shared (the remaining 41%). However, the 13 shared loci also showed a higher genetic risk load in women than in men in our study (P = 6.6 × 10(-7)), suggesting that heterogeneity of participants, in addition to different loci, contributed to the opposite results. Conclusion: Our results show the lack of a clear trend toward higher genetic risk in one of the sexes for the analyzed SLE loci. They also highlight several limitations of assessments of genetic risk load, including the possibility of ascertainment bias with loci discovered in studies that have included mainly women

Biomagnifcation and body distribution of ivermectin in dung beetles

We thank the staf of Doñana Biological Reserve (DBR-ICTS), Doñana National Park, and Los Alcornocales Natural Park, especially D. Paz, F. Ibáñez, P. Bayón, M. Malla and D. Ruiz for logistic facilities for the field work and permissions (2019107300000904/IRM/MDCG/mes) to collect cattle dung and dung beetles. We are grateful to J. Castro and A. Rascón for technical assistance. We also thank A. V. Giménez-Gómez for her technical assistance in the laboratory work. We thank also F.-T Krell and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. Financial support was provided by the project CGL2015-68207-R of the Secretaría de Estado de Investigación–Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad.A terrestrial test system to investigate the biomagnifcation potential and tissue-specifc distribution of ivermectin, a widely used parasiticide, in the non-target dung beetle Thorectes lusitanicus (Jekel) was developed and validated. Biomagnifcation kinetics of ivermectin in T. lusitanicus was investigated by following uptake, elimination, and distribution of the compound in dung beetles feeding on contaminated faeces. Results showed that ivermectin was biomagnifed in adults of T. lusitanicus when exposed to non-lethal doses via food uptake. Ivermectin was quickly transferred from the gut to the haemolymph, generating a biomagnifcation factor (BMFk) three times higher in the haemolymph than in the gut after an uptake period of 12 days. The fat body appeared to exert a major role on the biomagnifcation of ivermectin in the insect body, showing a BMFk 1.6 times higher than in the haemolymph. The results of this study highlight that the biomagnifcation of ivermectin should be investigated from a global dung-based food web perspective and that the use of these antiparasitic substances should be monitored and controlled on a precautionary basis. Thus, we suggest that an additional efort be made in the development of standardised regulatory recommendations to guide biomagnifcation studies in terrestrial organisms, but also that it is necessary to adapt existing methods to assess the efects of such veterinary medical products

Azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of the surface detector signals of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of signals in Auger surface detector stations is a source of information on shower development. The azimuthal asymmetry is due to a combination of the longitudinal evolution of the shower and geometrical effects related to the angles of incidence of the particles into the detectors. The magnitude of the effect depends upon the zenith angle and state of development of the shower and thus provides a novel observable, $(\sec \theta)_\mathrm{max}$, sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays above $3 \times 10^{18}$ eV. By comparing measurements with predictions from shower simulations, we find for both of our adopted models of hadronic physics (QGSJETII-04 and EPOS-LHC) an indication that the mean cosmic-ray mass increases slowly with energy, as has been inferred from other studies. However, the mass estimates are dependent on the shower model and on the range of distance from the shower core selected. Thus the method has uncovered further deficiencies in our understanding of shower modelling that must be resolved before the mass composition can be inferred from $(\sec \theta)_\mathrm{max}$.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Multi-resolution anisotropy studies of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory

We report a multi-resolution search for anisotropies in the arrival directions of cosmic rays detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory with local zenith angles up to $80^\circ$ and energies in excess of 4 EeV ($4 \times 10^{18}$ eV). This search is conducted by measuring the angular power spectrum and performing a needlet wavelet analysis in two independent energy ranges. Both analyses are complementary since the angular power spectrum achieves a better performance in identifying large-scale patterns while the needlet wavelet analysis, considering the parameters used in this work, presents a higher efficiency in detecting smaller-scale anisotropies, potentially providing directional information on any observed anisotropies. No deviation from isotropy is observed on any angular scale in the energy range between 4 and 8 EeV. Above 8 EeV, an indication for a dipole moment is captured; while no other deviation from isotropy is observed for moments beyond the dipole one. The corresponding $p$-values obtained after accounting for searches blindly performed at several angular scales, are $1.3 \times 10^{-5}$ in the case of the angular power spectrum, and $2.5 \times 10^{-3}$ in the case of the needlet analysis. While these results are consistent with previous reports making use of the same data set, they provide extensions of the previous works through the thorough scans of the angular scales.Comment: Published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Added Report Numbe

Safety and Immunogenicity of a Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 1 (HER1)-Based Vaccine in Prostate Castration-Resistant Carcinoma Patients: A Dose-Escalation Phase I Study Trial

Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) remains incurable due to the lack of effective therapies. Activation of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 1 (HER1) in prostate cancer contributes to metastatic progression as well as to disease relapse. Here, we determined the toxicity and immunogenicity of a HER1-based cancer vaccine in CRPC patients included in a phase I clinical trial. CRPC patients (n = 24) were intramuscularly vaccinated with HER1 vaccine consisting of the extracellular domain of HER1 molecule (ECD) and very small size proteoliposome from Neisseria meningitidis (VSSP) and Montanide ISA-51 VG as adjuvants. Patients were included in five groups according to the vaccine dose (100, 200, 400, 600, and 800 μg). The primary endpoints were safety and immunogenicity. The anti-HER1 antibodies were measured by an ELISA, the recognition of an HER1 positive tumor cell line and the inhibition of HER1 phosphorylation by sera were determined by flow cytometry and western blot analysis, respectively. The HER1-specific T cell response was assessed by determination of IFN-γ-producing T cells using ELISpot assay. The vaccine was well tolerated. No grade III or IV adverse events were reported. High titers of anti-HER1 antibodies were observed in most of the evaluated patients. There were no significant differences regarding the geometric means of the anti-HER1 titers among the dose groups except the group of 100 μg in which antibody titers were significantly lower. A Th1-type IgG subclasses pattern was predominant in most patients. Only patients receiving the higher doses of vaccine showed significant tumor cell recognition and HER1 phosphorylation inhibition by hyperimmune sera. Forty two percent of the patients showed a specific T cell response against HER1 peptides pool in post-treatment samples. There was a trend toward survival benefit in those patients showing high anti-HER1 specific antibody titers and a significant association between cellular immune response and clinical outcome