Comparación de metodologías de secado para la determinación de humedad en bagazo

El contenido de humedad es un parámetro fundamental para el control de la cantidad de agua de imbibición y regulación de los equipos de molienda de la caña de azúcar. Este trabajo tiene por objetivo comparar la metodología tradicional para la determinación del contenido de humedad del bagazo por medio de estufa con la metodología propuesta de secado por microondas. Se trabajó con 20 muestras de bagazo recolectadas en diversos ingenios. Los resultados promedios fueron: humedad en estufa 55,00% y por microondas de 54,84%. Se realizó un análisis estadístico para validar la metodología propuesta y se obtuvieron errores estándares entre las técnicas inferiores al 1%. Se concluye que el método de secado por microondas tiene la ventaja de obtener resultados similares a la estufa en un tiempo menor (2 h frente a las 9 h necesarias en el método tradicional), y que resulta adecuado para la determinación del contenido de humedad en muestras de bagazo.The moisture content is critical parameter to control the amount of water imbibition and regulation of sugarcane milling equipment. This work aimed at comparing the traditional methodology for determining the moisture content of bagasse through stove with the proposed methodology with microwave drying. We worked with 20 collected bagasse samples from various mills. The average results were: 55.00% moisture and microwave oven 54.84%. We performed statistical analysis to validate the proposed methodology and standard errors between techniques lower than 1%. were obtained It is concluded that the method of microwave drying has the advantage of obtaining similar to the stove results in shorter time (2 h versus 9h necessary in the traditional method), and is suitable for determining the moisture content in bagasse samples.Asociación Argentina de Energías Renovables y Medio Ambiente (ASADES

Caracterización energética de vinazas de caña de azúcar como posible biocombustible para calderas de vapor bagaceras

La vinaza es un líquido derivado de la destilación del vino resultante de la fermentación de jugos o mieles de caña de azúcar; posee un pH ácido con alto contenido de materia orgánica que si no se trata adecuadamente puede ser contaminante. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar nuevos resultados de las características energéticas de vinazas de nuestra región para diferentes grados de concentración: 30, 40, 50 y 60 ºBrix, con el objetivo de aprovechar este efluente como posible biocombustible para calderas de vapor de la industria azucarera. Los resultados promedio obtenidos fueron: 36,80 % de cenizas (b.s.); 1,02 a 1,26 g/cm3 de densidad; 0,91 a 224,84 cp de viscosidad; punto de fusión de 850 a 900ºC y poder calorífico superior (PCS) entre 1.008 a 3.356 kcal/kg. Este estudio sirve de base para el diseño de nuevos sistemas de transporte y de combustión de este posible fluido combustible.The vinasse is a liquid derived from the distillation of wine resulting from the fermentation of juice or sugar cane molasses. It has an acid pH, with high in organic matter, which if it is not well treated it could be contaminant. The aim of this paper is to show new results of the energy characteristics of vinasse in our region, for different degrees of concentration: 30, 40, 50, and 60ºBrix, with the object of making this effluent as possible biofuel for steam boilers of the sugar industry. The average results were: 36.80% ash (d.b.); 1.02 to 1.26 g/cm3 density; viscosity 0.932 to 224.84 cp; melting point 850 to 900°C and higher calorific value (PCS) between 1008 to 3356 kcal/kg. This study results can be used as a base for the design of new transport systems and combustion for this possible combustible fluid.Tema 6: Energía eólica, geotermia, biomasa y otras energías no convencionales.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Caracterización energética de vinazas de caña de azúcar como posible biocombustible para calderas de vapor bagaceras

La vinaza es un líquido derivado de la destilación del vino resultante de la fermentación de jugos o mieles de caña de azúcar; posee un pH ácido con alto contenido de materia orgánica que si no se trata adecuadamente puede ser contaminante. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar nuevos resultados de las características energéticas de vinazas de nuestra región para diferentes grados de concentración: 30, 40, 50 y 60 ºBrix, con el objetivo de aprovechar este efluente como posible biocombustible para calderas de vapor de la industria azucarera. Los resultados promedio obtenidos fueron: 36,80 % de cenizas (b.s.); 1,02 a 1,26 g/cm3 de densidad; 0,91 a 224,84 cp de viscosidad; punto de fusión de 850 a 900ºC y poder calorífico superior (PCS) entre 1.008 a 3.356 kcal/kg. Este estudio sirve de base para el diseño de nuevos sistemas de transporte y de combustión de este posible fluido combustible.The vinasse is a liquid derived from the distillation of wine resulting from the fermentation of juice or sugar cane molasses. It has an acid pH, with high in organic matter, which if it is not well treated it could be contaminant. The aim of this paper is to show new results of the energy characteristics of vinasse in our region, for different degrees of concentration: 30, 40, 50, and 60ºBrix, with the object of making this effluent as possible biofuel for steam boilers of the sugar industry. The average results were: 36.80% ash (d.b.); 1.02 to 1.26 g/cm3 density; viscosity 0.932 to 224.84 cp; melting point 850 to 900°C and higher calorific value (PCS) between 1008 to 3356 kcal/kg. This study results can be used as a base for the design of new transport systems and combustion for this possible combustible fluid.Tema 6: Energía eólica, geotermia, biomasa y otras energías no convencionales.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Impact of biological agents on postsurgical complications in inflammatory bowel disease: A multicentre study of Geteccu

Background: The impact of biologics on the risk of postoperative complications (PC) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is still an ongoing debate. This lack of evidence is more relevant for ustekinumab and vedolizumab. Aims: To evaluate the impact of biologics on the risk of PC. Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 37 centres. Patients treated with biologics within 12 weeks before surgery were considered “exposed”. The impact of the exposure on the risk of 30-day PC and the risk of infections was assessed by logistic regression and propensity score-matched analysis. Results: A total of 1535 surgeries were performed on 1370 patients. Of them, 711 surgeries were conducted in the exposed cohort (584 anti-TNF, 58 vedolizumab and 69 ustekinumab). In the multivariate analysis, male gender (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.2–2.0), urgent surgery (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2–2.2), laparotomy approach (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1–1.9) and severe anaemia (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3–2.6) had higher risk of PC, while academic hospitals had significantly lower risk. Exposure to biologics (either anti-TNF, vedolizumab or ustekinumab) did not increase the risk of PC (OR: 1.2; 95% CI: 0.97–1.58), although it could be a risk factor for postoperative infections (OR 1.5; 95% CI: 1.03–2.27). Conclusions: Preoperative administration of biologics does not seem to be a risk factor for overall PC, although it may be so for postoperative infections

Prevalence and genetic diversity of Avipoxvirus in house sparrows in Spain

Avipoxvirus (APV) is a fairly common virus affecting birds that causes morbidity and mortality in wild and captive birds. We studied the prevalence of pox-like lesions and genetic diversity of APV in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in natural, agricultural and urban areas in southern Spain in 2013 and 2014 and in central Spain for 8 months (2012±2013). Overall, 3.2% of 2,341 house sparrows visually examined in southern Spain had cutaneous lesions consistent with avian pox. A similar prevalence (3%) was found in 338 birds from central Spain. Prevalence was higher in hatch-year birds than in adults. We did not detect any clear spatial or temporal patterns of APV distribution. Molecular analyses of poxvirus-like lesions revealed that 63% of the samples were positive. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses of 29 DNA sequences from the fpv167 gene, detected two strains belonging to the canarypox clade (subclades B1 and B2) previously found in Spain. One of them appears predominant in Iberia and North Africa and shares 70% similarity to fowlpox and canarypox virus. This APV strain has been identified in a limited number of species in the Iberian Peninsula, Morocco and Hungary. The second one has a global distribution and has been found in numerous wild bird species around the world. To our knowledge, this represents the largest study of avian poxvirus disease in the broadly distributed house sparrow and strongly supports the findings that Avipox prevalence in this species in South and central Spain is moderate and the genetic diversity low.This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project CGL2010-15734/BOS), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project CGL2013-41642-P/BOS) and the Innovation and Development Agency of Andalusia (Spain) (P11-RNM-7038). Grants were awarded to JMP (Juan de la Cierva- JCI-2012-11868) and MAJM (FPIBES-2011-047609), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; RAJW (CEI-PICATA2012), CEI Campus of International Excellence; MM (FPU12/0568), Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. RAJW was supported by the Craaford Foundation (grant 20160971) during the writing of this publication. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

SMAD3 rs17228212 Gene Polymorphism Is Associated with Reduced Risk to Cerebrovascular Accidents and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Anti-CCP Negative Spanish Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a complex polygenic inflammatory disease associated with accelerated atherosclerosis and increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease. Previous genome-wide association studies have described SMAD3 rs17228212 polymorphism as an important signal associated with CV events. The aim of the present study was to evaluate for the first time the relationship between this gene polymorphism and the susceptibility to CV manifestations and its potential association with the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis assessed by the evaluation of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in patients with RA

J-PLUS: The javalambre photometric local universe survey

ABSTRACT: TheJavalambrePhotometric Local UniverseSurvey (J-PLUS )isanongoing 12-band photometricopticalsurvey, observingthousands of squaredegrees of theNorthernHemispherefromthededicated JAST/T80 telescope at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (OAJ). The T80Cam is a camera with a field of view of 2 deg2 mountedon a telescopewith a diameter of 83 cm, and isequippedwith a uniquesystem of filtersspanningtheentireopticalrange (3500–10 000 Å). Thisfiltersystemis a combination of broad-, medium-, and narrow-band filters, optimallydesigned to extracttherest-framespectralfeatures (the 3700–4000 Å Balmer break region, Hδ, Ca H+K, the G band, and the Mg b and Ca triplets) that are key to characterizingstellartypes and delivering a low-resolutionphotospectrumforeach pixel of theobservedsky. With a typicaldepth of AB ∼21.25 mag per band, thisfilter set thusallowsforanunbiased and accuratecharacterization of thestellarpopulation in our Galaxy, itprovidesanunprecedented 2D photospectralinformationforall resolved galaxies in the local Universe, as well as accuratephoto-z estimates (at the δ z/(1 + z)∼0.005–0.03 precisionlevel) formoderatelybright (up to r ∼ 20 mag) extragalacticsources. Whilesomenarrow-band filters are designedforthestudy of particular emissionfeatures ([O II]/λ3727, Hα/λ6563) up to z < 0.017, theyalsoprovidewell-definedwindowsfortheanalysis of otheremissionlines at higherredshifts. As a result, J-PLUS has thepotential to contribute to a widerange of fields in Astrophysics, both in thenearbyUniverse (MilkyWaystructure, globular clusters, 2D IFU-likestudies, stellarpopulations of nearby and moderate-redshiftgalaxies, clusters of galaxies) and at highredshifts (emission-line galaxies at z ≈ 0.77, 2.2, and 4.4, quasi-stellarobjects, etc.). Withthispaper, wereleasethefirst∼1000 deg2 of J-PLUS data, containingabout 4.3 millionstars and 3.0 milliongalaxies at r <  21mag. With a goal of 8500 deg2 forthe total J-PLUS footprint, thesenumbers are expected to rise to about 35 millionstars and 24 milliongalaxiesbytheend of thesurvey.Funding for the J-PLUS Project has been provided by the Governments of Spain and Aragón through the Fondo de Inversiones de Teruel, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO; under grants AYA2017-86274-P, AYA2016-77846-P, AYA2016-77237-C3-1-P, AYA2015-66211-C2-1-P, AYA2015-66211-C2-2, AYA2012-30789, AGAUR grant SGR-661/2017, and ICTS-2009-14), and European FEDER funding (FCDD10-4E-867, FCDD13-4E-2685

Effectiveness and safety of first-generation protease inhibitors in clinical practice: Hepatitis C virus patients with advanced fibrosis

AIM: To evaluates the effectiveness and safety of the first generation, NS3/4A protease inhibitors (PIs) in clinical practice against chronic C virus, especially in patients with advanced fibrosis. METHODS: Prospective study and non-experimental analysis of a multicentre cohort of 38 Spanish hospitals that includes patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1, treatment-nai¨ve (TN) or treatment-experienced (TE), who underwent triple therapy with the first generation NS3/4A protease inhibitors, boceprevir (BOC) and telaprevir (TVR), in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The patients were treatment in routine practice settings. Data on the study population and on adverse clinical and virologic effects were compiled during the treatment period and during follow up. RESULTS: One thousand and fifty seven patients were included, 405 (38%) were treated with BOC and 652 (62%) with TVR. Of this total, 30% (n = 319) were TN and the remaining were TE: 28% (n = 298) relapsers, 12% (n = 123) partial responders (PR), 25% (n = 260) null-responders (NR) and for 5% (n = 57) with prior response unknown. The rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) by intention-to-treatment (ITT) was greater in those treated with TVR (65%) than in those treated with BOC (52%) (P < 0.0001), whereas by modified intention-to-treatment (mITT) no were found significant differences. By degree of fibrosis, 56% of patients were F4 and the highest SVR rates were recorded in the non-F4 patients, both TN and TE. In the analysis by groups, the TN patients treated with TVR by ITT showed a higher SVR (P = 0.005). However, by mITT there were no significant differences between BOC and TVR. In the multivariate analysis by mITT, the significant SVR factors were relapsers, IL28B CC and non-F4; the type of treatment (BOC or TVR) was not significant. The lowest SVR values were presented by the F4-NR patients, treated with BOC (46%) or with TVR (45%). 28% of the patients interrupted the treatment, mainly by non-viral response (51%): this outcome was more frequent in the TE than in the TN patients (57% vs 40%, P = 0.01). With respect to severe haematological disorders, neutropaenia was more likely to affect the patients treated with BOC (33% vs 20%, P = 0.0001), and thrombocytopaenia and anaemia, the F4 patients (P = 0.000, P = 0.025, respectively). CONCLUSION: In a real clinical practice setting with a high proportion of patients with advanced fibrosis, effectiveness of first-generation PIs was high except for NR patients, with similar SVR rates being achieved by BOC and TVR

RAD51 foci as a functional biomarker of homologous recombination repair and PARP inhibitor resistance in germline BRCA-mutated breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2)-deficient tumors display impaired homologous recombination repair (HRR) and enhanced sensitivity to DNA damaging agents or to poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi). Their efficacy in germline BRCA1/2 (gBRCA1/2)-mutated metastatic breast cancers has been recently confirmed in clinical trials. Numerous mechanisms of PARPi resistance have been described, whose clinical relevance in gBRCA-mutated breast cancer is unknown. This highlights the need to identify functional biomarkers to better predict PARPi sensitivity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated the in vivo mechanisms of PARPi resistance in gBRCA1 patient-derived tumor xenografts (PDXs) exhibiting differential response to PARPi. Analysis included exome sequencing and immunostaining of DNA damage response proteins to functionally evaluate HRR. Findings were validated in a retrospective sample set from gBRCA1/2-cancer patients treated with PARPi. RESULTS: RAD51 nuclear foci, a surrogate marker of HRR functionality, were the only common feature in PDX and patient samples with primary or acquired PARPi resistance. Consistently, low RAD51 was associated with objective response to PARPi. Evaluation of the RAD51 biomarker in untreated tumors was feasible due to endogenous DNA damage. In PARPi-resistant gBRCA1 PDXs, genetic analysis found no in-frame secondary mutations, but BRCA1 hypomorphic proteins in 60% of the models, TP53BP1-loss in 20% and RAD51-amplification in one sample, none mutually exclusive. Conversely, one of three PARPi-resistant gBRCA2 tumors displayed BRCA2 restoration by exome sequencing. In PDXs, PARPi resistance could be reverted upon combination of a PARPi with an ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) inhibitor. CONCLUSION: Detection of RAD51 foci in gBRCA tumors correlates with PARPi resistance regardless of the underlying mechanism restoring HRR function. This is a promising biomarker to be used in the clinic to better select patients for PARPi therapy. Our study also supports the clinical development of PARPi combinations such as those with ATM inhibitors