Temperature responsiveness of gilthead sea bream bone; an in vitro and in vivo approach

This study aimed to characterize the molecules involved in osteogenesis in seabream and establish using in vitro/in vivo approaches the responsiveness of selected key genes to temperature. The impact of a temperature drop from 23 to 13 degrees C was evaluated in juvenile fish thermally imprinted during embryogenesis. Both, in vitro/in vivo, Fib1a, appeared important in the first stages of bone formation, and Col1A1, ON and OP, in regulating matrix production and mineralization. OCN mRNA levels were up-regulated in the final larval stages when mineralization was more intense. Moreover, temperature-dependent differential gene expression was observed, with lower transcript levels in the larvae at 18 degrees C relative to those at 22 degrees C, suggesting bone formation was enhanced in the latter group. Results revealed that thermal imprinting affected the long-term regulation of osteogenesis. Specifically, juveniles under the low and low-to-high-temperature regimes had reduced levels of OCN when challenged, indicative of impaired bone development. In contrast, gene expression in fish from the high and high-to-low-temperature treatments was unchanged, suggesting imprinting may have a protective effect. Overall, the present study revealed that thermal imprinting modulates bone development in seabream larvae, and demonstrated the utility of the in vitro MSC culture as a reliable tool to investigate fish osteogenesis."Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad" (MINECO) [BES-2015-074654]; Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/111512/2015, SFRH/BD/81625/2011]; MINECO, Spain [AGL2010-17324, AGL2014-57974-R]; "Generalitat de Catalunya" (XRAq); Generalitat de Catalunya [2014SGR-01371]; FCT, Portugal [CCMAR/Multi/04326/2013]; European Union [LIFECYCLE EU-FP7 222719]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Factors associated with mechanical ventilation longer than 24 h after liver transplantation in patients at risk for bleeding

Background: This risk analysis aimed to explore all modifiable factors associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation (lasting > 24 h) after liver transplantation, based on prospectively collected data from a clinical trial.Methods: We evaluated 306 candidates. Ninety-three patients were excluded for low risk for transfusion (preoperative haemoglobin > 130 g.l(-1)), and 31 patients were excluded for anticoagulation therapy, bleeding disorders, familial polyneuropathy, or emergency status. Risk factors were initially identified with a log-binomial regression model. Relative risk was then calculated and adjusted for age, sex, and disease severity (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease [MELD] score).Results: Early tracheal extubation was performed in 149 patients (84.7%), and 27 patients (15.3%) required prolonged mechanical ventilation. Reoperations were required for 6.04% of the early extubated patients and 44% of patients who underwent prolonged ventilation (p = 0.001). A MELD score > 23 was the main risk factor for prolonged ventilation. Once modifiable risk factors were adjusted for MELD score, sex, and age, three factors were significantly associated with prolonged ventilation: tranexamic acid (p = 0.007) and red blood cell (p = 0.001) infusion and the occurrence of postreperfusion syndrome (p = 0.004). The median (IQR) ICU stay was 3 (2-4) days in the early extubation group vs. 5 (3-10) days in the prolonged ventilation group (p = 0.001). The median hospital stay was also significantly shorter after early extubation, at 14 (10-24) days, vs. 25 (14-55) days in the prolonged ventilation group (p = 0.001). Eight patients in the early-extubation group (5.52%) were readmitted to the ICU, nearly all for reoperations, with no between-group differences in ICU readmissions (prolonged ventilation group, 3.7%).Conclusion: We conclude that bleeding and postreperfusion syndrome are the main modifiable factors associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation and length of ICU stay, suggesting that trials should explore vasopressor support strategies and other interventions prior to graft reperfusion that might prevent potential fibrinolysis

Cambios en la microbiota intestinal de Sparus aurata tras la administración de dietas suplementadas con D. hansenii e INMUNOTEC

Abstract Effects on the intestinal microbiota of Sparus aurata after administration of diets supplemented with different doses of Debaryomyces hansenii or INMUNOTEC have been evaluated. The results revealed significant changes at metagenomical level and it could be related to metabolic changes, especially in the case of the diet supplemented with the highest dose of IMMUNOTEC. Resumen En este estudio se analizan los efectos que la inclusión en la dieta de distintas dosis de Debaryomyces hansenii e INMUNOTEC tienen sobre la microbiota intestinal de ejemplares de Sparus auratatras. Los resultados obtenidos revelaron cambios a nivel metagenómico, que podrían estar asociados con cambios metabólicos, especialmente en el caso de la dieta suplementada con la dosis más elevada de INMUNOTEC.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. Proyecto DIETAplus, JACUMAR (Junta de Cultivos Marinos, MAPAMA). Cofinanciado fondos FEM

Effect of TNF-a genetic variants and CCR5 Delta 32 on the vulnerability to HIV-1 infection and disease progression in Caucasian Spaniards

Background: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is thought to be involved in the various immunogenetic events that influence HIV-1 infection. Methods: We aimed to determine whether carriage of the TNF-α-238G>A, -308G>A and -863 C>A gene promoter single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and the CCR5Δ32 variant allele influence the risk of HIV-1 infection and disease progression in Caucasian Spaniards. The study group consisted of 423 individuals. Of these, 239 were uninfected (36 heavily exposed but uninfected [EU] and 203 healthy controls [HC]) and 184 were HIV-1-infected (109 typical progressors [TP] and 75 long-term nonprogressors [LTNP] of over 16 years' duration). TNF-α SNP and the CCR5Δ32 allele were assessed using PCR-RFLP and automatic sequencing analysis methods on white blood cell DNA. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared using the χ 2 test and the Fisher exact test. Haplotypes were compared by logistic regression analysis. Results: The distribution of TNF-α-238G>A, -308G>A and -863 C>A genetic variants was non-significantly different in HIV-1-infected patients compared with uninfected individuals: -238G>A, p = 0.7 and p = 0.3; -308G>A, p = 0.05 and p = 0.07; -863 C>A, p = 0.7 and p = 0.4, for genotype and allele comparisons, respectively. Haplotype analyses, however, indicated that carriers of the haplotype H3 were significantly more common among uninfected subjects (p = 0.04). Among the infected patients, the distribution of the three TNF-α genetic variants assessed was non-significantly different between TP and LTNP: -238G>A, p = 0.35 and p = 0.7; -308G>A, p = 0.7 and p = 0.6: -863 C>A, p = 0.2 and p = 0.2, for genotype and allele comparisons, respectively. Haplotype analyses also indicated non-significant associations. Subanalyses in the LTNP subset indicated that the TNF-α-238A variant allele was significantly overrepresented in patients who spontaneously controlled plasma viremia compared with those who had a detectable plasma viral load (genotype comparisons, p = 0.02; allele comparisons, p = 0.03). The CCR5Δ32 distribution was non-significantly different in HIV-1-infected patients with respect to the uninfected population (p = 0.15 and p = 0.2 for genotype and allele comparisons, respectively) and in LTNP vs TP (p = 0.4 and p = 0.5 for genotype and allele comparisons, respectively). Conclusions: In our cohort of Caucasian Spaniards, TNF-α genetic variants could be involved in the vulnerability to HIV1 infection. TNF-α genetic variants were unrelated to disease progression in infected subjects. The -238G>A SNP may modulate the control of viremia in LTNP. Carriage of the CCR5Δ32 variant allele had no effect on the risk of infection and disease progression

Comparison of seven prognostic tools to identify low-risk pulmonary embolism in patients aged <50 years

publishersversionPeer reviewe

The CHEOPS mission

The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) was selected in 2012, as the first small mission in the ESA Science Programme and successfully launched in December 2019. CHEOPS is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with important contributions by ten additional ESA Member States. CHEOPS is the first mission dedicated to search for transits of exoplanets using ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. As a follow-up mission, CHEOPS is mainly dedicated to improving, whenever possible, existing radii measurements or provide first accurate measurements for a subset of those planets for which the mass has already been estimated from ground-based spectroscopic surveys and to following phase curves. CHEOPS will provide prime targets for future spectroscopic atmospheric characterisation. Requirements on the photometric precision and stability have been derived for stars with magnitudes ranging from 6 to 12 in the V band. In particular, CHEOPS shall be able to detect Earth-size planets transiting G5 dwarf stars in the magnitude range between 6 and 9 by achieving a photometric precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration. For K stars in the magnitude range between 9 and 12, CHEOPS shall be able to detect transiting Neptune-size planets achieving a photometric precision of 85 ppm in 3 hours of integration. This is achieved by using a single, frame-transfer, back-illuminated CCD detector at the focal plane assembly of a 33.5 cm diameter telescope. The 280 kg spacecraft has a pointing accuracy of about 1 arcsec rms and orbits on a sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit at 700 km altitude. The nominal mission lifetime is 3.5 years. During this period, 20% of the observing time is available to the community through a yearly call and a discretionary time programme managed by ESA.Comment: Submitted to Experimental Astronom

Multiplexing of electrospray sources for space propulsion and physical sputtering

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONMultiplexing of electrospray sources for space propulsion and physical sputteringByEnric Lluís Grustan GutiérrezDoctor of Philosophy in Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringUniversity of California, Irvine, 2015Professor Manuel Gamero Castaño, ChairThe present work explores what can be achieved when the fields of microfabrication and electrospray atomization intersect. The electrospraying of conductive liquids is a well documented technique used heavily for mass spectrometry but also for drug encapsulation or electric propulsion among other applications.Chapters 2 and 3 of the dissertation focus on the development of a miniaturized array of sixty-four electrospray sources, determining the design requirements and how to adapt them to microfabrication processes. The prototypes response to mass flux and emitting voltage variations is characterized by recording the currents at the emitter, extractor and collector. To determine whether the source can run continuously for prolonged periods of time, it is left operating until malfunction; the maximum life span is 12 hours. The most advanced prototype undergoes Time-of-flight spectrometry analysis to evaluate its capabilities for satellite propulsion; with resulting mass flux ranging from 2.07·10-9 to 2.81·10-8 kg/s, a total maximum thrust of 34 µN, an Isp varying from 124 to 245s, with specific charge between 697 and 3142 C/kg and a maximum thrust efficiency of 70%.In the final portion of the document we present the effects of bombarding Si, SiC, InAs, InP, Ge, GaAs, GaSb and GaN with high kinetic energy projectiles from a single emitter electrospray source. We investigate the structure of the damaged surface and sputtered volume by atomic force and scanning electron microscopy and stylus profilometry. The dependance of substrate nature, kinetic energy and projectile dosage on the final topography of the processed slice is discussed together with sputtering rate and yield. The maximum sputtering rates for the technologically interesting SiC and GaN are 220 and 630 nm/min respectively.Gold, AZ4620 and Shipley 1827 photoresists layers are deposited on a silicon substrate and sputtered to find their adequacy as microfabrication masks. The sputtering rate selectivity between mask and substrate is calculated for different impact velocities; the maximum value for gold is 64.17, at low speeds Shipley and AZ selectivity is virtually infinite. Finally as proof of concept some intricate structures are carved on silicon using AZ4620

Multiplexing of electrospray sources for space propulsion and physical sputtering

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONMultiplexing of electrospray sources for space propulsion and physical sputteringByEnric Lluís Grustan GutiérrezDoctor of Philosophy in Mechanical and Aerospace EngineeringUniversity of California, Irvine, 2015Professor Manuel Gamero Castaño, ChairThe present work explores what can be achieved when the fields of microfabrication and electrospray atomization intersect. The electrospraying of conductive liquids is a well documented technique used heavily for mass spectrometry but also for drug encapsulation or electric propulsion among other applications.Chapters 2 and 3 of the dissertation focus on the development of a miniaturized array of sixty-four electrospray sources, determining the design requirements and how to adapt them to microfabrication processes. The prototypes response to mass flux and emitting voltage variations is characterized by recording the currents at the emitter, extractor and collector. To determine whether the source can run continuously for prolonged periods of time, it is left operating until malfunction; the maximum life span is 12 hours. The most advanced prototype undergoes Time-of-flight spectrometry analysis to evaluate its capabilities for satellite propulsion; with resulting mass flux ranging from 2.07·10-9 to 2.81·10-8 kg/s, a total maximum thrust of 34 µN, an Isp varying from 124 to 245s, with specific charge between 697 and 3142 C/kg and a maximum thrust efficiency of 70%.In the final portion of the document we present the effects of bombarding Si, SiC, InAs, InP, Ge, GaAs, GaSb and GaN with high kinetic energy projectiles from a single emitter electrospray source. We investigate the structure of the damaged surface and sputtered volume by atomic force and scanning electron microscopy and stylus profilometry. The dependance of substrate nature, kinetic energy and projectile dosage on the final topography of the processed slice is discussed together with sputtering rate and yield. The maximum sputtering rates for the technologically interesting SiC and GaN are 220 and 630 nm/min respectively.Gold, AZ4620 and Shipley 1827 photoresists layers are deposited on a silicon substrate and sputtered to find their adequacy as microfabrication masks. The sputtering rate selectivity between mask and substrate is calculated for different impact velocities; the maximum value for gold is 64.17, at low speeds Shipley and AZ selectivity is virtually infinite. Finally as proof of concept some intricate structures are carved on silicon using AZ4620

Microfabricated electrospray thruster array with high hydraulic resistance channels

Electrospray thrusters can deliver the efficient primary propulsion and attitude control actuation needed by small satellites. The microfabricated multiemitter array is an ideal implementation of this technology because it addresses the thrust, volume, mass, and scalability requirements across the size range of small satellites. This paper describes the microfabrication and testing of an internally fed 64-emitter array. The main goal is to decouple the design and fabrication of the emitters from the need to provide a flowpath with sufficient hydraulic resistance for each emitter. The latter has traditionally been achieved by reducing the diameter of the emitter’s inner channel or by filling it with a bed of beads; whereas in this paper, individual flow-restrictive channels are etched on the back of the emitter wafer, connecting each emitter to a common distribution manifold. The source operates steadily in vacuum. Beam interception by the extractor is negligible in a wide range of flow rates and emitter potentials. The thrust, mass flow rate, specific impulse, and propulsive efficiency are calculated using the time-of-flight technique. These parameters range between 8.1 and 54.0  μN, 3.5×10−9 and 5.73×10−8  kg/s, 96 and 236 s, and 61 and 75% using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide as propellant

Multi-objective optimization of low-thrust propulsion systems for multi-target missions using ANNs

Multi-target missions are an attractive solution to visit multiple bodies, increasing the scientific return and reducing the cost, compared to multiple missions to individual targets. Examples of multi-target missions are multiple active debris removals (MADR) and multiple near-Earth asteroids rendezvous (MNR) missions. MADR missions allow for the disposal of inactive satellites, preventing the build-up of space junk, while MNR missions allow to reduce the expenses of each asteroid observation. Since those missions are long and highly demanding in terms of energy, it is paramount to select the most convenient propulsion system so that the propellant mass and the duration of the mission are minimized. To this end, this paper proposes the use of a multi-objective optimization and artificial neural networks. The methodology is assessed by optimizing trajectories for MADR and MNR sequences with off-the-shelf thrusters. Multiple Pareto-optimal solutions can be identified depending on the propulsion system characteristics, enabling mission designers to trade-off the different options quickly and reliably