Core-shell rare-earth-doped nanostructures in biomedicine

The current status of the use of core-shell rare-earth-doped nanoparticles in biomedical applications is reviewed in detail. The different core-shell rare-earth-doped nanoparticles developed so far are described and the most relevant examples of their application in imaging, sensing, and therapy are summarized. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages they present are discussed. Finally, a critical opinion of their potential application in real life biomedicine is givenThis work has been partially supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España (MINECO) (MAT2016-75362-C3-1-R), by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI16/ 00812), by the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (B2017/ BMD-3867RENIM-CM), by the European Comission (NanoTBTech), and co-financed by European Structural and Investment Fund. This work has also been partially supported by COST action CM1403. L. L. P. thanks the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid for the “Formación de personal investi-gador (FPI-UAM)” program. P. R. S. thanks MINECO and the Fondo Social Europeo (FSE) for the “Promoción del talento y su Empleabilidad en I+D+i” statal program (BES-2014-069410). D. H. O. is grateful to the Instituto de Salud Carlos III for a Sara Borrell Fellowship (CD17/00210

Lupane-type triterpenes and their anti-cancer activities against most common malignant tumors

In recent times, a great deal of interest has been motivated on plant derived compounds known as nutraceuticals. These compounds exert important beneficial activities that improve people’s health status when are consumed regularly, and now they appear as a viable option to explore their possible therapeutic effects against diseases like cancer. Particularly, lupane-type triterpenes have shown great ability to modulate multiple cancer-related signaling pathways and processes, including NF-κB, Wnt/β-catenin, PI3K/Akt, apoptosis, and many other routes related to proliferation or cell death, which are uncontrolled in malignant tumors. These investigations have promoted in vitro and in vivo studies, searching their mechanisms of action; although more research is still needed to prove its potential in human clinical trials. This review focuses on the ability of betulin, betulinic acid and lupeol to show benefits against the most common types of malignant tumors, which are considered a major global threat for public health

In vitro dissolution characteristics of patent, generic and similar brands of naproxen in various dissolution media

Purpose: To investigate the dissolution properties of various brands of naproxen in four dissolution media in order to forecast their biological availability. Methods: Dissolution tests were carried out in a dissolution tester with 48 tablets of different naproxen brands in 900 mL of 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.4. Subsequently, the medium was modified with 600 mL of buffer plus 300 mL of cola drink, grapefruit or milk. Each sample was taken and brought to a concentration approximating that of a reference solution. Absorbance at 332 nm was determined and the dissolution, Q, was calculated (Q values ≥ 80.0 ± 5 % were acceptable). Results: Dissolution in buffer was > 85 %. In cola drink, it was < 80 %, while in grapefruit juice, it was in the range of 7 - 68 %. Using 2-way ANOVA, these media and the three naproxen brands showed significant differences (F = 68.90, p = 0.0000; F = 23.18, p = 0.0000). With Fisher's LSD test, two of these media contributed consistently to dissolution, and the three drug brands showed statistically different dissolution profiles (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Caution must be exercised cola drink, grapefruit juice and milk are used to administered naproxen as the biological availability of the drug may be altered

Occurrence of antibiotics and bacterial resistance in wastewater and sea water from the Antarctic

The potential presence of introduced antibiotics in the aquatic environment is a hot topic of concern, particularly in the Antarctic, a highly vulnerable area protected under the Madrid protocol. The increasing presence of human population, especially during summer, might led to the appearance of pharmaceuticals in wastewater. The previous discovery of Escherichia coli strains resistant to antibiotics in sea water and wastewater collected in King George Island motivated our investigation on antibiotics occurrence in these samples. The application of a multi-residue LCMS/MS method for 20 antibiotics, revealed the presence of 8 compounds in treated wastewater, mainly the quinolones ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin (92% and 54% of the samples analyzed, average concentrations 0.89 μg/L and 0.75 μg/L, respectively) and the macrolides azithromycin and clarithromycin (15% positive samples, and average concentrations near 0.4 μg/L), and erythromycin (38% positive samples, average concentration 0.003 μg/L). Metronidazole and clindamycin were found in one sample, at 0.17 and 0.1 μg/L, respectively; and trimethoprim in two samples, at 0.001 μg/L. Analysis of sea water collected near the outfall of the wastewater discharges also showed the sporadic presence of 3 antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, clindamycin, trimethoprim) at low ng/L level, illustrating the impact of pharmaceuticals consumption and the poor removal of these compounds in conventional WWTPs. The most widespread antibiotic in sea water was ciprofloxacin, which was found in 15 out of 34 sea water samples analyzed, at concentrations ranging from 4 to 218 ng/L. Bacteria resistance was observed for some antibiotics identified in the samples (e.g. trimetropim and nalidixic acid –a first generation quinolone). However, resistance to some groups of antibiotics could not be correlated to their presence in the water samples due to analytical limitations (penicillins, tetraciclines). On the contrary, for some groups of antibiotics detected in samples (macrolides), the antibacterial activity against E. Coli was not investigated because these antibiotics do not include this bacterial species in their spectrum of activity. Our preliminary data demonstrate that antibiotics occurrence in the Antarctic aquatic environment is an issue that needs to be properly addressed. Periodical monitoring of water samples and the implementation of additional treatments in the WWTPs are recommended as a first step to prevent potential problems related to the presence of antibiotics and other emerging contaminants in the near future in Antarctica

The role of family in the intergenerational transmission of collective action

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this recordThe present research demonstrates intergenerational influences on collective action participation, whereby parents’ past and current participation in collective action (descriptive family norms) shape their children’s participation in conventional and radical collective action via injunctive family norms (perception that parents value such participation). Two unique data sets were used: dyads of activist parents and their adult children (Study 1, N = 100 dyads) and student activists who participated in a yearlong, three-wave longitudinal study (Study 2, Ns wave 1 = 1,221, Wave 2 = 960, and Wave 3 = 917). Parents’ past and current participation directly and indirectly predicted children’s protest participation in Study 1, while Study 2 showed a similar pattern longitudinally: Perceptions of parents’ participation (descriptive family norm) and approval (injunctive family norm) predicted change in collective action participation over time. Together, results highlight family environment as a critical setting for the intergenerational transmission of protest

Planck Intermediate Results. IV. The XMM-Newton validation programme for new Planck galaxy clusters

We present the final results from the XMM-Newton validation follow-up of new Planck galaxy cluster candidates. We observed 15 new candidates, detected with signal-to-noise ratios between 4.0 and 6.1 in the 15.5-month nominal Planck survey. The candidates were selected using ancillary data flags derived from the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) and Digitized Sky Survey all-sky maps, with the aim of pushing into the low SZ flux, high-z regime and testing RASS flags as indicators of candidate reliability. 14 new clusters were detected by XMM, including 2 double systems. Redshifts lie in the range 0.2 to 0.9, with 6 clusters at z>0.5. Estimated M500 range from 2.5 10^14 to 8 10^14 Msun. We discuss our results in the context of the full XMM validation programme, in which 51 new clusters have been detected. This includes 4 double and 2 triple systems, some of which are chance projections on the sky of clusters at different z. We find that association with a RASS-BSC source is a robust indicator of the reliability of a candidate, whereas association with a FSC source does not guarantee that the SZ candidate is a bona fide cluster. Nevertheless, most Planck clusters appear in RASS maps, with a significance greater than 2 sigma being a good indication that the candidate is a real cluster. The full sample gives a Planck sensitivity threshold of Y500 ~ 4 10^-4 arcmin^2, with indication for Malmquist bias in the YX-Y500 relation below this level. The corresponding mass threshold depends on z. Systems with M500 > 5 10^14 Msun at z > 0.5 are easily detectable with Planck. The newly-detected clusters follow the YX-Y500 relation derived from X-ray selected samples. Compared to X-ray selected clusters, the new SZ clusters have a lower X-ray luminosity on average for their mass. There is no indication of departure from standard self-similar evolution in the X-ray versus SZ scaling properties. (abridged)Comment: accepted by A&

The intergenerational transmission of participation in collective action: The role of conversation and political practices in the family

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordIn this study, we examined the intergenerational transmission of collective action from parents to children. Using a mixed-method approach combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, we analysed data from 100 dyads of activist parents in Chile (involved in the mobilizations against the dictatorship during the 1980s) and their adult children (N = 200). The quantitative analysis addressed the role of conversations about politics in the family. The results provided evidence of a direct association between those conversations and the frequency of participation in conventional and radical actions by the children, and an indirect association via children’s knowledge about parental involvement in past social movements. The qualitative phase, which used interviews and thematic analysis on a subsample of 24 dyads (N = 48), confirmed the role of political conversations, but also revealed the influence of other factors such as cultural consumption and joint political participation. This phase allowed the identification of factors that facilitate or hinder family transmission. Overall, the study highlights the relevance of family as a critical site of socialization that enables the intergenerational transmission of protest.Chilean National Foundation for Scientific and Technological DevelopmentCenter for Social Conflict and Cohesion StudiesInterdisciplinary Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Studie

Natural Genome Diversity of AI-2 Quorum Sensing in Escherichia coli: Conserved Signal Production but Labile Signal Reception

Quorum sensing (QS) regulates the onset of bacterial social responses in function to cell density having an important impact in virulence. Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) is a signal that has the peculiarity of mediating both intra- and interspecies bacterial QS. We analyzed the diversity of all components of AI-2 QS across 44 complete genomes of Escherichia coli and Shigella strains. We used phylogenetic tools to study its evolution and determined the phenotypes of single-deletion mutants to predict phenotypes of natural strains. Our analysis revealed many likely adaptive polymorphisms both in gene content and in nucleotide sequence. We show that all natural strains possess the signal emitter (the luxS gene), but many lack a functional signal receptor (complete lsr operon) and the ability to regulate extracellular signal concentrations. This result is in striking contrast with the canonical species-specific QS systems where one often finds orphan receptors, without a cognate synthase, but not orphan emitters. Our analysis indicates that selection actively maintains a balanced polymorphism for the presence/absence of a functional lsr operon suggesting diversifying selection on the regulation of signal accumulation and recognition. These results can be explained either by niche-specific adaptation or by selection for a coercive behavior where signal-blind emitters benefit from forcing other individuals in the population to haste in cooperative behaviors.International Early Career Scientist grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute: (HHMI 55007436), Institut Pasteur, the CNRS, FCT award: (SFRH/BPD/26852/2006), salary support of LAO/ITQB & FCT

Standardizing effect size from linear regression models with log-transformed variables for meta-analysis

Background: Meta-analysis is very useful to summarize the effect of a treatment or a risk factor for a given disease. Often studies report results based on log-transformed variables in order to achieve the principal assumptions of a linear regression model. If this is the case for some, but not all studies, the effects need to be homogenized. Methods: We derived a set of formulae to transform absolute changes into relative ones, and vice versa, to allow including all results in a meta-analysis. We applied our procedure to all possible combinations of log-transformed independent or dependent variables. We also evaluated it in a simulation based on two variables either normally or asymmetrically distributed. Results: In all the scenarios, and based on different change criteria, the effect size estimated by the derived set of formulae was equivalent to the real effect size. To avoid biased estimates of the effect, this procedure should be used with caution in the case of independent variables with asymmetric distributions that significantly differ from the normal distribution. We illustrate an application of this procedure by an application to a meta-analysis on the potential effects on neurodevelopment in children exposed to arsenic and manganese. Conclusions: The procedure proposed has been shown to be valid and capable of expressing the effect size of a linear regression model based on different change criteria in the variables. Homogenizing the results from different studies beforehand allows them to be combined in a meta-analysis, independently of whether the transformations had been performed on the dependent and/or independent variables