211 research outputs found
Valorization of Tomato Processing by-Products: Fatty Acid Extraction and Production of Bio-Based Materials
A method consisting of the alkaline hydrolysis of tomato pomace by-products has been optimized to obtain a mixture of unsaturated and polyhydroxylated fatty acids as well as a non-hydrolysable secondary residue. Reaction rates and the activation energy of the hydrolysis were calculated to reduce costs associated with chemicals and energy consumption. Lipid and non-hydrolysable fractions were chemically (infrared (IR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS)) and thermally (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)) characterized. In addition, the fatty acid mixture was used to produce cutin-based polyesters. Freestanding films were prepared by non-catalyzed melt-polycondensation and characterized by Attenuated Total Reflected-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), DSC, TGA, Water Contact Angles (WCA), and tensile tests. These bio-based polymers were hydrophobic, insoluble, infusible, and thermally stable, their physical properties being tunable by controlling the presence of unsaturated fatty acids and oxygen in the reaction. The participation of an oxidative crosslinking side reaction is proposed to be responsible for such modifications.Andalusian Regional Government P11-TEP-7418Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2015-65246-R and AGL2017-83036-RFondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) AGL2015-65246-R and AGL2017-83036-
Assaying the rigidity guided migration of human tumour stromal myofibroblasts (TSMs) on polyacrylamide substrates mimicking the healthy and fibrotic tissue transition boundary
Levels of insulin and HOMA-IR in adolescents in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico
An alarming rise of obesity in adolescents has been observed, placing them at risk of developing resistance to insulin (IR) and its adverse metabolic consequences such as diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2), metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Objective: To know the prevalence of obesity, and the levels of glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR and its association with the BMIz, waist circumference and the pubertal stage in a random
sample of adolescents. Materials and methods: 292 adolescents between 12 and 15 years (152 female and 140 male), whose anthropometric measurements (weight, height and waist circumference) were taken, body mass index calculated and Z-score determined. Blood glucose and insulin levels were evaluated from a sample of blood and their HOMA-IR was determined. Results: The results showed that 32.5% were obese, 22.3% were overweight and 23.6%
showed adolescent central obesity. Glucose levels (p = 0.016), insulin (p = 0.0001) and HOMA-IR (p = 0.0001) showed significant differences in the group with obesity. Values of the three parameters were increased with the stage of puberty. We found significant differences in the levels of glucose (p = 0.0388), insulin (p = 0.0005) and HOMA-IR (p = 0.0001) between the prepubertal and postpubertal stages
Muscle thickness and echogenicity measured by ultrasound could detect local sarcopenia and malnutrition in older patients hospitalized for hip fracture
Background: The aim of this work was to assess whether the muscle thickness and echogenicity were associated with dysphagia, malnutrition, sarcopenia, and functional capacity in acute hospital admission for a hip fracture. Methods: Observational study that assessed nutritional status by Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition, risk of dysphagia and sarcopenia by European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People and Barthel functional index. We measured muscle thickness and echogenicity of masseter, bicipital, and quadriceps rectus femoris (RF) and vastus intermedius (VI) by ultrasound. Results: One hundred and one patients were included in the study (29.7% sarcopenia and 43.8% malnutrition). Logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index showed an inverse association of the masseter thickness with both sarcopenia (OR: 0.56) and malnutrition (OR: 0.38) and quadriceps with sarcopenia (OR: 0.74). In addition, patients at high risk of dysphagia had lower masseter thickness (p: 0.0001) while patients able to self-feeding had thicker biceps (p: 0.002) and individuals with mobility on level surfaces higher thickness of biceps (p: 0.008) and quadriceps (p: 0.04). Conclusion: Thickness of the masseter was associated with risk of dysphagia, biceps with the ability to self-feed, and that of the quadriceps RF-VI with mobility
Tamoxifen mechanically deactivates hepatic stellate cells via the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor
Tamoxifen has been used for many years to target estrogen receptor signalling in breast cancer cells. Tamoxifen is also an agonist of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), a GPCR ubiquitously expressed in tissues that mediates the acute response to estrogens. Here we report that tamoxifen promotes mechanical quiescence in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), stromal fibroblast-like cells whose activation triggers and perpetuates liver fibrosis in hepatocellular carcinomas. This mechanical deactivation is mediated by the GPER/RhoA/myosin axis and induces YAP deactivation. We report that tamoxifen decreases the levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) and the synthesis of extracellular matrix proteins through a mechanical mechanism that involves actomyosin-dependent contractility and mechanosensing of tissue stiffness. Our results implicate GPER-mediated estrogen signalling in the mechanosensory-driven activation of HSCs and put forward estrogenic signalling as an option for mechanical reprogramming of myofibroblast-like cells in the tumour microenvironment. Tamoxifen, with half a century of safe clinical use, might lead this strategy of drug repositioning.Peer reviewe
Epidermolysis bullosa simplex with mottled pigmentation: a family report and review
Epidermolysis bullosa simplex with mottled hyperpigmentation (EBS-MP) is an uncommon subtype of EBS. Its clinical features depend on the age of diagnosis, and clinical variations have been described even within family members. We present six cases from two unrelated Spanish families each with several affected members with EBS-MP and review the clinical and genetic findings in all reported patients. We highlight the changing clinical features of the disease throughout life
A multilayer service data acquisition and operation system for oceanographic ships and instrumentation networks
A new Data Acquisition and Operation System for Oceanographic ships
and Instrumentation Networks has been developed by the Marine Technology Unit
of the Spanish Research Vessels for their networked remote acquisition platforms.
The new system built over LABVIR project background follows a Service Oriented Architecture
to allow expandable access to acquired data in real time and to archived
data. Several Data layers are implemented to allow data access from the more common
tools and formats used in marine sciences.Peer Reviewe
Research on abiotic resources in the recent prehistory in Tierra de Barros and Western Sierra Morena
En este trabajo se presentan las investigaciones de base arqueométrica que se están llevando a cabo con
objeto de conocer los sistemas de abastecimiento de recursos abióticos de las comunidades del III y II
milenio ANE en los territorios de Tierra de Barros (Badajoz) y Sierra Morena occidental (Huelva y Sevilla),
a partir del análisis de artefactos elaborados con arcilla, rocas y rocas metalíferas, procedentes de contextos
habitacionales y funerarios de excavaciones y prospecciones arqueológicas. Otros análisis, entre
los que se incluyen los de Isótopos de Plomo, se realizan sobre muestras de materias primas obtenidas
en las prospecciones geológicas del entorno, con la finalidad de establecer la relación de procedencia de
los objetos manufacturados y los depósitos de los que se obtuvo el mineralIn this work the archaeometric-based research being carried out on abiotic procurement systems of the
communities of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC in the regions of Tierra de Barros (Badajoz) and West Sierra
Morena (Huelva and Sevilla), gained from analyses of artefacts made of ceramic, rocks and metals,
recovered from funerary and habitational contexts through archaeological surveys and excavations, is
presented. Other analyses, among them Lead Isotopes, have been done on raw material samples obtained
by geological surveys in the surrounding areas, with the aim of establishing the relationship of provenance
between the manufactured objects and the deposits where the raw materials were obtained fromMinisterio de Educación y Ciencia MAT2005-0079
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