Stem Cells to Regenerate Cardiac Tissue in Heart Failure

Myocardial regeneration is one of the most promising therapeutic strategies for heart failure patients. Many experimental studies have demonstrated that different types of stem cell can differentiate into myocardial cells and tissues necessary for regeneration of the damaged myocardium, while studies in experimental animals suggest that muscle (myoblast), bone marrow (mesenchymal, endothelial or hematopoietic progenitors) and even heart cells can help to improve heart contractility in vivo. These findings have led several groups to undertake studies in patients with myocardial infarction. However, the use of cellular therapy in clinical trials is not without controversy, mainly related with the need for better knowledge before these therapeutic strategies are used in clinical practice. Although significant enhancement of our knowledge of the processes involved is fundamental, we do not consider it unreasonable to initiate clinical trials in which specific questions are posed, whose answers will allow us to make further progress

Utilización de células madre para la regeneración miocárdica en la insuficiencia cardíaca

La terapia celular en la reparación miocárdica se vislumbra como una de las estrategias terapéuticas con mayor futuro en el tratamiento de la insuficiencia cardíaca. Numerosos estudios in vitro recientes apoyan la potencialidad de distintos tipos de células madre de diferenciarse hacia los tejidos necesarios para regenerar el tejido miocárdico dañado, mientras que estudios en animales de experimentación sugieren que células madre de músculo (mioblastos), médula ósea (progenitores mesenquimales, endoteliales o hematopoyéticos) e incluso del propio corazón pueden contribuir in vivo a mejorar la contractilidad cardíaca. Estos trabajos han conducido a que diversos grupos hayan iniciado estudios en pacientes con infarto de miocardio. Sin embargo, la utilización de la terapia celular en ensayos clínicos no está desprovista de controversia, fundamentalmente relacionada con la necesidad de aumentar nuestro conocimiento antes de pasar a la aplicación clínica de estas estrategias terapéuticas. Aunque es fundamental aumentar significativamente el conocimiento de los procesos, no consideramos irrazonable iniciar ensayos clínicos en los que se identifiquen preguntas concretas cuya respuesta nos permita avanzar en esta dirección

Improvement of Oil Valorization Extracted from Fish By-Products Using a Handheld near Infrared Spectrometer Coupled with Chemometrics

A handheld near infrared (NIR) spectrometer was used for on-site determination of the fatty acids (FAs) composition of industrial fish oils from fish by-products. Partial least square regression (PLSR) models were developed to correlate NIR spectra with the percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and, among them, omega-3 (ω-3) and omega-6 (ω-6) FAs. In a first step, the data were divided into calibration validation datasets, obtaining good results regarding R2 values, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and bias. In a second step, all these data were used to create a new calibration, which was uploaded to the handheld device and tested with an external validation set in real time. Evaluation of the external test set for SFAs, MUFAs, PUFAs and ω-3 models showed promising results, with R2 values of 0.98, 0.97, 0.97 and 0.99; RMSEP (%) of 0.94, 1.71, 1.11 and 0.98; and bias (%) values of −0.78, −0.12, −0.80 and −0.67, respectively. However, although ω-6 models achieved a good R2 value (0.95), the obtained RMSEP was considered high (2.08%), and the bias was not acceptable (−1.76%). This was corrected by applying bias and slope correction (BSC), obtaining acceptable values of R2 (0.95), RMSEP (1.09%) and bias (−0.05%). This work goes a step further in the technology readiness level (TRL) of handheld NIR sensor solutions for the fish by-product recovery industry.This research part of the “Gaitik -Monitoring of quality parameters for process automation: PAT technology for the improvement of production systems” project, funded by the Basque Government—Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and Environment—Vice. Dept. of Agriculture, Fishing and Food Policy, Directorate of Quality and Food Industries

Fibroma desmoplásico del hueso: aportación de un nuevo caso

Se presenta un caso de Fibroma Desmoplásico localizado en cuello femoral en un paciente adulto joven de 34 años, al cual se le practicó una resección amplia de la lesión y una reconstrucción por medio de un compuesto de aloinjerto intercalar proximal y prótesis total de cadera (aloprótesis). Un año después de la intervención no hay recidiva local de la lesión y se objetiva una buena incorporación del aloinjerto al huésped; con buena función de la cadera. Se revisa la literatura y se discuten algunas consideraciones diagnósticas y terapéuticas de la lesión.A case of Desmoplastic Fibroma of the Bone, located in the femoral neck, in a 34 year old male patient is reported. The tumor was treated by wide resection, the reconstruction beem performed with an allograft-prostheses composite. One year after surgery, there was no local recurrence and a good is incorporation of the allograft to the host was observed. The patient showed a good hip function. The literature is reviewed and diagnostic and therapeutic considerations are discussed

Influence of Short Carbon-Chain Alcohol (Ethanol and 1-Propanol)/Diesel Fuel Blends over Diesel Engine Emissions

Oxygenated fuels, in this case short carbon-chain alcohols, have been investigated as alternative fuels to power compression ignition engines. A major advantage of short-chain alcohols is that they can be produced from renewable resources, i.e., cultivated commodities or biomass-based biorefineries. However, before entering the market, the effects of short-chain alcohols on engine performance, exhaust emissions, noise and sound quality need to be understood. This work sheds light on the relationship between the physicochemical properties of the alcohol/diesel fuel blends (ethanol and 1-propanol) on engine performance, exhaust emissions and, for the first time, on noise and sound quality. It has been demonstrated that when the content of alcohol in blends increased, soot and soluble organic material emissions drastically decreased, mainly due to the increase of oxygen content in the fuel. Reduction in soot emissions combined with higher thermodynamic efficiency of alcohol fuels, with respect to diesel fuel, enable their utilization on compression ignition engines. There is also an improvement in the soot-NOx trade off, leading to large reductions on soot with a small effect on NOx emissions. The oxygen content within the fuel reduces CO and THC emissions at extra-urban driving operation conditions. However, hydrocarbons and CO emissions increased at urban driving conditions, due to the high heat of vaporization of the alcohol fuels which reduces cylinder temperature worsening fuel atomization, vaporization and mixing with air being more significant at lower cylinder temperature conditions (low engine loads and speeds). Similarly, the higher the presence of alcohol in the blend, the higher the noise emitted by the engine due to their low tendency to auto-ignition. The optimization of alcohol quantity and the calibration of engine control parameters (e.g., injection settings) which is out of the scope of this work, will be required to overcome noise emission penalty. Furthermore, under similar alcohol content in the blend (10% v/v), the use of propanol is preferred over ethanol, as it exhibits lower exhaust emissions and better sound quality than ethanol

Escenarios de temperatura y precipitación para la España peninsular y Baleares durante el periodo 2001-2100 basados en "downscaling" estadístico mediante métodos de análogos

Ponencia presentada en: XXIX Jornadas Científicas de la AME y el VII Encuentro Hispano Luso de Meteorología celebrado en Pamplona, del 24 al 26 de abril de 2006.Se presentan dos metodologías de “downscaling” estadístico, una para temperaturas y otra para precipitación, basadas en el método de los análogos, con modificaciones encaminadas a mejorar los resultados, y de las cuales se hace aplicación para la obtención de escenarios de temperatura y precipitación a alta resolución sobre la España Peninsular y Baleares durante el periodo 2001-2099; se utilizan como partida las simulaciones de circulación atmosférica de los modelos climáticos de circulación general HADCM2SUL, CGCM2 y ECHAM4, los dos últimos funcionando con dos de los escenarios de emisión, A2 y B2, propuestos por el IPCC

Diseño de un robot para envolver pastillas de jabón

[Resumen] Este trabajo consiste en el diseño y realización de un robot capaz de envolver pastillas de jabón, imitando los movimientos que se hacen de forma manual. Los jabones en cuestión son artesanales, por lo que el dispositivo ha afrontado el reto de adaptarse a las pequeñas variaciones de tamaño de la pastilla. Se ha realizado el diseño mecánico mediante la herramienta Fusion 360, para posteriormente imprimir las piezas en 3D. Por otro lado, la parte correspondiente a la programación del software y la implementación del hardware, se ha realizado en el entorno Arduino. Se ha tratado de conseguir una interfaz de usuario sencilla de utilizar, permitiendo la selección entre un modo manual y uno automático.[Abstract] This work is about the design and fabrication of a robot capable of wrapping bars of soap, imitating manually movements. These soaps are handmade, so the device has faced the challenge of accommodating small size variations. The mechanical design has been carried out using Fusion 360, and later the parts were 3D printed.On the other hand, the software programming part and hardware corresponding implementation has been done using Arduino. The user interface is easy to use, allowing selection between a manual and an automatic mode

Extremos de temperaturas y precipitación para el siglo XXI en España

Ponencia presentada en: VIII Congreso de la Asociación Española de Climatología celebrado en Salamanca entre el 25 y el 28 de septiembre de 2012.[EN]Extreme weather events have a marked impact on the lives and safety of people and, in general, on socio-economic activities. In this paper, we present the trends of temperature and precipitation extremes over Spain for the 21st century. Special emphasis has been put on the estimation of uncertainty coming from a variety of sources. We have made use of downscaled climate projections generated using different emissions scenarios, global model simulations and statistical and dynamics downscaling methods.[ES]Los fenómenos climáticos extremos tienen un marcado impacto sobre la vida y seguridad de las personas y, en general, sobre las actividades socioeconómicas. En este trabajo, se presentan las evoluciones futuras de un conjunto de índices de extremos de temperatura y precipitación a lo largo del siglo XXI sobre España. Se ha puesto especial interés en evaluar las incertidumbres que proceden de diferentes fuentes. Para ello, se han utilizado proyecciones regionalizadas obtenidas bajo diferentes escenarios de emisiones, usando diferentes modelos globales y técnicas de regionalización tanto estadísticas como dinámicas