Interaction of microplastics with metal(oid)s in aquatic environments: What is done so far?

Microplastics (MPs) are being recognized as an emergent route of contaminants to aquatic environments, which initially attracted the research interest on their interactions with organic pollutants. Lately, a turning point of attention is evident, with more published studies reporting the presence of metal(oid)s in plastics. This review assembles the mechanisms occurring on microplastics surfaces that enhance sorption of hazardous elements (i.e., metals and metalloids) over environmental exposure. Reported findings of experimental studies are of major importance to understand the factors controlling the sorption/desorption of metal(oid)s to/from microplastics as much as determination of metal(oid)s in environmental plastics. Existence or formation of oxygen-containing functional groups and complexes from surface coatings strongly allow bond of metal(oid)s on reactive surfaces while sorption dynamics are strongly controlled by water chemistry parameters. Moreover, the present work evidences the potential impacts caused by metal(oid)s-MPs interactions to aquatic organisms, prioritizing the need of environmental realistic parameters to test. Bioaccumulation of metal(oid)s desorbed from ingested MPs prove the significant influence of these plastic particles in the bioavailability of pollutants to aquatic biota. In this way, this is a comprehensive manuscript committed to the estimation of the potential ecological risk of MPs to aquatic environments due to their association with metal(oid)s.Versión del edito

Alternativa de asistencia bancaria para micro empresas de reciente formación de la República Argentina, ante limitaciones normativas vigentes

El trabajo describe y analiza una alternativa de asistencia bancaria para las micro-empresas de reciente formación de la República Argentina atento al difícil acceso al crédito bancario y al bajo índice de capacitación empresarial que poseen, y plantea ciertas adaptaciones en cuanto a su alcance; teniendo en cuenta la importancia del mismo en cuanto al impacto que implicaría que estas jóvenes empresas tengan un mejor y adecuado acceso a la asistencia y financiamiento bancario.Fil: Duarte, Juan J. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina

Headache of recent onset in adults: a prospective population-based study

One hundred consecutive adult patients with headache of recent onset were prospectively studied. Every patient was examined by craneal CT scan. Their mean age was 46 years (range 17-82). Neurological examination was normal in 80 patients. Organic headache represented 39% of the entire group, and 26% of them had a normal neurological examination. The yield of CT scan in patients with headaches and a normal neurological examination was 22.5% (95% IC: 14%-33%); of which we encountered the following pathologies: intracranial tumors (13), hydrocephalus (2), arachnoid cyst (l), toxoplasmic abscess (1) and parenchymal hemorrhage (1). The clinical characteristics of the headache on their own was insufficient to rule out the possibility of an intracranial tumor. Neuroimaging studies should be performed in all adult patients with non-vascular headache of recent onset, I and previously headache-free individual

Intratumoral injection of bone-marrow derived dendritic cells engineered to produce interleukin-12 induces complete regression of established murine transplantable colon adenocarcinomas

Stimulation of the antitumor immune response by dendritic cells (DC) is critically dependent on their tightly regulated ability to produce interleukin-12 (IL-12). To enhance this effect artificially, bone marrow (BM)-derived DC were genetically engineered to produce high levels of functional IL-12 by ex vivo infection with a recombinant defective adenovirus (AdCMVIL-12). DC-expressing IL-12 injected into the malignant tissue eradicated 50-100% well established malignant nodules derived from the injection of two murine colon adenocarcinoma cell lines. Successful therapy was dependent on IL-12 transfection and was mediated only by syngeneic, but not allogeneic BM-derived DC, indicating that compatible antigen-presenting molecules were required. The antitumor effect was inhibited by in vivo depletion of CD8+ T cells and completely abrogated by simultaneous depletion with anti-CD4 and anti-CD8 mAbs. Mice which had undergone tumor regression remained immune to a rechallenge with tumor cells, showing the achievement of long-lasting systemic immunity that also was able to reject simultaneously induced concomitant untreated tumors. Tumor regression was associated with a detectable CTL response directed against tumor-specific antigens probably captured by DC artificially released inside tumor nodules. Our results open the possibility of similarly treating the corresponding human malignancies

Structural Analysis of Pathogenic Missense Mutations in GABRA2 and Identification of a Novel de Novo Variant in the Desensitization Gate

Background: Cys-loop receptors control neuronal excitability in the brain and their dysfunction results in numerous neurological disorders. Recently, six missense variants in GABRA2, a member of this family, have been associated with early infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EIEE). We identified a novel de novo missense variant in GABRA2 in a patient with EIEE and performed protein structural analysis of the seven variants. Methods: The novel variant was identified by trio whole-genome sequencing. We performed protein structural analysis of the seven variants, and compared them to previously reported pathogenic mutations at equivalent positions in other Cys-loop receptors. Additionally, we studied the distribution of disease-associated variants in the transmembrane helices of these proteins. Results: The seven variants are in the transmembrane domain, either close to the desensitization gate, the activation gate, or in inter-subunit interfaces. Six of them have pathogenic mutations at equivalent positions in other Cys-loop receptors, emphasizing the importance of these residues. Also, pathogenic mutations are more common in the pore-lining helix, consistent with this region being highly constrained for variation in control populations. Conclusion: Our study reports a novel pathogenic variant in GABRA2, characterizes the regions where pathogenic mutations are in the transmembrane helices, and underscores the value of considering sequence, evolutionary, and structural information as a strategy for variant interpretation of novel missense mutations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Creating a common European mobility data space

Transforming Europe into a climate neutral economy by 2050 in line with the European Green Deal places a particular responsibility on the transport sector, which accounts for a quarter of the Union’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Specifically, transport will have to collectively reduce its GHG emissions by 90% by mid-century compared to 1990 levels. This will require advancing digitalisation and the use of data in all modes of transport, including passenger and freight segments. Notwithstanding, data availability, access and exchange in the transport sector today continue to be hampered due to unclear regulatory conditions, the lack of an EU market for data provision, the absence of an obligation to collect and share data, incompatible tools and systems for data collection and sharing, different standards, or data sovereignty concerns, among others. The European strategy for data aims to establish a single market for data, where data can be accessed and used efficiently. This will include the creation of a common European mobility data space to facilitate access, pooling, and sharing of transport and mobility data. Against this backdrop, the 10th Florence Intermodal Forum brought together relevant stakeholders to discuss opportunities and challenges for building such a mobility data space

Aviation and multimodal digital mobility services in the EU

Multimodal digital mobility services (MDMS) are instrumental to fostering multimodality as they promote comparability, transparency, and the selling of products across operators and modes. MDMS stand to directly benefit passengers by helping them to navigate, access and compare an increasingly complex and diverse range of transport offerings. Services that support multimodal transport can also render transport more efficient and sustainable by improving the consumer access to broader variety of transport options. As part of its Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy (SSMS), published in 2020, the European Commission committed itself to assessing the need for regulatory action on rights and duties of multimodal digital service providers and to issuing a recommendation to ensure public service contracts do not hamper data sharing and support the development of multimodal ticketing services, together with an initiative on ticketing (Action 37). In view of this, a public stakeholder consultation for the implementation of MDMS was carried out, and a legislative proposal to advance MDMS is planned for 2023. This Commission initiative will seek to implement Action 37 of the SSMS and address existing challenges for MDMS services. The latter will focus on ticketing, booking and payment services by addressing a number of market-related problems, namely potential resistance by some transport service providers to provide access to all their data to other actors (much more present in rail) and potential discriminatory practices by online intermediaries in access to their services. Remedies in the form of access regulation can be considered, but what kind of access obligations? What lessons might be learnt from horizontal regulation (particularly the Digital Markets Act and the Data Regulations): asymmetric regulation, FRAND access conditions? Whether the liberalisation and competition of the EU Aviation Market necessitates a lighter form of regulation? Against this backdrop, the 11th Florence Intermodal Forum brought together stakeholders representing aviation policymakers, airlines, travel intermediaries, meta-search companies, consumer organisations, and academics, among others, for an aviation-focused discussion on multimodal digital mobility services in the EU

Influence of pore size in protein G'-grafted mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a serum pretreatment system for in vitro allergy diagnosis

Particles with the capacity to bind to immunoglobulin G (IgG) can be used for the purification of IgG or to process clinical samples for diagnostic purposes. For in vitro allergy diagnosis, the high IgG levels in serum can interfere with the detection of allergen-specific IgE, the main diagnostic biomarker. Although commercially available, current materials present a low IgG capture capacity at large IgG concentrations or require complex protocols, preventing their use in the clinic. In this work, mesoporous silica nanoparticles are prepared with different pore sizes, to which IgG-binding protein G’ is grafted. It is found that for one particular optimal pore size, the IgG capture capacity of the material is greatly enhanced. The capacity of this material to efficiently capture human IgG in a selective way (compared to IgE) is demonstrated in both solutions of known IgG concentrations as well as in complex samples, like serum, from healthy controls and allergic patients using a simple and fast incubation protocol. Interestingly, IgG removal using the best-performing material enhances in vitro IgE detection in sera from patients allergic to amoxicillin. These results highlight the great translation potential of this strategy to the clinic in the context of in vitro allergy diagnosis.Funding for Open Access charge: Universidad de Málaga/CBUA. TEM experiments were performed in the ICTS “NANBIOSIS,” more specifically in the U28 Unit at IBIMA Plataforma BIONAND

Carbon nanotubes gathered onto silica particles lose their biomimetic properties with the cytoskeleton becoming biocompatible

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are likely to transform the therapeutic and diagnostic fields in biomedicine during the coming years. However, the fragmented vision of their side effects and toxicity in humans has proscribed their use as nanomedicines. Most studies agree that biocompatibility depends on the state of aggregation/dispersion of CNTs under physiological conditions, but conclusions are confusing so far. This study designs an experimental setup to investigate the cytotoxic effect of individualized multiwalled CNTs compared to that of identical nanotubes assembled on submicrometric structures. Our results demonstrate how CNT cytotoxicity is directly dependent on the nanotube dispersion at a given dosage. When CNTs are gathered onto silica templates, they do not interfere with cell proliferation or survival becoming highly compatible. These results support the hypothesis that CNT cytotoxicity is due to the biomimetics of these nanomaterials with the intracellular nanofilaments. These findings provide major clues for the development of innocuous CNT-containing nanodevices and nanomedicines.Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Spanish MINECO Project (references PI13/01074, PI16/00496 and CTM2014–58481-R, IDIVAL INNVAL15/15), Xunta de Galicia (Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia-Accreditation 2016–2019 and EM2014/035), European Regional Development Fund – ERDF and Fundación Tatiana Pérez de Guzmán El Bueno