Deseño de novos materiais compostos poliméricos de baixo impacto ambiental para dispositivos 'Energy Harvesting'

Traballo fin de mestrado (UDC.EUP). Eficiencia e aproveitamento enerxético. Curso 2019/2020[Resumo] Os obxectivos que se pretenden conseguir no presente traballo son os seguintes: - Coñecer o espectro de materiais poliméricos para ser utilizados nos dispositivos ‘Energy Harvesting’. - Clarificar as características técnicas en función do tipo de enerxía ambiental que poidan captar os distintos dispositivos e o seu impacto medioambiental mediante un rigoroso estudo bibliográfico. - Facer unha revisión crítica da bibliografía científico-técnica recente sobre o uso de materiais poliméricos nos dispositivos ‘Energy Harvesting’, que inclúa unha descrición profunda dos polímeros ou compostos poliméricos máis utilizados, as súas características técnicas, vantaxes e desvantaxes fronte a outro tipo de materiais usados neste tipo de aplicacións. - Á vista da bibliografía consultada, o estudante deberá describir os obxectivos da futura investigación neste campo para ampliar o coñecemento do que se dispón actualmente.Traballo fin de mestrado (UDC.EUP). Eficiencia e aproveitamento enerxético. Curso 2019/202

Last Developments in Polymers for Wearable Energy Storage Devices

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Our modern and technological society requests enhanced energy storage devices to tackle the current necessities. In addition, wearable electronic devices are being demanding because they offer many facilities to the person wearing it. In this manuscript, a historical review is made about the available energy storage devices focusing on super-capacitors and lithium-ion batteries, since they currently are the most present in the industry, and the possible polymeric materials suitable on wearable energy storage devices. Polymers are a suitable option because they not only possess remarkable mechanical resistance, flexibility, long life-times, easy manufacturing techniques and low cost in addition to they can be environmentally friendly, nontoxic, and even biodegradable too. Moreover, the electrical and electrochemical polymer properties can be tunning with suitable fillers giving to versatile conducting polymer composites with a good cost and properties' ratio. Although the advances are promising, there are still many drawbacks that need to be overcome. Future research should focus on improving both the performance of materials and their processability on an industrial scale, where additive manufacturing offers many possibilities. The sustainability of new energy storage devices should not be forgotten, encouraging the use of more environmentally friendly materials and manufacturing processes.The authors thank the financial support from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovation/FEDER (project ref; PID2020-116976RB-I00) and Xunta de Galicia-FEDER (Program of Consolidation and structuring competitive research units [ED431C 2019/17]). Funding for open access charge from Universidade da Coruña/CISUGXunta de Galicia; ED431C 2019/1

Nutritional assessment of the critically ill patients with cardiac disease under renal replacement therapy: diagnostic difficulty

OBJETIVO: Realizar avaliação nutricional em pacientes cardiopatas críticos que necessitem de terapia de substituição renal. MÉTODOS: Pacientes cardiopatas críticos, internados em unidade de terapia intensiva, que apresentavam insuficiência renal com indicação de terapia de substituição renal foram submetidos à avaliação nutricional com a utilização de medidas antropométricas e análise laboratorial. RESULTADOS: Foram avaliados 43 pacientes, com idade de 64±15 anos, 26 do sexo masculino. A média da fração de ejeção do ventrículo esquerdo foi de 0,36±0,16. Avaliação do estado nutricional com base no índice de massa corpórea revelou 18 pacientes eutróficos, 6 pacientes com baixo peso, 19 pacientes com sobrepeso ou obesidade. Baseado na medida da prega cutânea tricipital, 16 pacientes eram eutróficos, 27 pacientes apresentaram algum grau de depleção e, com base na circunferência do braço e na circunferência muscular do braço, 41 pacientes apresentaram algum grau de depleção. Dados laboratoriais evidenciaram depleção grave baseado na albumina em 28 pacientes e 27 pacientes tinham depleção grave de acordo com a contagem de linfócitos. CONCLUSÃO: A desnutrição é comum em pacientes cardiopatas críticos em terapia de substituição renal. Avaliação nutricional baseada no índice de massa corpórea não revelou ser bom método para diagnóstico de distúrbios nutricionais nesta população. Há necessidade de complementar a avaliação nutricional para identificação de desnutrição e possibilitar introdução precoce de suporte nutricional adequado.OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the nutritional status of patients with cardiac disease and concomitant renal dysfunction requiring renal replacement therapy. METHODS: Patients with cardiac disease and renal failure receiving renal replacement therapy, admitted to an intensive care unit, were submitted to nutritional evaluation, by use of anthropometric measurements and laboratory data. RESULTS: We studied 43 patients, mean age 64±15 years, 26 were men. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 0.36±0.16. Analysis of anthropometric measurements, based on body mass index disclosed that, 18 patients were normal, 6 were underweight and 19 were overweight or obese. Based on measurement of triceps skinfold thickness, 16 patients were considered normal and 27 had some degree of depletion. Measurements of midarm circumference and midarm muscular circumference showed 41 patients with some degree of depletion. Laboratory data revealed 28 patients with depletion based on albumin levels and 27 with depletion based on lymphocyte count. CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition is common in critically ill patients with cardiac disease and renal failure receiving renal replacement therapy. Nutritional assessment based on body mass index did not prove to be a good index for diagnosis of nutritional disorders. The nutritional evaluation must be complemented in order to identify malnutrition and introduce early nutritional support

Infarto agudo do miocárdio na cardiomiopatia chagásica crônica: relato de dois casos com coronárias sem lesões obstrutivas

This report describes two patients with chronic Chagas' Heart Disease who developed clinical and laboratorial signs of myocardial infarction. Both patients presented sudden oppressive chest pain, without precipitating factor. In the first case, the highest MB-CK value was 65 IU, 22 hours after the beginning of the pain. On the second case, it was 77 IU at 18 hours after the beginning of the pain. In both cases ECG changes suggesting non-transmural infarction were present. The 99mTc PYP myocardial scintigram of the first case was positive. Coronary angiograms performed on the 18th and 9th day, respectively, after the acute infarction did not display obstructive lesions. Possible mechanisms causing myocardial infarction with normal coronary arteries in Chagas' Disease may include: embolic event's, particularly when there is associated congestive heart failure; coronary thrombosis and coronary spasms.São relatados dois pacientes com doença de Chagas, forma cardíaca crônica, que desenvolveram Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio (IAM). Ambos, apresentaram dor precordial súbita em opressão, sem fatores precipitantes. No primeiro o pico de CKMB foi 65 U após 22 horas do início da dor e no segundo foi de 77U após 18 horas. O ECG em ambos evidenciou apenas alterações sugerindo IAM não transmural. A cintilografia miocárdica com 99mTc-PYP foi positiva no primeiro caso. ¹ coronariografia realizada respectivamente no 16.º e 9.° dia não evidenciou lesões obstrutivas. São discutidos os possíveis mecanismos de IAM com coronárias sem lesões obstrutivas na doença de Chagas tais como: eventos embolíticos, trombóticos e espásticos

Aprende Física e divirtete: un Proxecto de Aprendizaxe Servicio na Escola Universitaria de Deseño Industrial

Banco de experiencias de Aprendizaxe Servizo. Convocatoria 2022/202

Trichosporon asahii an emerging etiologic agent of fungal infection and colonization in heart failure patients in intensive care unit: case report and literature review

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: As infecções fúngicas por Trichosporon Asahii têm sido cada vez mais freqüentes nas últimas duas décadas. Quadros graves com alta mortalidade são tradicionalmente descritos em pacientes neutropênicos com câncer. Recentemente, a infecção tem ocorrido também em outros grupos de pacientes. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever a crescente prevalência de Trichosporon asahii em unidade de terapia intensiva cardiológica (UTIC), com perfil de pacientes habitualmente não susceptíveis a tal infecção fúngica, relatar um caso clínico e revisão da literatura. RELATO DO CASO: Paciente do sexo feminino, 85 anos, com antecedentes de hipertensão arterial sistêmica, insuficiência cardíaca (fração de ejeção = 30%) e embolia pulmonar, admitida na UTI depois de parada cardiorrespiratória em fibrilação ventricular durante consulta de rotina. Evoluiu sem seqüela neurológica. O ecocardiograma não revelou alterações em relação ao exame anterior. Não houve alteração dos indicadores de necrose miocárdica. A paciente apresentou falha na extubação traqueal e desmame difícil, necessitando ventilação mecânica prolongada mesmo após traqueostomia. Houve complicações por insuficiência renal aguda e infecções recorrentes (respiratória, urinária e sistêmica), com boa resposta ao tratamento com antibióticos de amplo espectro. Após sete meses de internação na UTI, evoluiu com choque séptico, associado à infecção urinária por Trichosporon asahii, com hemoculturas identificadas pelo mesmo fungo. Iniciado tratamento com anfotericina B lipossomal (5 mg/kg/dia). Apesar do uso associado de vancomicina e imipenem, houve piora clínica progressiva. Hemoculturas colhidas no sétimo dia de uso de antifúngico revelaram-se negativas, porém a urocultura ainda revelou o crescimento de T. asahii. Evoluiu com óbito após 18 dias de tratamento, por falência de múltiplos órgãos. CONCLUSÕES: O aumento da gravidade dos pacientes internados nas UTI e o uso disseminado de antibióticos de amplo espectro têm possibilitado o surgimento de infecções por fungos incomuns. As infecções graves por Trichosporon asahii, descritas como restritas a pacientes imunossuprimidos, oncológicos e hematológicos, têm sido freqüentemente encontradas em pacientes idosos, com insuficiência cardíaca grave e com alta mortalidade intra-hospitalar, internados em UTI. Deve-se estar atento à possibilidade da emergência de infecções por fungos não usuais em pacientes com este perfil clínico.BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Infection with the non-Candida yeast species Trichosporon have been recognized with increasing frequency over the last two decades. Invasive disease due to trichosporonosis has been reported from neutropenic patients with cancer and the mortality is high. Recently, others groups of patients have become susceptible to this rare fungi. We report the emerging of infection with pathogenic Trichosporon asahii in severely ill heart failure patients in a tertiary cardiological intensive care unit (CICU). We describe our data, and report a fatal case of disseminated trichosporonosis in a patient with heart failure. We also review literature pertaining to T. asahii infections. CASE REPORT: An 85 year-old woman with a history of hypertension, heart failure (ejection fraction (EJ): 30%) and pulmonary embolism was admitted to a medical cardiological ICU after cardiac arrest (ventricular fibrillation) resuscitated during a routine consultation. There were no neurological sequelae and the echocardiogram revels no changes, neither the cardiac biomarkers. Ventricular fibrillation was considered secondary to heart failure. The patient had extubation failure and difficult weaning needing long term mechanical ventilation even after tracheostomy. Her hospital course was complicated by acute renal failure and recurrent respiratory, urinary and systemic bacterial infections, which responded to broad-spectrum antibiotics. After a temporary improvement she developed urinary infection and subsequent septic shock. Cultures of urine and blood specimens grew T. asahii. Treatment with liposome amphotericin B (5 mg/kg/day) was started. Despite receiving vancomycin and imipenem, the clinical condition of the patient deteriorates. Blood taken for culture on the seventh day of amphotericin B therapy were negative but urine specimen still grew T. asahii. On the eighteenth day of antifungal therapy, the patient died with multiorgan failure. CONCLUSIONS: The increasing of severely ill patients, and the use of broad spectrum antibiotics, has predisposed the emerging of invasive infections by rare and new opportunistic fungal pathogens. Severe infection related to T. asahii, until recently restricted to neutropenic patients with cancer, has been frequently identified in heart failure patients with advanced age. The mortality is high. These data highlights the importance of considering this group of patients as a risk group for T. asahii infection

Epigenetic regulation of nitric oxide synthase 2, inducible (Nos2) by NLRC4 inflammasomes involves PARP1 cleavage

Nitric oxide synthase 2, inducible (Nos2) expression is necessary for the microbicidal activity of macrophages. However, NOS2 over-activation causes multiple inflammatory disorders, suggesting a tight gene regulation is necessary. Using cytosolic flagellin as a model for inflammasome-dependent NOS2 activation, we discovered a surprising new role for NLRC4/caspase-1 axis in regulating chromatin accessibility of the Nos2 promoter. We found that activation of two independent mechanisms is necessary for NOS2 expression by cytosolic flagellin: caspase-1 and NF-kappa B activation. NF-kappa B activation was necessary, but not sufficient, for NOS2 expression. Conversely, caspase-1 was necessary for NOS2 expression, but dispensable for NF-kappa B activation, indicating that this protease acts downstream NF-kappa B activation. We demonstrated that epigenetic regulation of Nos2 by caspase-1 involves cleavage of the chromatin regulator PARP1 (also known as ARTD1) and chromatin accessibility of the NF-kappa B binding sites located at the Nos2 promoter. Remarkably, caspase-1-mediated Nos2 transcription and NO production contribute to the resistance of macrophages to Salmonella typhimurium infection. Our results uncover the molecular mechanism behind the constricted regulation of Nos2 expression and open new therapeutic opportunities based on epigenetic activities of caspase-1 against infectious and inflammatory diseases.Kanton of ZurichUniversity Research Priority Program (URPP) in Translational Cancer Biology at the University of ZurichSwiss National Science FoundationCancer Research SocietyCanadian Cancer SocietyNSERCOntario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR)province of OntarioPrincess Margaret Cancer FoundationUniversity of Toronto McLaughlin CentreFundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP - Brazil)Brazilian Research Council (CNPq-Brazil)CAPESINCTVUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Ctr Terapia Celular & Mol CTC Mol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Microbiol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Hlth Network, Princess Margaret Canc Ctr, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, CanadaUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Sao Paulo & Inst Invest Imunol, Inst Nacl Ciencia Tecnol INCT 3, Sao Paulo, BrazilInst Nacl Ciencia Tecnol INCT III, Inst Invest Imunol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Zurich, Dept Mol Mech Dis, Zurich, SwitzerlandUniv Toronto, Dept Med Biophys, Toronto, ON M5G 2M9, CanadaUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Ctr Terapia Celular & Mol CTC Mol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Biol, Sao Paulo, BrazilSwiss National Science Foundation: 310030B_138667Cancer Research Society: CRS19092Cancer Research Society: CRS19091Canadian Cancer Society: CCSRI 703279Canadian Cancer Society CCSRI 703716NSERC: 489073University of Toronto McLaughlin Centre: MC-2015-02FAPESP: 2013/16010-5FAPESP: 2015/18003-1Web of Scienc

Metformin, but not glimepiride, improves carotid artery diameter and blood flow in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of glimepiride and metformin on vascular reactivity, hemostatic factors and glucose and lipid profiles in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: A prospective study was performed in 16 uncontrolled patients with diabetes previously treated with dietary intervention. The participants were randomized into metformin or glimepiride therapy groups. After four months, the patients were crossed over with no washout period to the alternative treatment for an additional four-month period on similar dosage schedules. The following variables were assessed before and after four months of each treatment: 1) fasting glycemia, insulin, catecholamines, lipid profiles and HbA1 levels; 2) t-PA and PAI-1 (antigen and activity), platelet aggregation and fibrinogen and plasminogen levels; and 3) the flow indices of the carotid and brachial arteries. In addition, at the end of each period, a 12-hour metabolic profile was obtained after fasting and every 2 hours thereafter. RESULTS: Both therapies resulted in similar decreases in fasting glucose, triglyceride and norepinephrine levels, and they increased the fibrinolytic factor plasminogen but decreased t-PA activity. Metformin caused lower insulin and pro-insulin levels and higher glucagon levels and increased systolic carotid diameter and blood flow. Neither metformin nor glimepiride affected endothelial-dependent or endothelial-independent vasodilation of the brachial artery. CONCLUSIONS: Glimepiride and metformin were effective in improving glucose and lipid profiles and norepinephrine levels. Metformin afforded more protection against macrovascular diabetes complications, increased systolic carotid artery diameter and total and systolic blood flow, and decreased insulin levels. As both therapies increased plasminogen levels but reduced t-PA activity, a coagulation process was likely still ongoing