Mineral and textural transformations in mixtures of Al-rich and Al–K-rich clays with firing: Refractory potential of the fired products

The present work analyses a set of cylinders manufactured by pressing and fired from 1000 °C to 1270 °C, which are composed of pure Al-rich rocks (bauxite) and mixtures of bauxite with Al–K-rich clays. The aim of the study is to determine the mineral and textural transformations that take place in the mixtures with firing and their influence on the physical properties of the final products in order to evaluate their refractory potential by comparing them with various fired commercial bauxites. To this end, raw and fired samples were analysed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and optical and field emission scanning electron microscopy, and significant physical properties (e.g. density, linear shrinkage, porosity, colour, water absorption, thermal conductivity and point load resistance) were determined in the fired cylinders. The raw bauxite was mainly formed by boehmite, kaolinite and hematite whereas the illite- and kaolinite-rich clay was formed by quartz, illite and kaolinite. Kaolinite, illite and boehmite are not detected at 1000 °C and, from this temperature upwards, mullite, corundum, ¿-Al2O3, hercynite, ilmenite, cristobalite and vitreous phase are formed. Changes in physical properties with rising temperature are associated with the mineralogical changes. The increases in density and linear shrinkage are related to the formation of vitreous phase and the crystallization of mullite, and correlate with the decrease in porosity, water absorption and thermal conductivity. The changes in the colour of the samples are related to the hematite content at each temperature, whereas the point load resistance is greater with higher corundum content. Both the firing temperature and the clay content play an important role in the refractory potential of the mixtures, since samples mixed with illite- and kaolinite-rich clay present similar properties at lower temperatures to those of the fired commercial bauxites

Weathering events recorded in uppermost Hauterivian-lower Barremian clay-dominated continental successions from the NW Iberian Range: climatic vs. tectonic controls

The facies and clay mineral study of clay/marl-rich levels from the Torrelapaja Formation (latest Hauterivian-early Barremian, NW Iberian Range, NE Spain) allowed to establish the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions under they were generated. The muddy levels and pisoids contained therein of two logs were sampled and studied by X-ray diffraction and optical and electron microscopy. A similar mineralogical upwards trend is recorded in both logs, with a decrease in calcite coupled with an increase in quartz and orthoclase content and constant proportions in goethite, hematite, diaspore, anatase, rutile, ilmenite, and clay mineral content. The lower muddy levels have higher kaolinite content than the upper levels, where illitic phases are the dominant clay minerals. Smectite and intergrowths of illitic phases and kaolinite are also detected upwards. The kaolinite and smectite textures indicate an authigenic origin, whereas the illitic phases are former phases acting as a substrate for kaolinite crystallization. Pisoids mineralogy and texture show an in-situ origin, but some are fractured, indicating reworking processes. The mineral association found in the muddy levels is characteristic of oxisols formed under warm and humid conditions. The upward decrease in kaolinite content is coeval with an increase in the illitic phases and quartz content, related to siliciclastic input, but is also coeval with the presence of authigenic smectite. This indicates a decrease in chemical weathering, not fully registered due to the siliciclastic contribution, which was possibly associated with a change to colder, drier conditions during the latest Hauterivian-early Barremian in the studied area

Effects of non-pharmacological conservative treatment on pain, range of motion and physical function in patients with mild to moderate hip osteoarthritis. A systematic review

Objective: The purpose of this review was to identify the effects of non-pharmacological conservative treatment on pain, range of motion and physical function in patients with mild to moderate hip osteoarthritis. Design: A systematic review based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Setting: We searched MEDLINE, PEDro, Scopus and the Cochrane Library databases for randomized controlled trials related to non-pharmacological conservative treatments for hip osteoarthritis with the following keywords: “hip osteoarthritis, ” “therapeutics, ” “physical therapy modalities, ” and “combined physical therapy”. The PEDro scale was used for methodological quality assessment and the Oxford Centre of Evidence-Based Medicine scale was used to assess the level of evidence. Outcomes measures related to pain, hip range of motion and physical function were extracted from these studies. Results: Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies showed high level of evidence and only two showed low level of evidence. High quality of evidence showed that manual therapy and exercise therapy are effective in improving pain, hip range of motion and physical function. However, high quality studies based on combined therapies showed controversy in their effects on pain, hip range of motion and physical function. Conclusions: Exercise therapy and manual therapy and its combination with patient education provides benefits in pain and improvement in physical function. The effects of combined therapies remain unclear. Further investigation is necessary to improve the knowledge about the effects of non-pharmacological conservative treatments on pain, hip range of motion and physical function

Immediate effects of a telerehabilitation program based on aerobic exercise in women with fibromyalgia

Background: We analyzed the immediate effects of a Telerehabilitation Program (TP) based on aerobic exercise in women with fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome during the lockdown declared in Spain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A single-blind randomized controlled trial was designed. Thirty-four women with FM were randomized into two groups: TP group and Control group. The intervention lasted 15 weeks, with 2 sessions per week. The TP based on aerobic exercise was guided by video and the intensity of each session was monitored using the Borg scale. Pain intensity (Visual Analogue Scale), mechanical pain sensitivity (algometer), number of tender points, FM impact (Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire), pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale), physiological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), upper (Arm Curl Test) and lower-limb physical function (6-min Walk Test) were measured at baseline and after the intervention. Results: The TP group improved pain intensity (p = 0.022), mechanical pain sensitivity (p 0.05). Conclusion: A TP based on aerobic exercise achieved improvements on pain intensity, mechanical pain sensitivity, and psychological distress compared to a Control group during the lockdown declared in Spain due to COVID-19 pandemic

Therapeutic Exercise and Pain Neurophysiology Education in Female Patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Feasibility Study

Background: We compared the effects of therapeutic exercise (TE) combined with pain neurophysiology education (PNE) to those of TE in isolation on pain intensity, general fibromyalgia impact, mechanical pain sensitivity, pain catastrophizing, psychological distress and quality of life in women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Methods: A feasibility study with a 3 month follow-up was designed. Thirty-two patients with FMS were randomly assigned to PNE + TE group (n = 16) or to TE group (n = 16). Both groups received 30 sessions of TE (3 per week), and the PNE + TE group received eight face-to-face educational sessions. The measuring instruments used were the visual analogue scale, a standard pressure algometer, the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Health Assessment Questionnaire. Results: The PNE + TE group showed a statistically significant decrease on pain intensity compared to TE group at short term (p = 0.015). No between-groups differences were found for mechanical pain sensitivity, general fibromyalgia impact, pain catastrophizing, psychological distress or quality of life (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The combination of PNE and TE was more effective than TE for reducing pain intensity in the short-term. No differences were found for psychological distress, pain catastrophizing and quality of life after the intervention or at 3 months of follow-up

Seleno-functionalization of quercetin improves the non-covalent inhibition of mpro and its antiviral activity in cells against sars-cov-2

The development of new antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 is a valuable long-term strategy to protect the global population from the COVID-19 pandemic complementary to the vaccination. Considering this, the viral main protease (Mpro ) is among the most promising molecular targets in light of its importance during the viral replication cycle. The natural flavonoid quercetin 1 has been recently reported to be a potent Mpro inhibitor in vitro, and we explored the effect produced by the introduction of organoselenium functionalities in this scaffold. In particular, we report here a new synthetic method to prepare previously inaccessible C-8 seleno-quercetin derivatives. By screening a small library of flavonols and flavone derivatives, we observed that some compounds inhibit the protease activity in vitro. For the first time, we demonstrate that quercetin (1) and 8-(p-tolylselenyl)quercetin (2d) block SARS-CoV-2 replication in infected cells at non-toxic concentrations, with an IC50 of 192 µM and 8 µM, respectively. Based on docking experiments driven by experimental evidence, we propose a non-covalent mechanism for Mpro inhibition in which a hydrogen bond between the selenium atom and Gln189 residue in the catalytic pocket could explain the higher Mpro activity of 2d and, as a result, its better antiviral profile. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Abundance of a chlorophyll a precursor and the oxidation product hydroxychlorophyll a during seasonal phytoplankton community progression in the Western English Channel

This study presents the first in-situ measurements of the chlorophyll a oxidation product, hydroxychlorophyll a as well as the chlorophyll a precursor, chlorophyll aP276 conducted over an annual cycle. Chlorophyll a oxidation products, such as hydroxychlorophyll a may be associated with the decline of algal populations and can act as an initial step in the degradation of chlorophyll a into products which can be found in the geochemical record, important for studying past climate change events. Here, hydroxychlorophyll a and chlorophyll aP276 were measured at the long-term monitoring station L4, Western Channel Observatory (UK, www.westernchannelobservatory.org) over an annual cycle (2012). Weekly measurements of phytoplankton species composition and abundance enabled detailed analysis of possible sources of hydroxychlorophyll a. Dinoflagellates, 2 diatom species, the prymnesiophyte Phaeocystis spp. and the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi were all associated with hydroxychlorophyll a occurrence. However, during alternate peaks in abundance of the diatoms, no association with hydroxychlorophyll a occurred, indicating that the oxidation of chlorophyll a was dependant not only on species but also on additional factors such as the mode of mortality, growth limiting factor (i.e. nutrient concentration) or phenotypic plasticity. Surface sediment samples contained 10 times more hydroxychlorophyll a (relative to chlorophyll a) than pelagic particulate samples, indicating that more chlorophyll a oxidation occurred during sedimentation or at the sediment-water interface, than in the pelagic environment. In addition, chlorophyll aP276 correlated with chl-a concentration, thus supporting its assignment as a chl-a precursor

Determination of Therapeutic Equivalence of Generic Products of Gentamicin in the Neutropenic Mouse Thigh Infection Model

Background: Drug regulatory agencies (DRA) support prescription of generic products of intravenous antibiotics assuming therapeutic equivalence from pharmaceutical equivalence. Recent reports of deaths associated with generic heparin and metoprolol have raised concerns about the efficacy and safety of DRA-approved drugs. Methodology/Principal Findings: To challenge the assumption that pharmaceutical equivalence predicts therapeutic equivalence, we determined in vitro and in vivo the efficacy of the innovator product and 20 pharmaceutically equivalent generics of gentamicin. The data showed that, while only 1 generic product failed in vitro (MIC = 45.3 vs. 0.7 mg/L, P,0.05), 10 products (including gentamicin reference powder) failed in vivo against E. coli due to significantly inferior efficacy (E max = 4.81 to 5.32 vs. 5.99 log 10 CFU/g, P#0.043). Although the design lacked power to detect differences in survival after thigh infection with P. aeruginosa, dissemination to vital organs was significantly higher in animals treated with generic gentamicin despite 4 days of maximally effective treatment. Conclusion: Pharmaceutical equivalence does not predict therapeutic equivalence of generic gentamicin. Stricter criteri

Ubiquitous healthy diatoms in the deep sea confirm deep carbon injection by the biological pump

The role of the ocean as a sink for CO2 is partially dependent on the downward transport of phytoplankton cells packaged within fast-sinking particles. However, whether such fast-sinking mechanisms deliver fresh organic carbon down to the deep bathypelagic sea and whether this mechanism is prevalent across the ocean requires confirmation. Here we report the ubiquitous presence of healthy photosynthetic cells, dominated by diatoms, down to 4,000 m in the deep dark ocean. Decay experiments with surface phytoplankton suggested that the large proportion (18%) of healthy photosynthetic cells observed, on average, in the dark ocean, requires transport times from a few days to a few weeks, corresponding to sinking rates (124–732 m d−1) comparable to those of fast-sinking aggregates and faecal pellets. These results confirm the expectation that fast-sinking mechanisms inject fresh organic carbon into the deep sea and that this is a prevalent process operating across the global oligotrophic ocean

Genome-Wide Analysis of Gene Expression in Primate Taste Buds Reveals Links to Diverse Processes

Efforts to unravel the mechanisms underlying taste sensation (gustation) have largely focused on rodents. Here we present the first comprehensive characterization of gene expression in primate taste buds. Our findings reveal unique new insights into the biology of taste buds. We generated a taste bud gene expression database using laser capture microdissection (LCM) procured fungiform (FG) and circumvallate (CV) taste buds from primates. We also used LCM to collect the top and bottom portions of CV taste buds. Affymetrix genome wide arrays were used to analyze gene expression in all samples. Known taste receptors are preferentially expressed in the top portion of taste buds. Genes associated with the cell cycle and stem cells are preferentially expressed in the bottom portion of taste buds, suggesting that precursor cells are located there. Several chemokines including CXCL14 and CXCL8 are among the highest expressed genes in taste buds, indicating that immune system related processes are active in taste buds. Several genes expressed specifically in endocrine glands including growth hormone releasing hormone and its receptor are also strongly expressed in taste buds, suggesting a link between metabolism and taste. Cell type-specific expression of transcription factors and signaling molecules involved in cell fate, including KIT, reveals the taste bud as an active site of cell regeneration, differentiation, and development. IKBKAP, a gene mutated in familial dysautonomia, a disease that results in loss of taste buds, is expressed in taste cells that communicate with afferent nerve fibers via synaptic transmission. This database highlights the power of LCM coupled with transcriptional profiling to dissect the molecular composition of normal tissues, represents the most comprehensive molecular analysis of primate taste buds to date, and provides a foundation for further studies in diverse aspects of taste biology