El perdedor invencible

El siguiente trabajo se trata de una síntesis de la conferencia dada por los que escriben, en la Facultad de letras de la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, con fecha 22 de Marzo del 2004. Tratamos de al menos cuestionar las ideas comúnmente aceptadas por los críticos sobre el personaje cervantino como son la locura y la muerte de Don Quijote

El perdedor invencible

El siguiente trabajo se trata de una síntesis de la conferencia dada por los que escriben, en la Facultad de letras de la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, con fecha 22 de Marzo del 2004. Tratamos de al menos cuestionar las ideas comúnmente aceptadas por los críticos sobre el personaje cervantino como son la locura y la muerte de Don Quijote

Ductility of high-performance concrete and very-high-performance concrete elements with Ni-Ti reinforcements

[EN] This article presents an experimental study on the behavior of high performance concrete (HPC) and very high performance concrete (VHPC) concrete columns with Nickel-Titanium (Ni-Ti) shape memory alloy (SMA) reinforcements in critical regions subjected to constant axial and lateral cyclic load combinations. These materials make the cast-in-place of concrete easier by reducing the amount of transverse reinforcement, improving performance, attenuating damage in critical regions, minimizing residual deformations and reducing repair costs in structures located in seismic areas. Seven experimental tests were carried out to analyze the behavior of this element type. A nonlinear static cyclic pushover analysis was performed with finite element software (OpenSees), whose results were compared with the experimental results. This analysis allowed a parametric analysis to be run to extrapolate the experimental results. Strength capacity was approximately 41.8% greater in absolute terms in the specimens manufactured with VHPC and 6.2% greater in a dimensional terms in those manufactured with HPC. Displacement ductility was 34.0% higher in the HPC specimens, and lowered with relative normal force and with transverse reinforcement separation. A residual drift ratio below 0.70% was generally observed when specimens reached 20% strength capacity loss. The residual drift ratio increased as a result of progressive concrete cover degradation, especially in the specimens manufactured with HPC. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This article forms part of the research carried out at the Concrete Science and Technology Institute (ICITECH) of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV). This work has been supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through Project BIA2012-32645, and by the European Union through ERDF funds. The authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport for Grant FPU12/01451.Pereiro-Barceló, J.; Bonet Senach, JL.; Goméz-Portillo, S.; Castro-Bugallo, MC. (2018). Ductility of high-performance concrete and very-high-performance concrete elements with Ni-Ti reinforcements. Construction and Building Materials. 175:531-551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.04.172S53155117

A procedure to evaluate the resistance to biological colonization as a characteristic for product quality of ceramic roofing tiles

9 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, 22 references. The authors acknowledge the collaboration of the company Cerámica La Escandella (Spain) in supplying the samples of ceramic roofing tiles, and the advice and support by Dr. José Enrique Frias (Servicio de Cultivos Biológicos, Instituto de Biologia Vegetal y Fotosíntesis, CSIC, Seville, Spain) who provided us with the cyanobacterial strains used in this work.Ceramic roofing tiles suffer deterioration through time due to environmental exposure. Biological colonization affects the appearance and integrity of building materials, such as roofing tiles. The resistance to biocolonization represents an important property affecting the product quality of ceramic roofing tiles. While natural colonization of roofing tiles by organisms is a progressive, heterogeneous, and slow process, laboratory assessment of this phenomenon requires a sensitive procedure that can be carried out within a reasonable period of time. Different microorganisms have been evaluated and the use of phototrophs, specifically the cyanobacterium Oscillatoria, presented several advantages such as good adherence, homogeneous growth on surfaces, and the chlorophyll-autofluorescence which can be used for a sensitive detection. Colonization by Oscillatoria on roofing tiles was assessed by measuring the autofluorescence of cells. This study proposes the use of specific cyanobacterial cells and a simple method for monitoring biofilm formation and biological colonization of roofing tiles.. This study was funded by project PET2007-0080 from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Peer reviewe

Development of a genetic tool for functional screening of anti-malarial bioactive extracts in metagenomic libraries

Ajuts: Departamento Administrativo de Ciencias, Tecnología e Innovación (Colciencias), República de Colombia; Convocatoria 489 - 2009, Código 657048925406, Contrato de financiación RC. 427 - 2009 Colciencias - CorpoGen; Programa de Asistencias Graduadas de Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia; i Programa Jóvenes Investigadores de ColcienciasBACKGROUND: The chemical treatment of Plasmodium falciparum for human infections is losing efficacy each year due to the rise of resistance. One possible strategy to find novel anti-malarial drugs is to access the largest reservoir of genomic biodiversity source on earth present in metagenomes of environmental microbial communities. METHODS: A bioluminescent P. falciparum parasite was used to quickly detect shifts in viability of microcultures grown in 96-well plates. A synthetic gene encoding the Dermaseptin 4 peptide was designed and cloned under tight transcriptional control in a large metagenomic insert context (30 kb) to serve as proof-of-principle for the screening platform. RESULTS: Decrease in parasite viability consistently correlated with bioluminescence emitted from parasite microcultures, after their exposure to bacterial extracts containing a plasmid or fosmid engineered to encode the Dermaseptin 4 anti-malarial peptide. Here, a new technical platform to access the anti-malarial potential in microbial environmental metagenomes has been develope

Detection and Quantification of HspX Antigen in Sputum Samples Using Plasmonic Biosensing : Toward a Real Point-of-Care (POC) for Tuberculosis Diagnosis

Advancements that occurred during the last years in the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis infection, have prompted increased survival rates of patients. However, limitations related to the inefficiency of an early detection still remain; some techniques and laboratory methods do not have enough specificity and most instruments are expensive and require handling by trained staff. In order to contribute to a prompt and effective diagnosis of tuberculosis, we report the development of a portable, user-friendly, and low-cost biosensor device for its early detection. By using a label-free surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor, we have established a direct immunoassay for the direct detection and quantification of the heat shock protein X (HspX) of Mtb, a well-established biomarker of this pathogen, directly in pretreated sputum samples. The method relies on highly specific monoclonal antibodies that are previously immobilized on the plasmonic sensor surface. This technology allows for the direct detection of the biomarker without amplification steps, showing a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.63 ng mL-1 and a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 2.12 ng mL-1. The direct analysis in pretreated sputum shows significant differences in the HspX concentration in patients with tuberculosis (with concentration levels in the order of 116-175 ng mL-1) compared with non-tuberculosis infected patients (values below the LOQ of the assay)

Influencia de la formulación y de las variables de procesado sobre la estabilidad física de emulsiones de aceite esencial de tomillo

En la actualidad, los consumidores tienden a preferir productos que contengan compuestos naturales en lugar de aditivos sintéticos. Este hecho hace que en los últimos tiempos se haya realizado un gran esfuerzo en el estudio de formulaciones de emulsiones cuya fase orgánica está compuesta por aceites esenciales procedentes de plantas aromáticas. Estos aceites, como por ejemplo, el aceite esencial de tomillo (Thymus Vulgaris), constituido principalmente por timol, permiten diseñar productos más ecológicos y más seguros. En este estudio, se ha evaluado la estabilidad física de emulsiones concentradas de aceite de tomillo en función de la concentración de un tensioactivo de baja toxicidad y rápida biodegradación, Appyclean 6548. Dicho tensioactivo es no iónico del tipo alquil polipentósido, cuyo HLB está entre 9.0 y 9.5. En primer lugar, se obtuvo una emulsión primaria mediante el uso de un homogeneizador de alta velocidad rotor-stator, Silverson L5M. Posteriormente, se hizo pasar esta emulsión por un homogeneizador de alta presión por microcanales, Microfluidizer M110P. Finalmente, se estudió la estabilidad de las emulsiones resultantes mediante la combinación de técnicas como la difracción láser y la retrodispersión de luz en toda la longitud del recipiente que contenía la muestra.Nowadays, the consumers tend to prefer product containing natural components instead of synthetic additives. For this reason, recently the researchers have made a great effort to study formulation of emulsions whose organic phase containing essential oils from aromatic plants. These oils, such as, thyme essential oil (Thymus Vulgaris), consisting mainly of thymol, make possible to design more ecological and safer products. In this study, the physical stability of concentrated emulsions has been assessed as a function of a surfactant with low toxicity and rapid biodegradation, Appyclean 6548. This is a non-ionic surfactant, alkylpolypentoside, with HLB of 9.0-9.5. Firstly, a coarse emulsion was obtained by means of a rotor-stator homogenizer. Then, this emulsion was submitted at high pressure by a microchannel homogenizer. Finally, the stability of the resulting emulsions using multiple light scattering and laser diffraction.Plan Propio de la Universidad de Sevilla Proyecto: 2017/00000962Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)/FEDER (UE) CTQ2015-70700-

A pilot study on the Spanish version of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS‐SR) with carers of people with Parkinson's disease

Aim: To report the cross-cultural adaptation and pilot study of the ongoing validation of the Spanish version of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale with carers of people with Parkinson's disease. Design: Cross-cultural adaptation and pilot study with a cross-sectional validation design of the Spanish version of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale - Carers. Methods: Twenty-one carers of people with Parkinson's disease from a Primary Care practice in Spain were recruited and completed the PAIS-Carers, the SF-36 Health Survey, the Brief COPE Inventory and an assessment form. SPSS 23.0 was used to determine viability/acceptability and preliminary aspects of internal consistency of the instrument. Results: Five of the seven domains presented floor effect (71.42%), and only one presented ceiling effect (14.28%). The internal consistency of the scale and domains showed acceptable values (over 0.7). The content validity of the Spanish version seemed satisfactory with positive comments in general from participants

Development of a genetic tool for functional screening of anti-malarial bioactive extracts in metagenomic libraries

BACKGROUND: The chemical treatment of Plasmodium falciparum for human infections is losing efficacy each year due to the rise of resistance. One possible strategy to find novel anti-malarial drugs is to access the largest reservoir of genomic biodiversity source on earth present in metagenomes of environmental microbial communities. METHODS: A bioluminescent P. falciparum parasite was used to quickly detect shifts in viability of microcultures grown in 96-well plates. A synthetic gene encoding the Dermaseptin 4 peptide was designed and cloned under tight transcriptional control in a large metagenomic insert context (30 kb) to serve as proof-of-principle for the screening platform. RESULTS: Decrease in parasite viability consistently correlated with bioluminescence emitted from parasite microcultures, after their exposure to bacterial extracts containing a plasmid or fosmid engineered to encode the Dermaseptin 4 anti-malarial peptide. CONCLUSIONS: Here, a new technical platform to access the anti-malarial potential in microbial environmental metagenomes has been developed

La interacción de procesos hidrológicos, químicos y microbiológicos en la formación de películas flotantes ricas en hierro en ambientes acuáticos de pH circumneutro

17 páginas.-- 3 figuras.-- 4 tablas.-- 53 referencias.-- Postprint (Versión editorial)[EN]: The direct contribution of microbial activity to the formation of iron-oxide minerals is difficult to prove in wetlands due to the high reactivity of solid iron phases with different compounds and the variety of redox processes that may occur at each oxic-anoxic boundary. Here, we propose an explanation for the formation of iron-oxide films in wetlands and groundwater seepage areas fed by sandy aquifers based on the interaction of hydrological, chemical and microbiological processes under circumneutral conditions. The presence of a floating iron-oxide film was found to create a boundary at the air-water interface that maintains a suboxic and slightly acidic environment below the film compared with the environments obtained in other free-film wetland areas. The water trapped below this film had an average pH of 6.1, was particularly poor in O2, HCO–3, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, and Tot-S, and has high concentrations of Tot-P, Tot-Fe, NH+4 and Zn. The formation of a floating iron-oxide film was reproduced under anaerobic conditions after progressive enrichment through the incubation of natural sediment samples in the laboratory. Heterotrophic bacteria belonging to the genus Enterobacter were the dominant bacteria in the enrichments that resulted in the formation of a floating iron-oxide film. The X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the presence of two-line ferrihydrite was common to the iron-oxide films collected in both the natural environment and the laboratory cultures, whereas other iron-oxides (goethite and low-crystalline lepidocrocite) were observed only in the natural environment. This study highlights the role of ubiquitous bacteria, which are generally considered unimportant participants in iron-transformation processes in the environment, and the contribution of both biological and non-biological processes to iron oxidation in natural systems under circumneutral conditions.[ES]: En los humedales, es difícil probar que la actividad microbiana sea la responsable de la formación de óxido de hierro mineral debido, tanto a la gran reactividad del hierro en fase sólida con diferentes sustancias, como a la variedad de procesos redox que pueden ocurrir en cada interfase óxica-anóxica. El presente trabajo propone una explicación, basada en la interacción de procesos hidrológicos, químicos y microbiológicos en condiciones circumneutras, para explicar la formación de un film de óxido de hierro en humedales y manaderos donde aflora agua subterránea proveniente de acuíferos de arenas silíceas. Además, la presencia de un film de óxido de hierro que flota sobre la interfase agua-aire genera condiciones subóxicas y ligeramente ácidas en el agua que queda atrapada debajo, y que son muy distintas a otras zonas libres de film en el mismo humedal. Este agua atrapada bajo el film se caracterizó por presentar un pH medio de 6.1, una menor concentración de O2, HCO–3, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, y S total, pero una mayor riqueza en P total, Fe total, NH+4 y Zn. La formación de un film flotante de óxido de hierro se reprodujo en el laboratorio, en condiciones anaeróbicas, tras el enriquecimiento progresivo de las muestras del sedimento natural que habían sido incubadas. En dichos enriquecimientos, donde se produjeron films flotantes de óxido de hierro, la bacteria dominante perteneció al género Enterobacter. Mediante difracción por rayos X, se encontró ferrihidrita con estructura en doble cadena, tanto en el film de muestras naturales como de cultivos de laboratorio. Además se encontraron otros tipos de óxidos minerales (goetita y lepidocrocita de pobre cristalización) sólo en las muestras naturales de film. El presente estudio muestra la relevancia de bacterias ubicuas, hasta ahora consideradas sin importancia en procesos naturales de transformación del hierro, y la participación tanto de procesos bióticos como abióticos en la oxidación del hierro en sistemas naturales sometidos a condiciones circumneutras.We are grateful to Han Golterman for his support and suggestions. We thank Lotte Fleskens and Christien van der Zwart for collaborating with the sediment collection and P-fractionation at the laboratory. This study was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CGL2004-03927-C02-01/BOS)Peer reviewe