Detection of freeze injury in oranges using magnetic resonance imaging under motion conditions

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is applied for on-line inspection of fruits. The aim of this work is to address the applicability of MRI for freeze injury detection in oranges directly on a distribution chain. Undamaged and damaged oranges are conveyed at 50 and 100 mm/s by a specially designed conveyor within a 4.7 T spectrometer obtaining fast low-angle shot images. An automatic segmentation algorithm is proposed that allows the discrimination between undamaged and damaged orange

Hypothyroidism confers tolerance to cerebral malaria

The modulation of the host’s metabolism to protect tissue from damage induces tolerance to infections increasing survival. Here, we examined the role of the thyroid hormones, key metabolic regulators, in the outcome of malaria. Hypothyroidism confers protection to experimental cerebral malaria by a disease tolerance mechanism. Hypothyroid mice display increased survival after infection with Plasmodium berghei ANKA, diminishing intracranial pressure and brain damage, without altering pathogen burden, blood-brain barrier disruption, or immune cell infiltration. This protection is reversed by treatment with a Sirtuin 1 inhibitor, while treatment of euthyroid mice with a Sirtuin 1 activator induces tolerance and reduces intracranial pressure and lethality. This indicates that thyroid hormones and Sirtuin 1 are previously unknown targets for cerebral malaria treatment, a major killer of children in endemic malaria areas.This work was funded by grants SAF2017-83289-R to S.A. and A.A., SAF2017-90604REDT to A.A. supported by the The European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) and BIO2016-77430-R to J.M.B. from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; B2017/BMD-3724 to S.A. and A.A. from the Comunidad de Madrid; and CIBERONC CB/16/00228 to A.A. from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Detection of freeze injury in oranges by magnetic resonance imaging of moving samples

Abstract. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is applied for on-line inspection of fruits. The aim of this work is to address the applicability of MRI for freeze injury detection in oranges directly on a distribution chain. Undamaged and damaged oranges are conveyed at 50 and 100 mm/s by a specially designed conveyor within a 4.7 T spectrometer obtaining fast low-angle shot images. An automatic segmentation algorithm is proposed that allows the discrimination between undamaged and damaged oranges

Fluid inclusions size and distribution in Stalagmites applying NMR techniques

Trabajo presentado en el 8th International Conference Climate Change: The Karst Record, celebrado en Austin, Texas (Estados Unidos), del 21 al 24 de mayo de 2017Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques are powerful non-destructive tools to understand the internal porosity and fluid inclusions distribution of carbonate rocks. In the case of speleothems, relaxometry experiments and the reconstruction of 2D magnetic resonance images (MRI) help to complement the results obtained by petrographic analysis in microscope, where different type of fluid inclusions have been classified. Relaxometry test of 1 H nuclei of water in a porous media allows to quantify isolated cavities as fluid inclusions and, based on so called “surface effects”, the size distribution can be achieved. It is known that T1 (longitudinal) and T2 (transversal) relaxation times, indicators of pore size when a single fluid is present, are shorter in pores with a high surface-to-volume ratio (S/V). On the other hand, high intensity pixels (bright areas) are associated to water filled fluid inclusions in 2D MRI images, while low intensity pixels (black areas) are related to calcite. The technique shows a high potential to analyze different fluid inclusions bear in mind their magnitudes, allowing to classify and estimate the amount of intracrystallite and intercrystallite inclusions. Moreover, the 2D and 3D visualization of fluid inclusions distribution inside the sample by MRI images and the pre-estimation of enclosed water amount in each sample by relaxometry curves, turn this technique into a useful tool previous to stable isotope or noble gas crushing measurements of fluid inclusions under high vacuum line. In this work, two stalagmites from Cueva del Tortero (Valencia, Spain), Tortero-2 and Tortero-4, have been analyzed by this method. T1 and T2 curves of fully dried samples reveal that fluid inclusions could be classified in three groups taking their size into consideration, where short relaxation times represent small fluid inclusions and larger T1 and T2 values characterize enlarged cavities. Furthermore, the greater sensitivity that T2 displays to inclusions morphology allows to identify more deeply different types of fluid inclusions. In both samples, intracrystallite fluid inclusions are very tiny (3-15 μm) and correspond to shorter T2 values (0,2-3 ms for Tortero-4 slabs and 1-4 ms for Tortero-2). On the other hand, intercrystallite inclusions are bigger in size (20-100 μm) and they provoke T2 relaxation times between 4 and 500 ms for Tortero-4 slabs and from 8-50 ms for Tortero-2. T2 relaxation times bigger than 1000 ms are induced by enlarged porosity in both samples. Moreover, MRI images confirm that lots of intracrystallite inclusions are located in bands and in the hiatus, where the signal given by water is brighter.This work was supported by the R+D+i Program of Spain [CGL2013-43257-R] and the Complutense University [Research Group 910198]. We thank the authorities of the Generalitat Valenciana for permissions and support. Thanks are extended to Ana I. Ortega (Grupo Espeleológico Edelweiss) and Policarp Garay, for speleological advice during cave work.Peer reviewe

Lack of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor accelerates aging in mice

11p.-5 fig.-1 tab.The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor, largely known for its role in xenobiotic metabolism and detoxification as well as its crucial role as a regulator of inflammation. Here, we have compared a cohort wild-type and AhR-null mice along aging to study the relationship between this receptor and age-associated inflammation, termed as "inflammaging," both at a systemic and the CNS level. Our results show that AhR deficiency is associated with a premature aged phenotype, characterized by early inflammaging, as shown by an increase in plasma cytokines levels. The absence of AhR also promotes the appearance of brain aging anatomic features, such as the loss of the white matter integrity. In addition, AhR-/- mice present an earlier spatial memory impairment and an enhanced astrogliosis in the hippocampus when compared with their age-matched AhR+/+ controls. Importantly, we have found that AhR protein levels decrease with age in this brain structure, strongly suggesting a link between AhR and aging.-Bravo-Ferrer, I., Cuartero, M. I., Medina, V., Ahedo-Quero, D., Peña-Martínez, C., Pérez-Ruíz, A., Fernández-Valle, M. E., Hernández-Sánchez, C., Fernández-Salguero, P. M., Lizasoain, I., Moro, M. A. Lack of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor accelerates aging in mice.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grants SAF2015-68632-R and SAF2016-81716-REDC to M.A.M.), Instituto de Salud Carlos III,cofinanced by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) Una Manera de Hacer Europa (Grants PI17/01601 and RD16/0019/0009 to I.L.), and the Regional Madrid Government (Grant B2017/BMD-3688 to I.L.).Peer reviewe

Comparison of X-ray CT and MRI of watercore disorder of different apple cultivars

Watercore is an internal disorder that appears as water-soaked, glassy regions near the core in apples. Fast and non-destructive solutions for sensing watercore would be readily accepted in the postharvest industry. X-ray CT and MRI were compared as potential imaging technologies for detecting this particular disorder. After matching the 3D datasets of X-ray CT and MRI, the images that were obtained on identical fruit were compared quantitatively. Both MRI and CT were able to detect watercore, however the contrast in MRI images was superior. High-resolution micro-CT images showed the microstructural changes in watercore fruit: the intercellular spaces of the affected apple tissue are filled with water. This explained the higher density that is detected here by the X-rays and the higher water content in the MRI. Mean and variance of the frequency distribution of MRI and X-ray CT intensity appeared to be a parameter that allows the identification of healthy apples from affected fruit. Automatic image processing based on thresholding the images resulted in comparable watercore classification accuracy of up to 89% for X-ray CT and 79% for MRI data, despite the better contrast in the MRI images.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Comparison of X-ray CT and MRI of watercore disorder of different apple cultivars journaltitle: Postharvest Biology and Technology articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.postharvbio.2013.08.008 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Comparison of X-ray CT and MRI of watercore disorder of different apple cultivars

9 Págs., 7 Figs. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09255214Watercore is an internal disorder that appears as water-soaked, glassy regions near the core in apples. Fast and non-destructive solutions for sensing watercore would be readily accepted in the postharvest industry. X-ray CT and MRI were compared as potential imaging technologies for detecting this particular disorder. After matching the 3D datasets of X-ray CT and MRI, the images that were obtained on identical fruit were compared quantitatively. Both MRI and CT were able to detect watercore, however the contrast in MRI images was superior. High-resolution micro-CT images showed the microstructural changes in watercore fruit: the intercellular spaces of the affected apple tissue are filled with water. This explained the higher density that is detected here by the X-rays and the higher water content in the MRI. Mean and variance of the frequency distribution of MRI and X-ray CT intensity appeared to be a parameter that allows the identification of healthy apples from affected fruit. Automatic image processing based on thresholding the images resulted in comparable watercore classification accuracy of up to 89% for X-ray CT and 79% for MRI data, despite the better contrast in the MRI images.This publication has been produced with the financial support of the European Union (project FP7-226783 – InsideFood). We would also like to acknowledge the Hercules Foundation and the Institute for the Promotion of Innovation through Science and Technology (IWT-Vlaanderen, doctoral scholarship 093469, TomFood SBO 120033). Thijs Defraeye is postdoctoral fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and acknowledges its support.Peer reviewe