Matching in vitro bioaccessibility of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity of soluble coffee by Boosted Regression Trees

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in polyphenol profile and antioxidant capacity of five soluble coffees throughout a simulated gastro-intestinal digestion, including absorption through a dialysis membrane. Our results demonstrate that both polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity were characteristic for each type of studied coffee, showing a drop after dialysis. Twenty-seven compounds were identified in coffee by HPLC-MS, while only 14 of them were found after dialysis. Green+roasted coffee blend and chicory+coffee blend showed the highest and lowest content of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity before in vitro digestion and after dialysis, respectively. Canonical correlation analysis showed significant correlation between the antioxidant capacity and the polyphenol profile before digestion and after dialysis. Furthermore, boosted regression trees analysis (BRT) showed that only four polyphenol compounds (5-p-coumaroylquinic acid, quinic acid, coumaroyl tryptophan conjugated, and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) appear to be the most relevant to explain the antioxidant capacity after dialysis, these compounds being the most bioaccessible after dialysis. To our knowledge, this is the first report matching the antioxidant capacity of foods with the polyphenol profile by BRT, which opens an interesting method of analysis for future reports on the antioxidant capacity of foods.Fil: Podio, Natalia Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: López Froilán, Rebeca. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Ramirez Moreno, Esther. Universidad Autónoma de Estado de Hidalgo; México. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Bertrand, Lidwina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Baroni, María Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Pérez Rodríguez, María L.. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Sánchez Mata, María Cortes. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Wunderlin, Daniel A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; Argentin

Prolonged oral cannabinoid administration prevents neuroinflammation, lowers β-amyloid levels and improves cognitive performance in Tg APP 2576 mice

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.[Background]: Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain shows an ongoing inflammatory condition and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories diminish the risk of suffering the neurologic disease. Cannabinoids are neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents with therapeutic potential. [Methods]: We have studied the effects of prolonged oral administration of transgenic amyloid precursor protein (APP) mice with two pharmacologically different cannabinoids (WIN 55,212-2 and JWH-133, 0.2 mg/kg/day in the drinking water during 4 months) on inflammatory and cognitive parameters, and on 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose (18FDG) uptake by positron emission tomography (PET). [Results]: Novel object recognition was significantly reduced in 11 month old Tg APP mice and 4 month administration of JWH was able to normalize this cognitive deficit, although WIN was ineffective. Wild type mice cognitive performance was unaltered by cannabinoid administration. Tg APP mice showed decreased 18FDG uptake in hippocampus and cortical regions, which was counteracted by oral JWH treatment. Hippocampal GFAP immunoreactivity and cortical protein expression was unaffected by genotype or treatment. In contrast, the density of Iba1 positive microglia was increased in Tg APP mice, and normalized following JWH chronic treatment. Both cannabinoids were effective at reducing the enhancement of COX-2 protein levels and TNF-α mRNA expression found in the AD model. Increased cortical β-amyloid (Aβ) levels were significantly reduced in the mouse model by both cannabinoids. Noteworthy both cannabinoids enhanced Aβ transport across choroid plexus cells in vitro. [Conclusions]: In summary we have shown that chronically administered cannabinoid showed marked beneficial effects concomitant with inflammation reduction and increased Aβ clearance.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (SAF 2005-02845 to M.L.C). A.M.M-M. was recipient a fellowship from the Ministry of Education and Science.Peer Reviewe

Denitrification-derived nitric oxide modulates biofilm formation in Azospirillum brasilense

Azospirillum brasilense is a rhizobacterium that provides beneficial effects on plants when they colonize roots. The formation of complex bacterial communities known as biofilms begins with the interaction of planktonic cells with surfaces in response to appropriate signals. Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule implicated in numerous processes in bacteria, including biofilm formation or dispersion, depending on genera and lifestyle. Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 produces NO by denitrification having a role in root growth promotion. We analyzed the role of endogenously produced NO on biofilm formation in A. brasilense Sp245 and in a periplasmic nitrate reductase mutant (napA::Tn5; Faj164) affected in NO production. Cells were statically grown in media with nitrate or ammonium as nitrogen sources and examined for biofilm formation using crystal violet and by confocal laser microscopy. Both strains formed bio- films, but the mutant produced less than half compared with the wild type in nitrate medium showing impaired nitrite production in this condition. NO measurements in biofilm confirmed lower values in the mutant strain. The addition of a NO donor showed that NO influences biofilm formation in a dose-dependent manner and reverses the mutant phenotype, indicating that Nap positively regulates the formation of biofilm in A. brasilense Sp245.Fil: Arruebarrena Di Palma, Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Pereyra, Cintia Mariana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Moreno Ramírez, Lizbeth. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Xiqui Vazquez, Maria L.. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Baca, Beatriz E.. Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla; MéxicoFil: Pereyra, María Alejandra. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lamattina, Lamattina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Creus, Cecilia Mónica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Towards a clinical staging for bipolar disorder: defining patient subtypes based on functional outcome.

BACKGROUND: The functional outcome of Bipolar Disorder (BD) is highly variable. This variability has been attributed to multiple demographic, clinical and cognitive factors. The critical next step is to identify combinations of predictors that can be used to specify prognostic subtypes, thus providing a basis for a staging classification in BD. METHODS: Latent Class Analysis was applied to multiple predictors of functional outcome in a sample of 106 remitted adults with BD. RESULTS: We identified two subtypes of patients presenting "good" (n=50; 47.6%) and "poor" (n=56; 52.4%) outcome. Episode density, level of residual depressive symptoms, estimated verbal intelligence and inhibitory control emerged as the most significant predictors of subtype membership at the p<0.05 level. Their odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) with reference to the "good" outcome group were: episode density (OR=4.622, CI 1.592-13.418), level of residual depressive symptoms (OR=1.543, CI 1.210-1.969), estimated verbal intelligence (OR=0.969; CI 0.945-0.995), and inhibitory control (OR=0.771, CI 0.656-0.907). Age, age of onset and duration of illness were comparable between prognostic groups. LIMITATIONS: The longitudinal stability or evolution of the subtypes was not tested. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide the first empirically derived staging classification of BD based on two underlying dimensions, one for illness severity and another for cognitive function. This approach can be further developed by expanding the dimensions included and testing the reproducibility and prospective prognostic value of the emerging classes. Developing a disease staging system for BD will allow individualised treatment planning for patients and selection of more homogeneous patient groups for research purposes

Effect of time of annealing on gas permeation through coextruded linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films

[EN] The effect of annealing on the permeation of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide through coextruded linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films is studied. The results indicate that the permeability coefficient P of nitrogen does not show a definite dependence on the time of annealing, ta, whereas for the other gases this parameter increases with ta. The analysis of the variation of the diffusion coefficient of O2 and N2 with ta indicates that D undergoes a sharp decrease from ta ) 0 to ta ) 2 h, but for larger times of annealing the diffusion parameter only undergoes a slight diminution; on the contrary, the diffusion coefficient of CO2 gradually decreases with increasing ta. The fact that annealing increases the solubility of the gases in the polymer films suggests that thermal treatments may favor the formation of microcavities or molecular packing defects in the crystalline amorphous interface that can accommodate individual site molecules without disturbing the natural dissolution process in the rubbery region of the polymer matrix. Finally, free volume theories are not sensitive enough to interpret the effect of annealing on the permeation characteristics of coextruded LLDPE films.This work was supported by the DGICYT through Grant PB95-0134-C02.Compañ Moreno, V.; Andrio, A.; Lopez, ML.; Alvarez, C.; Riande, E. (1997). Effect of time of annealing on gas permeation through coextruded linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) films. Macromolecules. 30:3317-3322. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/147741S331733223

Vascular Dysfunction in a Transgenic Model of Alzheimer's Disease: Effects of CB1R and CB2R Cannabinoid Agonists

There is evidence of altered vascular function, including cerebrovascular, in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and transgenic models of the disease. Indeed vasoconstrictor responses are increased, while vasodilation is reduced in both conditions. β-Amyloid (Aβ) appears to be responsible, at least in part, of alterations in vascular function. Cannabinoids, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents, induce vasodilation both in vivo and in vitro. We have demonstrated a beneficial effect of cannabinoids in models of AD by preventing glial activation. In this work we have studied the effects of these compounds on vessel density in amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice, line 2576, and on altered vascular responses in aortae isolated ring. First we showed increased collagen IV positive vessels in AD brain compared to control subjects, with a similar increase in TgAPP mice, which was normalized by prolonged oral treatment with the CB1/CB2 mixed agonist WIN 55,212-2 (WIN) and the CB2 selective agonist JWH-133 (JWH). In Tg APP mice the vasoconstriction induced by phenylephrine and the thromboxane agonist U46619 was significantly increased, and no change in the vasodilation to acetylcholine (ACh) was observed. Tg APP displayed decreased vasodilation to both cannabinoid agonists, which were able to prevent decreased ACh relaxation in the presence of Aβ. In summary, we have confirmed and extended the existence of altered vascular responses in Tg APP mice. Moreover, our results suggest that treatment with cannabinoids may ameliorate the vascular responses in AD-type pathology.This work was supported by the Council of Madrid (S- BIO/0170/2006 and P2010/BMD-2349 to MLC) and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III/FISS (PI12/00590 to TT). AM received a fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and JN-D from FISS. Dr. R. Martínez-Murillo is acknowledged for preliminary EM experiments.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

Approaches based on LAMDA control applied to regulate HVAC systems for buildings

The control of HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems is usually complex because its modeling in certain cases is difficult, since these systems have a large number of components. Heat exchangers, chillers, valves, sensors, and actuators, increase the non-linear characteristics of the complete model, so it is necessary to propose new control strategies that can handle the uncertainty generated by all these elements working together. On the other hand, artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that allows improving the performance of control systems with inexact models and uncertainties. This paper presents new control alternatives for HVAC systems based on LAMDA (Learning Algorithm for Multivariable Data Analysis). This algorithm has been used in the field of machine learning, however, we have taken advantage of its learning characteristics to propose different types of intelligent controllers to improve the performance of the overall control system in tasks of regulation and reference change. In order to perform a comparative analysis in the context of HVAC systems, conventional methods such as PID and Fuzzy-PID are compared with LAMDA-PID, LAMDA-Sliding Mode Control based on Z-numbers (ZLSMC), and Adaptive LAMDA. Specifically, two HVAC systems are implemented by simulations to evaluate the proposals: an MIMO (Multiple-input Multiple-output) HVAC system and an HVAC system with dead time, which are used to compare the results qualitatively and quantitatively. The results show that ZLSMC is the most robust controller, which efficiently controls HVAC systems in cases of reference changes and the presence of disturbances.European CommissionAgencia Estatal de InvestigaciónJunta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Manch

A comprehensive characterisation of the fibre composition and properties of a limb (Flexor digitorum superficialis, membri thoraci) and a trunk (Psoas major) muscle in cattle

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The fibre type attributes and the relationships among their properties play an important role in the differences in muscle capabilities and features. Comprehensive characterisation of the skeletal muscles should study the degree of association between them and their involvement in muscle functionality. The purposes of the present study were to characterise the fibre type composition of a trunk (<it>Psoas major</it>, PM) and a limb (<it>Flexor digitorum, membri thoraci</it>, FD) muscle in the bovine species and to study the degree of coordination among contractile, metabolic and histological properties of fibre types. Immunohistochemical, histochemical and histological techniques were used.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The fibre type composition was delineated immunohistochemically in calf muscle samples, identifying three pure (I, IIA, and IIX) and two hybrid type fibres (I+IIA, and IIAX). Most of the fibres in FD were types I and IIA, while pure IIX were absent. All fibre types were found in PM, the IIX type being the most frequent. Compared to other species, small populations of hybrid fibres were detected. The five fibre types, previously identified, were ascribed to three different acid and alkaline mATPase activity patterns. Type I fibres had the highest oxidative capacity and the lowest glycolytic capacity. The reverse was true for the IIX fibres, whereas the type IIA fibres showed intermediate properties. Regarding the histological properties, type I fibres tended to be more capillarised than the II types. Correlations among contractile, metabolic and histological features on individual fibres were significantly different from zero (r values varied between -0.31 and 0.78). Hybrid fibre values were positioned between their corresponding pure types, and their positions were different regarding their metabolic and contractile properties.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Coordination among the contractile, metabolic and histological properties of fibres has been observed. However, the magnitude of the correlation among them is always below 0.8, suggesting that the properties of muscles are not fully explained by the fibre composition. These results support the concept that, to some extent, muscle plasticity can be explained by the fibre type composition, and by the properties derived from their metabolic and histological profiles.</p

Genetic Dissection of the Regulatory Network Associated with High c-di-GMP Levels in Pseudomonas putida KT2440

Most bacteria grow in nature forming multicellular structures named biofilms. The bacterial second messenger cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) is a key player in the regulation of the transition from planktonic to sessile lifestyles and this regulation is crucial in the development of biofilms. In Pseudomonas putida KT2440, Rup4959, a multidomain response regulator with diguanylate cyclase activity, when overexpressed causes an increment in the intracellular levels of c-di-GMP that gives rise to a pleiotropic phenotype consisting of increased biofilm formation and crinkly colony morphology. In a broad genomic screen we have isolated mutant derivatives that lose the crinkly morphology, designed as cfc (crinkle free colony). A total of 19 different genes have been identified as being related with the emergence of the cfc phenotype either because the expression or functionality of Rup4959 is compromised, or due to a lack of transduction of the c-di-GMP signal to downstream elements involved in the acquisition of the phenotype. Discernment between these possibilities was investigated by using a c-di-GMP biosensor and by HPLC-MS quantification of the second messenger. Interestingly five of the identified genes encode proteins with AAA+ ATPase domain. Among the bacterial determinants found in this screen are the global transcriptional regulators GacA, AlgU and FleQ and two enzymes involved in the arginine biosynthesis pathway. We present evidences that this pathway seems to be an important element to both the availability of the free pool of the second messenger c-di-GMP and to its further transduction as a signal for biosynthesis of biopolimers. In addition we have identified an uncharacterized hybrid sensor histidine kinase whose phosphoaceptor conserved histidine residue has been shown in this work to be required for in vivo activation of the orphan response regulator Rup4959, which suggests these two elements constitute a two-component phosphorelay system.This work was supported by grants BFU2010-17946 and BFU2013-43469-P from Plan Nacional de I+D+I (Spanish Government) and by EDFR funds. OH-R was supported by a FPI fellowship and LB-M by predoctoral fund from Junta de Andalucía. MAM was supported by the Postdoctoral Juan de la Cierva Spanish Research Program (JCI-2012-11815).Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe