Maternal resources, pregnancy concerns, and biological factors associated to birth weight and psychological health

Cognitive maternal adaptation during pregnancy may influence biological variables, maternal psychological, and neonatal health. We hypothesized that pregnant women with numerous general resources and less negative emotions would have a better coping with a positive influence on neonatal birth weight and maternal psychological health. The study included 131 healthy pregnant women. A blood sample was obtained in the first trimester to assess biological variables (polyphenols, hematological and biochemical parameters). Psychological variables (negative affect, anxiety, optimism, resilience, family–work conflicts, pregnancy concerns, general resources, and life satisfaction) were evaluated at several time points along gestation, and birth weight was recorded. Hierarchical linear regression models were used to associate the above parameters with maternal psychological outcome at the end of gestation (depression, resilience, and optimism) and neonatal outcome (birth weight). Maternal depression was associated with leukocytes (β = 0.08 ± 0.03, p-value = 0.003), cholesterol (β = 0.01 ± 0.002, p-value = 0.026), and pregnancy concerns (β = 0.31 ± 0.09, p-value = 0.001). Maternal resilience was associated with leukocytes (β = −0.14 ± 0.09, p-value = 0.010) and life satisfaction (β = 0.82 ± 0.08, p-value = 0.001), and maternal optimism was associated with polyphenol levels (β = 0.002 ± 0.001, p-value = 0.018) and life satisfaction (β = 0.49 ± 0.04, p-value = 0.001). Birth weight was associated with maternal resilience (β = 370.2 ± 97.0, p-value = 0.001), red blood cells (β = 480.3 ± 144.4, p-value = 0.001), and life satisfaction (β = 423.3 ± 32.6, p-value = 0.001). We found associations between maternal psychological, blood variables, and birth weight and maternal depression. This study reveals the relevance of psychological health during pregnancy for maternal and neonatal outcome, and it emphasizes the need to consider it in preventive policies in the obstetric fiel

First trimester elevations of hematocrit, lipid peroxidation and nitrates in women with twin pregnancies who develop preeclampsia

Twin pregnancies are considered a risk factor for preeclampsia, an obstetric complication with high maternal and infant morbi-mortality. We hypothesize that alterations in maternal hematocrit, plasma lipid peroxidation and nitrates in the first trimester of pregnancy are associated with preeclampsia development in twin pregnancies. Blood samples were extracted from 102 healthy women with twin pregnancies at tenth week of gestation to assess hematological parameters and plasma levels of malondialdehyde and nitrates. Logistic regression model showed an association between red blood cells (OR = 38.8; p-value = 0.009), hematocrit (OR = 1.6; p-value = 0.017), malondialdehyde (OR = 1.5; p-value = 0.002), and nitrates (OR = 1.1; p-value = 0.045) and preeclampsia development. These parameters are potential biomarkers for early preeclampsia detection in twin pregnancies. Future research is needed to assess their value in predictive algorithmsThis work was supported by Multidisciplinary Research Project [CEMU, 2013-10], Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and collaborative project Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Khon Kaen University [KKU: 0514.7.I.12-1948

Intercellular Trafficking of Gold Nanostars in Uveal Melanoma Cells for Plasmonic Photothermal Therapy

Efficient plasmonic photothermal therapies (PPTTs) using non-harmful pulse laser irradiation at the near-infrared (NIR) are a highly sought goal in nanomedicine. These therapies rely on the use of plasmonic nanostructures to kill cancer cells while minimizing the applied laser power density. Cancer cells have an unsettled capacity to uptake, retain, release, and re-uptake gold nanoparticles, thus offering enormous versatility for research. In this work, we have studied such cell capabilities for nanoparticle trafficking and its impact on the effect of photothermal treatments. As our model system, we chose uveal (eye) melanoma cells, since laser-assisted eye surgery is routinely used to treat glaucoma and cataracts, or vision correction in refractive surgery. As nanostructure, we selected gold nanostars (Au NSs) due to their high photothermal efficiency at the near-infrared (NIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. We first investigated the photothermal effect on the basis of the dilution of Au NSs induced by cell division. Using this approach, we obtained high PPTT efficiency after several cell division cycles at an initial low Au NS concentration (pM regime). Subsequently, we evaluated the photothermal effect on account of cell division upon mixing Au NS-loaded and non-loaded cells. Upon such mixing, we observed trafficking of Au NSs between loaded and non-loaded cells, thus achieving effective PPTT after several division cycles under low irradiation conditions (below the maximum permissible exposure threshold of skin). Our study reveals the ability of uveal melanoma cells to release and re-uptake Au NSs that maintain their plasmonic photothermal properties throughout several cell division cycles and re-uptake. This approach may be readily extrapolated to real tissue and even to treat in situ the eye tumor itself. We believe that our method can potentially be used as co-therapy to disperse plasmonic gold nanostructures across affected tissues, thus increasing the effectiveness of classic PPTT

Influence of the aqueous matrix on the degradation of cyanotoxins by CWPO: a study on the Iberian Peninsula freshwaters

The increasing occurrence of toxic cyanobacterial blooms worldwide represents a critical health and environmental risk. Catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) has emerged as an efficient and environmentally friendly technology for the removal of cyanotoxins in water. Nevertheless, its effectiveness has just been demonstrated in deionized water or simple synthetic aqueous matrices. In this work, the effect of the different components of the aqueous matrix on the CWPO of cyanotoxins was deeply evaluated considering the widespread properties of the Iberian Peninsula freshwaters. The presence of Cl-, HCO3- and SO42- ions reduced the oxidation rate of cylindrospermopsin (CYN) up to 70–80% at the highest concentrations tested (2000, 250 and 500 mg L−1 for Cl-, HCO3- and SO42-, respectively) due to their hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity. The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) resulted in a similar outcome (oxidation rate reduction up to 90% at the highest concentration tested, 20 mg L−1), but in this case due to the consumption of hydroxyl radicals in competition with CYN oxidation. The presence of NO3- and H2PO4- did not show any significant effect on CYN oxidation. Similarly, the presence of cyanobacteria (Chrysosporum ovalisporum, 50 µg chlorophyll-a L−1) did not appreciably affect the CYN oxidation rate. These results were consistent with those obtained by evaluating the impact of real aqueous matrices from drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) located in Castilla y León and Extremadura regions (Spain) on CWPO performance. This knowledge is key to the implementation of the technology for the treatment of surface waters affected by toxic cyanobacterial bloomsThis research has been supported by the CYTED Ibero-American Science and Technology Program for Development (CYTED-2019) through the project TALGENTOX (PCI2020–112013) and by Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (MICINN) through the project PID2019–105079RB-I00. D. Ortiz thanks the Spanish Ministry of Universities (MIU) for the FPU predoctoral grant (FPU19/04816). M. Munoz thanks the Spanish MINECO for the Ramon ´ y Cajal postdoctoral contract (RYC-2016–20648). We especially thank Aqualia for providing the water samples from DWTPs employed in this study, which was performed in the framework of Rewaise project (http://rewaise.eu

New bifunctional Ni H-Beta catalysts for the heterogeneous oligomerization of ethylene

[EN] The development of sustainable active and stable heterogeneous catalysts for the oligomerization of ethylene to replace the unfriendly homogenous systems based on transition metal complexes currently applied in the industry still remains a challenge. In this work we show that bifunctional catalysts comprised of Ni loaded on nanocrystalline zeolite H-Beta can efficiently catalyze the oligomerization of ethylene with high stability and selectivity to liquid oligomers under mild reaction conditions. Ni-Beta catalysts were prepared starting from a commercial nanocrystalline H-Beta sample with Si/Al ratio of 12 via both ionic exchange (1.0 2.5 wt% Ni) and incipient wetness impregnation (1.1 10.0 wt% Ni) using aqueous Ni(NO3)2 solutions, followed by air-calcination at 550 ◦C. The Ni-Beta catalysts exhibited no signs of deactivation under the studied conditions (T = 120 ◦C, Ptot = 3.5 MPa, PC2H4 = 2.6 MPa, WHSV= 2.1 h−1, TOS = 0 9 h). The conversion of ethylene increased linearly with increasing Ni loading up to ca. 2.5 wt%, irrespective of the method of Ni incorporation. Then, the conversion leveled off and attained a value of ca. 87% at higher Ni loadings (impregnated series), concurring with the development of large, XRDvisible, NiO crystallites sizing ca. 7 16 nm. Interestingly, the disappearance of Brønsted acid sites upon Ni incorporation increased linearly up to Ni contents of ca. 2.5 wt% and then leveled off, thus paralleling the activity trend. This fact indirectly suggests that Ni2+ cations replacing H+ in ion exchange positions could be the active sites responsible for the activity of Ni-Beta catalysts. Direct evidence for the nature of the active Ni sites was obtained from low temperature (−20 ◦C) CO adsorption and ethylene CO coadsorption experiments followed by FTIR. CO-FTIR results ruled out the participation of Ni+ ions and provided support for the assignation of ion exchanged Ni2+ species as the likely active sites in Ni-Beta catalysts. Additionally, most active Ni-Beta catalysts displayed a non-Schulz Flory product distribution with high selectivity to liquid oligomers (≥60 wt%) and high degree of branching due to the contribution of the hetero-oligomerization pathway involving zeolite Brønsted acid sites.This paper reports work undertaken in the context of the project “OCMOL, Oxidative Coupling of Methane followed by Oligomerization to Liquids”. OCMOL is a Large Scale Collaborative Project supported by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme (GA nº 228953). For further information about OCMOL see: http://www.ocmol.eu or http://www.ocmol.com. S.M. thanks ITQ for a predoctoral fellowship.Martinez Feliu, A.; Arribas Viana, MDLD.; Concepción Heydorn, P.; Moussa-Martí, S. (2013). New bifunctional Ni H-Beta catalysts for the heterogeneous oligomerization of ethylene. Applied Catalysis A General. 467:509-518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2013.08.021S50951846

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography–fluorescence detection for the analysis of glutathione and its precursor γ-glutamyl cysteine in wines and model wines supplemented with oenological inactive dry yeast preparations

El pdf del artículo es la versión pre-print.A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection methodology involving a pre-column derivatization procedure using 2,3-naphtalenedialdehyde in the presence of 5 and 0. 5 mM of dithiothreitol to determine total and reduced glutathione (GSH) and γ-glutamyl-cysteine (γ-glu-cys) in musts and wines has been set up and validated. The proposed method showed good linearity (R 2 >99% for reduced and total GSH, and R 2 >98% for γ-glu-cys) in synthetic wines, over a wide range of concentration (0-10 mg L -1). The limits of detection for reduced GSH in synthetic and real wines were almost the same (0. 13 and 0. 15 mg L -1, respectively) and slightly higher for γ-glu-cys (0. 24 mg L -1). The application of the method allowed knowing, for the first time, the amount of total and reduced GSH and γ-glu-cys released into synthetic wines by oenological preparations of commercial inactive dry yeast (IDY). In addition, the evolution of these three compounds during the winemaking and shelf life (0-9 months) of an industrially manufactured rosé wine supplemented with a GSH-enriched IDY showed that although GSH is effectively released from IDY, it is rapidly oxidized during alcoholic fermentation, contributing to the higher total GSH content determined in wines supplemented with GSH-enriched IDYs compared to control wines. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.IAO and JJRB acknowledge CAM and CSIC for their respective research grants. This work has been founded by PET2007-0134 project.Peer Reviewe

Balance y retos de la epidemiología ante el tercer año de pandemia

En 2022, la covid-19 ha seguido impactado fuertemente en la vigilancia de todas las enfermedades, transmisibles o no. Incluso los programas preventivos, como los de cribado para la detección precoz del cáncer, se han visto afectados

A combined analysis of the short-term effects of photochemical air pollutants on mortality within the EMECAM project.

In recent years, some epidemiologic studies have attributed adverse effects of air pollutants on health not only to particles and sulfur dioxide but also to photochemical air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide and ozone). The effects are usually small, leading to some inconsistencies in the results of the studies. Furthermore, the different methodologic approaches of the studies used has made it difficult to derive generic conclusions. We provide here a quantitative summary of the short-term effects of photochemical air pollutants on mortality in seven Spanish cities involved in the EMECAM project, using generalized additive models from analyses of single and multiple pollutants. Nitrogen dioxide and ozone data were provided by seven EMECAM cities (Barcelona, Gijón, Huelva, Madrid, Oviedo, Seville, and Valencia). Mortality indicators included daily total mortality from all causes excluding external causes, daily cardiovascular mortality, and daily respiratory mortality. Individual estimates, obtained from city-specific generalized additive Poisson autoregressive models, were combined by means of fixed effects models and, if significant heterogeneity among local estimates was found, also by random effects models. Significant positive associations were found between daily mortality (all causes and cardiovascular) and NO(2), once the rest of air pollutants were taken into account. A 10 microg/m(3) increase in the 24-hr average 1-day NO(2)level was associated with an increase in the daily number of deaths of 0.43% [95% confidence interval (CI), -0.003-0.86%] for all causes excluding external. In the case of significant relationships, relative risks for cause-specific mortality were nearly twice as much as that for total mortality for all the photochemical pollutants. Ozone was independently related only to cardiovascular daily mortality. No independent statistically significant relationship between photochemical air pollutants and respiratory mortality was found. The results in this study suggest that, given the present levels of photochemical pollutants, people living in Spanish cities are exposed to health risks derived from air pollution

Baseline natural killer and T cell populations correlation with virologic outcome after regimen simplification to atazanavir/ritonavir alone (ACTG 5201)

Objectives: Simplified maintenance therapy with ritonavir-boosted atazanavir (ATV/r) provides an alternative treatment option for HIV-1 infection that spares nucleoside analogs (NRTI) for future use and decreased toxicity. We hypothesized that the level of immune activation (IA) and recovery of lymphocyte populations could influence virologic outcomes after regimen simplification. Methods: Thirty-four participants with virologic suppression ≥48 weeks on antiretroviral therapy (2 NRTI plus protease inhibitor) were switched to ATV/r alone in the context of the ACTG 5201 clinical trial. Flow cytometric analyses were performed on PBMC isolated from 25 patients with available samples, of which 24 had lymphocyte recovery sufficient for this study. Assessments included enumeration of T-cells (CD4/CD8), natural killer (NK) (CD3+CD56 +CD16+) cells and cell-associated markers (HLA-DR, CD's 38/69/94/95/158/279). Results: Eight of the 24 patients had at least one plasma HIV-1 RNA level (VL) <50 copies/mL during the study. NK cell levels below the group median of 7.1% at study entry were associated with development of VL <50 copies/mL following simplification by regression and survival analyses (p = 0.043 and 0.023), with an odds ratio of 10.3 (95% CI: 1.92-55.3). Simplification was associated with transient increases in naïve and CD25+ CD4+ T-cells, and had no impact on IA levels. Conclusions: Lower NK cell levels prior to regimen simplification were predictive of virologic rebound after discontinuation of nucleoside analogs. Regimen simplification did not have a sustained impact on markers of IA or T lymphocyte populations in 48 weeks of clinical monitoring. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00084019

Maternal, Perinatal and Neonatal Outcomes of Triplet Pregnancies According to Chorionicity: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis

Triplet pregnancies are rare events that affect approximately 93 in 100,000 deliveries in the world, especially due to the increased use of assisted reproductive techniques and older maternal age. Triplet pregnancies are associated with a higher risk of fetal and maternal morbidity and mortality compared to twins and singletons. Chorionicity has been proposed as a major determinant of perinatal and maternal outcomes in triplet pregnancies, although further evidence is needed to clarify the extent and real influence of this factor. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis of the maternal and perinatal outcomes of triplet pregnancies, evaluating how chorionicity may influence these results. A total of 46 studies with 43,653 triplet pregnancies and 128,145 live births were included. Among the main results of our study, we found a broad spectrum of fetal and maternal complications, especially in the group of monochorionic and dichorionic pregnancies. Risk of admission to NICU, respiratory distress, sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, perinatal and intrauterine mortality were all found to be higher in non-TCTA pregnancies than in TCTA pregnancies. To date, our meta-analysis includes the largest population sample and number of studies conducted in this field, evaluating a wide variety of outcome measures. The heterogeneity and retrospective design of the studies included in our research represent the main limitations of this review. More evidence is needed to fully assess outcome measures that could not be studied in this review due to scarcity of publications or insufficient sample size