Overview of recent TJ-II stellarator results

The main results obtained in the TJ-II stellarator in the last two years are reported. The most important topics investigated have been modelling and validation of impurity transport, validation of gyrokinetic simulations, turbulence characterisation, effect of magnetic configuration on transport, fuelling with pellet injection, fast particles and liquid metal plasma facing components. As regards impurity transport research, a number of working lines exploring several recently discovered effects have been developed: the effect of tangential drifts on stellarator neoclassical transport, the impurity flux driven by electric fields tangent to magnetic surfaces and attempts of experimental validation with Doppler reflectometry of the variation of the radial electric field on the flux surface. Concerning gyrokinetic simulations, two validation activities have been performed, the comparison with measurements of zonal flow relaxation in pellet-induced fast transients and the comparison with experimental poloidal variation of fluctuations amplitude. The impact of radial electric fields on turbulence spreading in the edge and scrape-off layer has been also experimentally characterized using a 2D Langmuir probe array. Another remarkable piece of work has been the investigation of the radial propagation of small temperature perturbations using transfer entropy. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellet and tracer-encapsulated solid-pellet injection has produced also relevant results. Neutral beam injection driven Alfvénic activity and its possible control by electron cyclotron current drive has been examined as well in TJ-II. Finally, recent results on alternative plasma facing components based on liquid metals are also presentedThis work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under Grant Agreement No. 633053. It has been partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Inovación y Universidades of Spain under projects ENE2013-48109-P, ENE2015-70142-P and FIS2017-88892-P. It has also received funds from the Spanish Government via mobility grant PRX17/00425. The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources at MareNostrum and the technical support provided by the Barcelona S.C. It has been supported as well by The Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), Project P-507F

Diseño y evaluación físico-química y nutricional de alimentos elaborados en base a harina de soja. Su aceptabilidad y satisfacción

En la Argentina las oleaginosas y los cereales se consideran cultivos extensivos por excelencia, que aportan divisas y constituyen gran parte de la base alimentaria de la población. Entre los principales cultivos oleaginosos del país se destaca la soja, que se ha convertido en el producto agrícola de principal importancia. También se evidencia un aumento en la producción de este cultivo en varios países del mundo. La soja es una leguminosa que se destaca por su alto contenido en proteínas y grasas y por su calidad nutritiva. Ocupa una posición intermedia entre las legumbres y los granos oleaginosos, con un contenido en proteínas (alrededor del 40%) superior al de la mayoría de las legumbres, pero con menos grasa (alrededor del 21%) que la mayor parte de las oleaginosas. Actualmente se considera una de las fuentes de aceite y proteínas vegetales de mayor importancia en el mundo.El objetivo principal de este trabajo fue elaborar alimentos novedosos y nutritivos utilizando como ingrediente principal harina de soja, para que puedan ser incorporados en diversos planes alimentarios. Se intentó elaborar productos empleando diversas recetas hasta obtener tres alimentos: budín de manzana y pasas de uvas, galletitas de miel y nueces, y pizzetas. La cuantificación de los principales nutrientes (hidratos de carbono, proteínas) y antioxidantes se realizó por análisis químico, determinándose la concentración de azúcares totales, azúcares reductores, sacarosa, glucosa, proteínas y compuestos fenólicos. El contenido en grasas no fue determinando experimentalmente, sino a partir de tablas. Con los resultados obtenidos se obtuvo el valor calórico por porción y por 100 g de cada producto. El mayor contenido de macronutrientes se obtuvo en las galletitas de miel y nueces elaboradas con harina de soja. En el caso de las proteínas, están en mayor cantidad en el budín de manzana y pasas de uvas. Por otra parte, se realizó una encuesta dirigida a conocer las características organolépticas (sabor, aroma, textura, color) y el grado de aceptabilidad y satisfacción de los productos elaborados a partir de harina de soja. Los resultados reflejan que los productos son aceptados y resultan satisfactorios en la población encuestada. La cuantificación de macronutrientes, su valoración nutricional y los resultados de las encuestas aportan información novedosa tanto para la población como para los profesionales de la salud debido a que estos productos podrían incorporarse a la dieta de pacientes celíacos, deportistas, vegetarianos, niños en edad escolar, adolescentes, etc. También podrían incorporarse en el mercado regional, incrementando la variedad de productos disponibles.Fil: Sotomayor, Valentina. Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino; ArgentinaFil: Pacios, Maria de Lourdes. Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino; ArgentinaFil: Nader, Maria Elena Fatima. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Centro de Referencia Para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino; Argentin

Genomic analysis of 40 prophages located in the genomes of 16 carbapenemase-producing clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae

Klebsiella pneumoniae is the clinically most important species within the genus Klebsiella and, as a result of the continuous emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains, the cause of severe nosocomial infections. The decline in the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments for infections caused by MDR bacteria has generated particular interest in the study of bacteriophages. In this study, we characterized a total of 40 temperate bacteriophages (prophages) with a genome range of 11.454-84.199 kb, predicted from 16 carbapenemase-producing clinical strains of K. pneumoniae belonging to different sequence types, previously identified by multilocus sequence typing. These prophages were grouped into the three families in the order Caudovirales (27 prophages belonging to the family Myoviridae, 10 prophages belonging to the family Siphoviridae and 3 prophages belonging to the family Podoviridae). Genomic comparison of the 40 prophage genomes led to the identification of four prophages isolated from different strains and of genome sizes of around 33.3, 36.1, 39.6 and 42.6 kb. These prophages showed sequence similarities (query cover >90 %, identity >99.9 %) with international Microbe Versus Phage (MVP) (http://mvp.medgenius.info/home) clusters 4762, 4901, 3499 and 4280, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the evolutionary proximity among the members of the four groups of the most frequently identified prophages in the bacterial genomes studied (33.3, 36.1, 39.6 and 42.6 kb), with bootstrap values of 100 %. This allowed the prophages to be classified into three clusters: A, B and C. Interestingly, these temperate bacteriophages did not infect the highest number of strains as indicated by a host-range assay, these results could be explained by the development of superinfection exclusion mechanisms. In addition, bioinformatic analysis of the 40 identified prophages revealed the presence of 2363 proteins. In total, 59.7 % of the proteins identified had a predicted function, mainly involving viral structure, transcription, replication and regulation (lysogenic/lysis). Interestingly, some proteins had putative functions associated with bacterial virulence (toxin expression and efflux pump regulators), phage defence profiles such as toxin-antitoxin modules, an anti-CRISPR/Cas9 protein, TerB protein (from terZABCDE operon) and methyltransferase proteins.This study was funded by grant PI16/01163 awarded to M.T. within the State Plan for R+D+I 2013–2016 (National Plan for Scientific Research, Technological Development and Innovation 2008–2011), and co-financed by the ISCIII-Deputy General Directorate for Evaluation and Promotion of Research – European Regional Development Fund ‘A Way of Making Europe’ and Instituto de Salud Carlos III FEDER, Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI) (RD16/0016/0001, RD16/0016/0006 and RD16/0016/0008) and by the Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA) (Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology – SEIMC; http://www.seimc.org/). R.T. and L.F.-G. were financially supported by grants from the SEIMC and the Deputacion Provincial da Coruña (Xunta de Galicia), respectively

Study protocol for investigating the clinical performance of an automated blood test for glial fibrillary acidic protein and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 blood concentrations in elderly patients with mild traumatic BRAIN Injury and reference values (BRAINI-2 Elderly European study): a prospective multicentre observational study

International audienceIntroduction:Two blood brain-derived biomarkers, glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), can rule out intracranial lesions in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) when assessed within the first 12 hours. Most elderly patients were excluded from previous studies due to comorbidities. Biomarker use in elderly population could be affected by increased basal levels. This study will assess the performance of an automated test for measuring serum GFAP and UCH-L1 in elderly patients to predict the absence of intracranial lesions on head CT scans after mTBI, and determine both biomarkers reference values in a non-TBI elderly population. Methods and analysis This is a prospective multicentre observational study on elderly patients (≥65 years) that will be performed in Spain, France and Germany. Two patient groups will be included in two independent substudies. (1) A cohort of 2370 elderly patients (1185<80 years and 1185≥80 years; BRAINI2-ELDERLY DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC STUDY) with mTBI and a brain CT scan that will undergo blood sampling within 12 hours after mTBI. The primary outcome measure is the diagnostic performance of GFAP and UCH-L1 measured using an automated assay for discriminating between patients with positive and negative findings on brain CT scans. Secondary outcome measures include the performance of both biomarkers in predicting early (1 week) and midterm (3 months) neurological status and quality of life after trauma. (2) A cohort of 480 elderly reference participants (BRAINI2-ELDERLY REFERENCE STUDY) in whom reference values for GFAP and UCHL1 will be determined. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Boards of Hospital 12 de Octubre in Spain (Re#22/027) and Southeast VI (Clermont Ferrand Hospital) (Re# 22.01782.000095) in France. The study’s results will be presented at scientific meetings and published in peer-review publications. Trial registration number NCT05425251

Study protocol for investigating the clinical performance of an automated blood test for glial fibrillary acidic protein and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 blood concentrations in elderly patients with mild traumatic BRAIN Injury and reference values (BRAINI-2 Elderly European study): a prospective multicentre observational study

Introduction Two blood brain-derived biomarkers, glial fibrillar acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1), can rule out intracranial lesions in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) when assessed within the first 12 hours. Most elderly patients were excluded from previous studies due to comorbidities. Biomarker use in elderly population could be affected by increased basal levels. This study will assess the performance of an automated test for measuring serum GFAP and UCH-L1 in elderly patients to predict the absence of intracranial lesions on head CT scans after mTBI, and determine both biomarkers reference values in a non-TBI elderly population.Methods and analysis This is a prospective multicentre observational study on elderly patients (≥65 years) that will be performed in Spain, France and Germany. Two patient groups will be included in two independent substudies. (1) A cohort of 2370 elderly patients (1185&lt;80 years and 1185≥80 years; BRAINI2-ELDERLY DIAGNOSTIC AND PROGNOSTIC STUDY) with mTBI and a brain CT scan that will undergo blood sampling within 12 hours after mTBI. The primary outcome measure is the diagnostic performance of GFAP and UCH-L1 measured using an automated assay for discriminating between patients with positive and negative findings on brain CT scans. Secondary outcome measures include the performance of both biomarkers in predicting early (1 week) and midterm (3 months) neurological status and quality of life after trauma. (2) A cohort of 480 elderly reference participants (BRAINI2-ELDERLY REFERENCE STUDY) in whom reference values for GFAP and UCHL1 will be determined.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Boards of Hospital 12 de Octubre in Spain (Re#22/027) and Southeast VI (Clermont Ferrand Hospital) (Re# 22.01782.000095) in France. The study’s results will be presented at scientific meetings and published in peer-review publications.Trial registration number NCT05425251