199 research outputs found
Silica Based Mesoporous Materials as Sorbents for Solid-Phase Extraction of Organic Pollutants in Water
Since the first applications of solids with adsorbent properties in water treatment, Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) has been the most suitable sample preparation technique for the determination of organic pollutants in water. In the last decades, numerous articles have appeared in the literature describing a wide variety of SPE sorbents. Attention in this field has focused on the search for new SPE materials capable of extracting a wide variety of pollutants from water. However, each sorbent has advantages for certain compounds, but not when it is used with others. Thus, conventional sorbents showed poor performance for most high polarity analytes. Recently, mesoporous materials are attracting increasing interest in sample preparation due to their desirable characteristics. They present unique advantages as highly ordered and size-controlled mesoporous structures, high surface areas and large pore volumes, good performance in thermal and chemical stability, compositional controllability and flexibility for functionalization
Main Routes of Production of High-Value-Added 2,5-Furandincarboxylic Acid Using Heterogeneous Catalytic Systems
The production of polymers from lignocellulosic biomass is currently one of the challenges to minimizing dependence on fossil fuels such as oil. The cellulosic fraction of this feedstock can be transformed into simple sugars such as glucose or fructose. These sugars can be further converted into 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a precursor of polyethylene furanoate (PEF). The dehydration of sugars to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a platform molecule to obtain products of interest, has been extensively studied. In addition, the oxidation of this platform molecule to FDCA has been widely investigated. However, a study of the direct or one-step production of FDCA from sugars is needed. This review provides a general overview of the recent research on the catalytic systems for the direct production of FDCA from sugars. Ideally, a single-stage system should be employed. The investigations carried out in a one-step process are first detailed. Different strategies have been tested, such as the physical separation of two phases, where dehydration and oxidation took place separately. In this case, an efficient transfer of HMF is needed. To avoid HMF transfer limitations, other authors focused on the investigation of the one-pot transformation of HMF without physical separation. The major requirement of these processes is to achieve catalytic systems functional for both dehydration and oxidation reactions. Therefore, other investigations focused on the study of two-step integrated systems are also analyzed in this review.This research was funded by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Basque Government grant number IT1554-22, and the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness grant number MCIN/AEI/PID2021-122736OB-C43
Egg Production in Poultry Farming Is Improved by Probiotic Bacteria
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most serious threats for human health in
the near future. Livestock has played an important role in the appearance of antibioticresistant
bacteria, intestinal dysbiosis in farming animals, or the spread of AMR among
pathogenic bacteria of human concern. The development of alternatives like probiotics is
focused on maintaining or improving production levels while diminishing these negative
effects of antibiotics. To this end, we supplied the potential probiotic Enterococcus
faecalis UGRA10 in the diet of laying hens at a final concentration of 108 Colony Forming
Units per gram (CFU/g) of fodder. Its effects have been analyzed by: (i) investigating the
response of the ileum and caecum microbiome; and (ii) analyzing the outcome on eggs
production. During the second half of the experimental period (40 to 76 days), hens
fed E. faecalis UGRA10 maintained egg production, while control animals dropped egg
production. Supplementation diet with E. faecalis UGRA10 significantly increased ileum
and caecum bacterial diversity (higher bacterial operational taxonomic unit richness and
Faith’s diversity index) of laying hens, with animals fed the same diet showing a higher
similarity in microbial composition. These results point out to the beneficial effects of
E. faecalis UGRA10 in egg production. Future experiments are necessary to unveil the
underlying mechanisms that mediate the positive response of animals to this treatment.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science
and Innovation, Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia
y Empleo (Junta de Andalucía), the University of Granada-
CEI BioTic (Project No. P-BS-37), and the INTERCONECTA
program (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness).
JP-S was funded by Junta de Andalucia (Proyectos de Excelencia
2011- RNM-8147)
Membranas electrohiladas de doble acción para tratamiento de agua
Número de publicación: 2 663 129
Número de solicitud: 201600852
51 Int. CI.:
B01D 61/00 (2006.01)
C02F 1/44 (2006.01)Membranas electrohiladas de doble acción para
tratamiento de agua. La presente invención consiste
en un procedimiento para la fabricación de
membranas activas basadas en fibras
submicrométricas que combinan una acción
antimicrobiana con la capacidad de retención de
contaminantes apolares en solución acuosa. Las
membranas se producen mediante un procedimiento
de electrohilado en disolución acuosa a partir de
mezclas de un poliácido y un polialcohol solubles en
agua que se estabilizan mediante un procedimiento
de curado y se post-funcionalizan mediante la
incorporación de dendrímeros con terminación amino
mediante un procedimiento de injertado can ayuda de
un agente de acoplamiento. La aplicación del material
es la producción de membranas o componentes de
membranas multicapa para tratamiento de agua con
acción antimicrobiana y con capacidad para retener
contaminantes apolares.Universidad de Almerí
Allium-Based Phytobiotic Enhances Egg Production in Laying Hens through Microbial Composition Changes in Ileum and Cecum
The misuse of antibiotics has led several countries to ban their use as prophylactics against bacterial diseases or as growth promoters in livestock and poultry. Phytobiotics (bioactive
compounds extracted from plants) are one of the alternatives, due to their antimicrobial activity and
its modulation of the gut microbiota and the improvement of productive properties. Garlic and onion
extracts, rich in antimicrobial compounds, are of the most promising alternative to antibiotics. We supplemented a garlic- and onion-based product in the diet to laying hens at the beginning of their productive
life. The group supplied with this product produced in one month more eggs and with bigger size.
This increase in production was accompanied by changes in the bacterial community of the gut. These
changes in the microbiota suggest an improvement in food digestibility, as the most important changes
produced by these compounds occur in the most distal parts of the gut. The relative abundance of
beneficial Lactococcus in the ileum and Lactobacillus in the cecum increased in the experimental group.
Both genera are known to have beneficial effects on host. These results are very promising for the use of
these compounds in poultry for short periods.Phytobiotics (bioactive compounds extracted from plants) are one of the explored alternatives
to antibiotics in poultry and livestock due to their antimicrobial activity and its positive effects on
gut microbiota and productive properties. In this study, we supplemented a product based on garlic
and onion compounds in the diet to laying hens at the beginning of their productive life (from 16 to
20 weeks post-hatching). The experimental group showed a significant increase in the number of eggs
laid and in their size, produced in one month compared to the control. This increase in production was
accompanied by microbiota changes in the ileum and cecum by means of high throughput sequencing
analyses. These bacterial shifts in the ileum were mainly the result of compositional changes in the rare
biosphere (unweighted UniFrac), while in the cecum, treatment affected both majority and minority
bacterial groups (weighted and unweighted UniFrac). These changes in the microbiota suggest an
improvement in food digestibility. The relative abundance of Lactococcus in the ileum and Lactobacillus in
the cecum increased significantly in the experimental group. The relative abundance of these bacterial
genera are known to have positive effects on thSpanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Consejería
de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo (Junta de Andalucía)University of Granada-CEI BioTic
(Project No. P-BS-37)INTERCONECTA program (Spanish Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness
A high concentration of TGF-β correlates with opportunistic infection in liver and kidney transplantation
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) has been associated with numerous human infections, but its role in the occurrence of opportunistic infection (OI) after solid organ transplantation remains unexplored. This study aimed to assess the utility of the TGF-β following in vitro stimulation of whole peripheral blood (WPB) as a surrogate biomarker of post-transplant OI in a cohort of liver and kidney recipients. Thirty liver and thirty-one kidney transplant recipients were recruited to be prospectively monitored for one-year post-transplantation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to calculate IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-10 and TGF-β concentration in the supernatant from the activated WPB. Recipients showed higher TGF-β concentrations compared to IFN-γ, IL-17, IL-10 at baseline, although these differences were not significant between INF and NoINF. However, recipients who developed an OI within the first sixth months had a higher concentration of TGF-β than those without OI. A concentration of TGF-β > 363.25 pg/ml in liver and TGF-β > 808.51 pg/ml in kidney recipients were able to stratify patients at high risk of OI with a sensitivity and specificity above 70% in both types of solid organ transplantations. TGF-β could provide valuable information for the management of liver and kidney recipients at risk of post-transplant infection.Our work was possible thanks to the support and funding obtained from the “Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)”, Spanish Ministry of Health (Grant Number PI15/01370 and P19/01194); and co-funding by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with the principle of “A manner to build Europe”
Cold ischemia >4 hours increases heart transplantation mortality. An analysis of the Spanish heart transplantation registry
[Abstract]
Background.
Cold ischemia time (CIT) has been associated to heart transplantation (HT) prognosis. However, there is still uncertainty regarding the CIT cutoff value that might have relevant clinical implications.
Methods.
We analyzed all adults that received a first HT during the period 2008–2018. CIT was defined as the time between the cross-clamp of the donor aorta and the reperfusion of the heart. Primary outcome was 1-month mortality.
Results.
We included 2629 patients, mean age was 53.3 ± 12.1 years and 655 (24.9%) were female. Mean CIT was 202 ± 67 min (minimum 20 min, maximum 600 min). One-month mortality per CIT quartile was 9, 12, 13, and 19%. One-year mortality per CIT quartile was 16, 19, 21, and 28%. CIT was an independent predictor of 1-month mortality, but only in the last quartile of CIT >246 min (odds ratio 2.1, 95% confidence interval 1.49–3.08, p < .001). We found no relevant differences in CIT during the study period. However, the impact of CIT in 1-month and 1-year mortality decreased with time (p value for the distribution of ischemic time by year 0.01), particularly during the last 5 years.
Conclusions.
Although the impact of CIT in HT prognosis seems to be decreasing in the last years, CIT in the last quartile (>246 min) is associated with 1-month and 1-year mortality. Our findings suggest the need to limit HT with CIT > 246 min or to use different myocardial preservation systems if the expected CIT is >4 h
Innovación y estrategias de intervención en acoso escolar
Los problemas de convivencia escolar, violencia escolar, bullying y cyberbullying, en los centros españoles son una realidad y, por tanto, es necesario que los futuros docentes cuenten con estrategias específicas para el abordaje de estas situaciones cuando se enfrenten a la realidad de las aulas. En este manual, profesionales del área de la convivencia escolar presentan las actuaciones, programas y herramientas disponibles que en estos momentos se están poniendo en práctica en los centros escolares con resultados positivos. Así, se pretende ampliar el conocimiento teórico-práctico en el ámbito de la convivencia, gestión de conflictos y violencia escolar.EducaciónPsicologí
Integrated flow cytometry and sequencing to reconstruct evolutionary patterns from dysplasia to acute myeloid leukemia
Clonal evolution in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) originates long before diagnosis and is a dynamic process that may affect survival. However, it remains uninvestigated during routine diagnostic workups. We hypothesized that the mutational status of bone marrow dysplastic cells and leukemic blasts, analyzed at the onset of AML using integrated multidimensional flow cytometry (MFC) immunophenotyping and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) with next-generation sequencing (NGS), could reconstruct leukemogenesis. Dysplastic cells were detected by MFC in 285 of 348 (82%) newly diagnosed patients with AML. Presence of dysplasia according to MFC and World Health Organization criteria had no prognostic value in older adults. NGS of dysplastic cells and blasts isolated at diagnosis identified 3 evolutionary patterns: stable (n = 12 of 21), branching (n = 4 of 21), and clonal evolution (n = 5 of 21). In patients achieving complete response (CR), integrated MFC and FACS with NGS showed persistent measurable residual disease (MRD) in phenotypically normal cell types, as well as the acquisition of genetic traits associated with treatment resistance. Furthermore, whole-exome sequencing of dysplastic and leukemic cells at diagnosis and of MRD uncovered different clonal involvement in dysplastic myelo-erythropoiesis, leukemic transformation, and chemoresistance. Altogether, we showed that it is possible to reconstruct leukemogenesis in ∼80% of patients with newly diagnosed AML, using techniques other than single-cell multiomics.This work was supported by grants from the Área de Oncología del Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER-ONC) (CB16/12/00369, CB16/12/00233, CB16/12/00489, and CB16/12/00284), Instituto de Salud Carlos III/Subdirección General de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS numbers PI16/01661, PI16/00517, and PI19/01518), and the Plan de Investigación de la Universidad de Navarra (PIUNA 2014-18). This work was supported internationally by the Cancer Research UK, FCAECC, and AIRC under the Accelerator Award Program (EDITOR)
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