3,783 research outputs found

    Temporal disorder in up-down symmetric systems

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    The effect of temporal disorder on systems with up-down Z2 symmetry is studied. In particular, we analyze two well-known families of phase transitions: the Ising and the generalized voter universality classes, and scrutinize the consequences of placing them under fluctuating global conditions. We observe that variability of the control parameter induces in both classes "Temporal Griffiths Phases" (TGP). These recently-uncovered phases are analogous to standard Griffiths Phases appearing in systems with quenched spatial disorder, but where the roles of space and time are exchanged. TGPs are characterized by broad regions in parameter space in which (i) mean first-passage times scale algebraically with system size, and (ii) the system response (e.g. susceptibility) diverges. Our results confirm that TGPs are quite robust and ubiquitous in the presence of temporal disorder. Possible applications of our results to examples in ecology are discussed

    ECG, an essential tool to guide arrhythmic mitral valve prolapse diagnosis

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    A 35-year-old man was referred for cardiac check-up because of suspected reflex syncope. He underwent a tilt-test challenge without syncope provocation. The electrocardiography (ECG) showed sinus rhythm with polymorphic premature ventricular contractions (PVC), with right bundle branch block morpholog

    Dietary total antioxidant capacity is associated with leukocyte telomere length in a children and adolescent population

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    Background & Aims: Oxidative stress and inflammation seem to be potential underlying mechanisms for telomere attrition. A lack of specific antioxidants is believed to increase free radical damage and a greater risk for telomere shortening. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between diet and leukocyte telomere length in a cross-sectional study of children and adolescents. We hypothesized that dietary total antioxidant capacity would be positively associated with telomere length. Methods: Telomere length was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in 287 participants (55% males, 6–18 years), who were randomly selected from the GENOI study. Results: A positive correlation between dietary total antioxidant capacity and telomere length (r=0.157, p=0.007) was found after adjustment for age and energy intake. However, higher white bread consumption was associated with shorter telomeres (β=-0.204, p=0.002) in fully-adjusted models. Interestingly, those individuals who had simultaneously higher dietary total antioxidant capacity and lower white bread consumption significantly presented the longest telomeres. Moreover, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio for very short telomeres was 0.30 for dietary total antioxidant capacity (p=0.023) and 1.37 for white bread (p=0.025). Conclusion: It was concluded that longer telomeres were associated with higher dietary total antioxidant capacity and lower white bread consumption in S2panish children and adolescents. These findings might open a new line of investigation about the potential role of an antioxidant diet in maintaining telomere length

    Hybrid organometallo-silica catalysts for sustainable visible-light promoted olefin isomerization

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    The use of visible light as a clean and affordable reagent has turned photocatalysis into a green and powerful tool in synthetic chemistry. However, most of these photocatalytic processes are carried out under homogeneous conditions, which requires expensive catalysts that are difficult to recover and recycle. One way to overcome this problem is to incorporate the visible-active species into porous solid matrices. However, integrating these active species into the matrix to achieve a stable and active heterogeneous photocatalyst is not easy, and has usually been done by post-synthetic strategies. Herein, we describe the use of the highly emissive cyclometalated complex [Ir(dfppy)2(dasipy)]PF6 as a building block for the in-situ synthesis of four different silica-based heterogeneous photocatalysts, and a related post-synthetic grafted material. These highly stable materials have been assessed in the energy transfer photo-isomerization reaction of trans- to cis-stilbene under blue light and mild conditions; showing not only high isomerization yields (ca. 80 %), but also easy recovery and excellent recyclability (up to 100 % after 7 cycles).This work was supported by the Spanish MCIN/AIE/10.13039/501100011033, the ‘‘ERDF A way of making Europe’’, the ‘‘European Union’’ (projects PID2019-109742GB-I00 and PID2021-128761OB-C21), Gobierno de la Rioja (Project FORTALECE 2021/01) and Generalitat Valenciana (Regional Project AICO/2021/037 - Conselleria d’Innovació, Universitats, Ciència i Societat Digital)

    Traditional plants from Asteraceae family as potential candidates for functional food industry

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    Traditional plants have been used in the treatment of disease and pain due to their beneficial properties such as antioxidant, antiinflammation, analgesic, and antibiotic activities. The Asteraceae family is one of the most common groups of plants used in folk medicine. The species Achillea millefolium, Arnica montana, Bellis perennis, Calendula officinalis, Chamaemelum nobile, Eupatorium cannabinum, Helichrysum stoechas, and Taraxacum officinale have been used in different remedies in Northwest Spain. Besides health benefits, some of them like C. nobile and H. stoechas are already employed in cooking and culinary uses, including cocktails, desserts, and savory dishes. This study aimed to review the current information on nutritive and beneficial properties and bioactive compounds of these plants, which are not mainly used as foods but are possible candidates for this purpose. The report highlights their current uses and suitability for the development of new functional food industrial applications. Phenolic compounds, essential oils, and sesquiterpene lactones are some of the most important compounds, being related to different bioactivities. Hence, they could be interesting for the development of new functional foods.The research leading to these results received institutioanl and financial support from the: Programa de Cooperación Interreg V-A España—Portugal (POCTEP) 2014–2020 (Projects Ref.: 0181_NANOEATERS_01_E and 0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E); MICINN supporting the Ramón&Cajal grant for M. A. Prieto (RYC-2017-22891); Xunta de Galicia and University of Vigo for supporting the post-doctoral grant of María Fraga Corral (ED481B-2019/096) and the pre-doctoral grant of P. García- Oliveira (ED481A-2019/295); to Xunta de Galicia for the program EXCELENCIA-ED431F 2020/12; to Ibero-American Program on Science and Technology (CYTED – AQUA-CIBUS, P317RT0003); by EcoChestnut Project (Erasmus+ KA202) that supports the work of M. Carpena; by the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement no. 888003 UP4HEALTH Project (H2020-BBI-JTI-2019), the JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program and the Bio Based Industries Consortium.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Validation of metabolic syndrome using medical records in the SUN cohort

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    The objective of this study was to evaluate the validity of self reported criteria of Metabolic Syndrome (MS) in the SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) cohort using their medical records as the gold standard. METHODS: We selected 336 participants and we obtained MS related data according to Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Then we compared information on the self reported diagnosis of MS and MS diagnosed in their medical records. We calculated the proportion of confirmed MS, the proportion of confirmed non-MS and the intraclass correlation coefficients for each component of the MS. RESULTS: From those 336 selected participants, we obtained sufficient data in 172 participants to confirm or reject MS using ATP III criteria. The proportion of confirmed MS was 91.2% (95% CI: 80.7- 97.1) and the proportion of confirmed non-MS was 92.2% (95% CI: 85.7-96.4) using ATP III criteria. The proportion of confirmed MS using IDF criteria was 100% (95% CI: 87.2-100) and the proportion of confirmed non-MS was 97.1% (95% CI: 85.1-99.9). Kappa Index was 0.82 in the group diagnosed by ATP III criteria and 0.97 in the group diagnosed by IDF criteria. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the different component of MS were: 0.93 (IC 95%:0.91- 0.95) for BMI; 0.96 (IC 95%: 0.93-0.98) for waist circumference; 0.75 (IC 95%: 0.66-0.82) for fasting glucose; 0.50 (IC 95%:0.35-0.639) for HDL cholesterol; 0.78 (IC 95%: 0.70-0.84) for triglycerides; 0.49 (IC 95%:0.34-0.61) for systolic blood pressure and 0.55 (IC 95%: 0.41-0.65) for diastolic blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported MS based on self reported components of the SM in a Spanish cohort of university graduates was sufficiently valid as to be used in epidemiological studies

    Applications of by-products from the olive oil processing: Revalorization strategies based on target molecules and green extraction technologies

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    During the last decades, olive oil consumption has experienced a continuous increase due to its unique organoleptic properties and its related beneficial properties. Consequently, waste and by-products derived from the olive production have also increased causing environmental problems and economic losses. However, the low-cost and huge availability of these by-products is an opportunity for their valorization and the obtaining of high added-value compounds such as tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol (HT), oleocanthal, oleuropein (OLE), ligstroside, squalene, fatty acids, etc. The development of innovative extraction and characterization technologies is a key factor for the olive sector. In addition, a deeper knowledge about the biological properties of the compounds present in the recovered products and their mechanism of action is crucial to allow their reintegration in the food chain and their potential uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Scope and approach: This review encompasses all these aspects showing the advances achieved to date in the olive oil by-products valorization focusing on their biological properties, including cardioprotective, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects. Key findings and conclusions: The by-products derived from the Olea europaea L. processing industry are secondary but valuable products, from which different biologically active molecules can be recovered by green extraction technologies (PLE, SFE, etc.) and reused for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes following the circular economy policies. One of the main advantages on recovering valuable molecules from olive by-products is their incorporation to functional foods. A direct effect was proved between the use of olive by-products in human consumption and the heath claims. In this context, different food industries have used the phenolic fraction of olive by-products, holding mostly HT and OLE, as food additives and as preserving agents due to their antioxidant properties.The research leading to these results was supported by MICINN supporting the Ram´on y Cajal grant for M.A. Prieto (RYC-2017-22891); by Xunta de Galicia for supporting the program EXCELENCIA-ED431F 2020/12, the post-doctoral grant of M. Fraga-Corral (ED481B-2019/ 096), the pre-doctoral grants of P. Garcia-Oliveira (ED481A-2019/295) and M. Carpena (ED481A 2021/313), the program BENEFICIOS DO CONSUMO DAS ESPECIES TINTORERA–(CO–0019-2021) that supports the work of F. Chamorro and the program Grupos de Referencia Competitiva (GRUPO AA1-GRC 2018) that supports the work of J. Echave and M. Barral-Martinez . Authors are grateful to Ibero-American Program on Science and Technology (CYTED—AQUA-CIBUS, P317RT0003), to the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 888003 UP4HEALTH Project (H2020-BBI-JTI- 2019) that supports the work of P. Otero and P. Garcia-Perez. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the Bio Based Industries Consortium. The project SYSTEMIC Knowledge hub on Nutrition and Food Security, has received funding from national research funding parties in Belgium (FWO), France (INRA), Germany (BLE), Italy (MIPAAF), Latvia (IZM), Norway (RCN), Portugal (FCT), and Spain (AEI) in a joint action of JPI HDHL, JPI-OCEANS and FACCE-JPI launched in 2019 under the ERANET ERA-HDHL (n◦ 696295). Authors are grateful to the funding for open access charge: University of Vigo / CISUG.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Design and evaluation of a treatment programme for Spanish adolescents with overweight and obesity. The EVASYON Study

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    Background The prevalence of overweight and obesity (OW/OB) among adolescents worldwide has increased since the 60 s. Spain has reached one of the highest OW/OB prevalence rates among adolescents from European countries. The aim of this methodological paper is to describe the design and evaluation in the EVASYON study (Development, implementation and evaluation of the efficacy of a therapeutic programme for adolescents with OW/OB: integral education on nutrition and physical activity). Methods/Design The EVASYON was planned by a multidisciplinary team to treat OW/OB in Spanish adolescents. The EVASYON is a multi-centre study conducted in 5 hospitals in 5 Spanish cities (Granada, Madrid, Pamplona, Santander and Zaragoza) and two hundred and four OW/OB Spanish adolescents were recruited for this intervention. The treatment was implemented for approximately one-year follow-up. The adolescents were treated in groups of a maximum of 10 subjects; each group had 20 visits during the treatment period in two phases: intensive during the first 2 months (1st to 9th visits), and extensive during the last 11 months (10th to 20th visits). In order to assess the efficacy of the treatment, 8 dimensions were measured: diet; physical activity and fitness; eating behaviour; body composition; haematological profile; metabolic profile; minerals and vitamins; immuno-inflammatory markers. Moreover, genetic polymorphisms were also determined. Discussion The treatment programme developed in the EVASYON study was designed as a national pilot study to be implemented as an effective treatment for adolescents with OW/OB into the Spanish Health Care Service

    Dietary inflammatory index and incidence of cardiovascular disease in the SUN cohort

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    BACKGROUND: Diet is known to play a key role in atherogenesis and in the development of cardiovascular events. Dietary factors may mediate these processes acting as potential modulators of inflammation. Potential Links between inflammatory properties of diet and the occurrence of cardiovascular events have not been tested previously. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII), a method to assess the inflammatory potential of the diet, and incident cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In the prospective, dynamic SUN cohort, 18,794 middle-aged, Spanish university graduates were followed up for 8.9 years (median). A validated 136-item food-frequency questionnaire was used to calculate the DII. The DII is based on scientific evidence about the relationship between diet and inflammatory biomarkers (C-reactive protein, IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α). Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between the DII and incident cardiovascular disease (myocardial infarction, stroke or cardiovascular death). RESULTS: The risk for cardiovascular events progressively increased with each increasing quartile of DII (ptrend = 0.017). The multivariable-adjusted HR for participants in the highest (most pro-inflammatory) vs. the lowest quartile of the DII was 2.03 (95% CI 1.06-3.88). CONCLUSIONS: A pro-inflammatory diet was associated with a significantly higher risk for developing cardiovascular events
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