Comparison of the antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles and a multifunctional antimicrobial peptide on titanium surface

Titanium implantation success may be compromised by Staphylococcus aureus surface colonization and posterior infection. To avoid this issue, different strategies have been investigated to promote an antibacterial character to titanium. In this work, two antibacterial agents (silver nanoparticles and a multifunctional antimicrobial peptide) were used to coat titanium surfaces. The modulation of the nanoparticle (˜32.1 ± 9.4 nm) density on titanium could be optimized, and a sequential functionalization with both agents was achieved through a two-step functionalization method by means of surface silanization. The antibacterial character of the coating agents was assessed individually as well as combined. The results have shown that a reduction in bacteria after 4 h of incubation can be achieved on all the coated surfaces. After 24 h of incubation, however, the individual antimicrobial peptide coating was more effective than the silver nanoparticles or their combination against Staphylococcus aureus. All tested coatings were non-cytotoxic for eukaryotic cells.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The Flavonoid Quercetin Reverses Pulmonary Hypertension in Rats

Quercetin is a dietary flavonoid which exerts vasodilator, antiplatelet and antiproliferative effects and reduces blood pressure, oxidative status and end-organ damage in humans and animal models of systemic hypertension. We hypothesized that oral quercetin treatment might be protective in a rat model of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Three weeks after injection of monocrotaline, quercetin (10 mg/kg/d per os) or vehicle was administered for 10 days to adult Wistar rats. Quercetin significantly reduced mortality. In surviving animals, quercetin decreased pulmonary arterial pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy and muscularization of small pulmonary arteries. Classic biomarkers of pulmonary arterial hypertension such as the downregulated expression of lung BMPR2, Kv1.5, Kv2.1, upregulated survivin, endothelial dysfunction and hyperresponsiveness to 5-HT were unaffected by quercetin. Quercetin significantly restored the decrease in Kv currents, the upregulation of 5-HT2A receptors and reduced the Akt and S6 phosphorylation. In vitro, quercetin induced pulmonary artery vasodilator effects, inhibited pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and induced apoptosis. In conclusion, quercetin is partially protective in this rat model of PAH. It delayed mortality by lowering PAP, RVH and vascular remodeling. Quercetin exerted effective vasodilator effects in isolated PA, inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in PASMCs. These effects were associated with decreased 5-HT2A receptor expression and Akt and S6 phosphorylation and partially restored Kv currents. Therefore, quercetin could be useful in the treatment of PAH.This work was supported by grants and fellowships by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (SAF2011-28150 to F.P-V, SAF2010-22066-C02-01 to JD, and −02 to AC); Instituto de Salud Carlos III Red HERACLES RD06/0009 to JD; Miguel Servet Program CP12/03304 to LM; predoctoral grants BES-2012-051904 to DMS, CM, JMS, and PG; and Junta de Andalucia (Proyecto de excelencia, P12-CTS-2722)

Assessment of an Adaptive Load Forecasting Methodology in a Smart Grid Demonstration Project

This paper presents the implementation of an adaptive load forecasting methodology in two different power networks from a smart grid demonstration project deployed in the region of Madrid, Spain. The paper contains an exhaustive comparative study of different short-term load forecast methodologies, addressing the methods and variables that are more relevant to be applied for the smart grid deployment. The evaluation followed in this paper suggests that the performance of the different methods depends on the conditions of the site in which the smart grid is implemented. It is shown that some non-linear methods, such as support vector machine with a radial basis function kernel and extremely randomized forest offer good performance using only 24 lagged load hourly values, which could be useful when the amount of data available is limited due to communication problems in the smart grid monitoring system. However, it has to be highlighted that, in general, the behavior of different short-term load forecast methodologies is not stable when they are applied to different power networks and that when there is a considerable variability throughout the whole testing period, some methods offer good performance in some situations, but they fail in others. In this paper, an adaptive load forecasting methodology is proposed to address this issue improving the forecasting performance through iterative optimization: in each specific situation, the best short-term load forecast methodology is chosen, resulting in minimum prediction errors.This work has been partly funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the National Program for Research Aimed at the Challenges of Society under the project OSIRIS (RTC-2014-1556-3). The authors would like to thank all of the partners in the OSIRIS project: Unión Fenosa Distribución S.A., Tecnalia, Orbis , Neoris, Ziv Metering Solutions, Telecontrol STM and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The authors would also like to thank Charalampos Chelmis (University at Albany-SUNY) for the valuable discussion

Effects of Quercetin in a Rat Model of Hemorrhagic Traumatic Shock and Reperfusion

Background: We hypothesized that treatment with quercetin could result in improved hemodynamics, lung inflammatory parameters and mortality in a rat model of hemorrhagic shock. Methods: Rats were anesthetized (80 mg/kg ketamine plus 8 mg/kg xylazine i.p.). The protocol included laparotomy for 15 min (trauma), hemorrhagic shock (blood withdrawal to reduce the mean arterial pressure to 35 mmHg) for 75 min and resuscitation by re-infusion of all the shed blood plus lactate Ringer for 90 min. Intravenous quercetin (50 mg/kg) or vehicle were administered during resuscitation. Results: There was a trend for increased survival 84.6% (11/13) in the treated group vs. the shock group 68.4% (13/19, p > 0.05 Kaplan–Meier). Quercetin fully prevented the development of lung edema. The activity of aSMase was increased in the shock group compared to the sham group and the quercetin prevented this effect. However, other inflammatory markers such as myeloperoxidase activity, interleukin-6 in plasma or bronchoalveolar fluid were similar in the sham and shock groups. We found no bacterial DNA in plasma in these animals. Conclusions: Quercetin partially prevented the changes in blood pressure and lung injury in shock associated to hemorrhage and reperfusion.Supported by FundaciónMutuaMadrileña (AP102962012), SpanishMINECO(SAF 2011-28150; SAF2014-55399R; SAF2014-58920) and ISCIII (CP12/03304, FIS 15/1492)

Endothelial microparticles prevent lipid-induced endothelial damage via Akt/eNOS signaling and reduced oxidative stress.

Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are endothelium-derived submicron vesicles that are released in response to diverse stimuli and are elevated in cardiovascular disease, which is correlated with risk factors. This study investigates the effect of EMPs on endothelial cell function and dysfunction in a model of free fatty acid (FFA) palmitate-induced oxidative stress. EMPs were generated from TNF-α-stimulated HUVECs and quantified by using flow cytometry. HUVECs were treated with and without palmitate in the presence or absence of EMPs. EMPs were found to carry functional eNOS and to protect against oxidative stress by positively regulating eNOS/Akt signaling, which restored NO production, increased superoxide dismutase and catalase, and suppressed NADPH oxidase and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, with the involvement of NF-erythroid 2-related factor 2 and heme oxygenase-1. Conversely, under normal conditions, EMPs reduced NO release and increased ROS and redox-sensitive marker expression. In addition, functional assays using EMP-treated mouse aortic rings that were performed under homeostatic conditions demonstrated a decline in endothelium-dependent vasodilatation, but restored the functional response under lipid-induced oxidative stress. These data indicate that EMPs harbor functional eNOS and potentially play a role in the feedback loop of damage and repair during homeostasis, but are also effective in protecting against FFA-induced oxidative stress; thus, EMP function is reflected by the microenvironment.-Mahmoud, A. M., Wilkinson, F. L., McCarthy, E. M., Moreno-Martinez, D., Langford-Smith, A., Romero, M., Duarte, J., Alexander, M. Y. Endothelial microparticles prevent lipid-induced endothelial damage via Akt/eNOS signaling and reduced oxidative stress

Search for supersymmetry in events with b-quark jets and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for physics beyond the standard model based on events with large missing transverse energy, at least three jets, and at least one, two, or three b-quark jets. The study is performed using a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2011. The integrated luminosity of the sample is 4.98 inverse femtobarns. The observed number of events is found to be consistent with the standard model expectation, which is evaluated using control samples in the data. The results are used to constrain cross sections for the production of supersymmetric particles decaying to b-quark-enriched final states in the context of simplified model spectra.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

Ecological Implications of Extreme Events: Footprints of the 2010 Earthquake along the Chilean Coast

Deciphering ecological effects of major catastrophic events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, storms and fires, requires rapid interdisciplinary efforts often hampered by a lack of pre-event data. Using results of intertidal surveys conducted shortly before and immediately after Chile's 2010 Mw 8.8 earthquake along the entire rupture zone (ca. 34–38°S), we provide the first quantification of earthquake and tsunami effects on sandy beach ecosystems. Our study incorporated anthropogenic coastal development as a key design factor. Ecological responses of beach ecosystems were strongly affected by the magnitude of land-level change. Subsidence along the northern rupture segment combined with tsunami-associated disturbance and drowned beaches. In contrast, along the co-seismically uplifted southern rupture, beaches widened and flattened increasing habitat availability. Post-event changes in abundance and distribution of mobile intertidal invertebrates were not uniform, varying with land-level change, tsunami height and coastal development. On beaches where subsidence occurred, intertidal zones and their associated species disappeared. On some beaches, uplift of rocky sub-tidal substrate eliminated low intertidal sand beach habitat for ecologically important species. On others, unexpected interactions of uplift with man-made coastal armouring included restoration of upper and mid-intertidal habitat seaward of armouring followed by rapid colonization of mobile crustaceans typical of these zones formerly excluded by constraints imposed by the armouring structures. Responses of coastal ecosystems to major earthquakes appear to vary strongly with land-level change, the mobility of the biota and shore type. Our results show that interactions of extreme events with human-altered shorelines can produce surprising ecological outcomes, and suggest these complex responses to landscape alteration can leave lasting footprints in coastal ecosystems

Guía de práctica clínica para la prevención, detección temprana, diagnóstico, tratamiento y seguimiento de las dislipidemias en la población mayor de 18 años

La Guía de práctica clínica para la prevención, detección temprana, diagnóstico, tratamiento y seguimiento de las dislipidemias en la población mayor de 18 años está dirigida a los adultos en riesgo para el desarrollo de dislipidemia o con diagnóstico establecido de dislipidemia, como también, para todo el personal de salud encargado de su atención en los diferentes niveles de complejidad del sistema de salud colombiano. Permitirá brindar parámetros de práctica clínica, basados en la mejor evidencia disponible para la atención en salud y el uso racional de recursos en esta patología. Se introducen cambios en el proceso de atención, que buscan disminuir la variabilidad injustificada en el abordaje de este grupo de pacientes generando procesos eficientes, sencillos y ajustados a la población colombiana; la guía es el resultado de un arduo proceso en el que se contó con la participación de expertos temáticos y expertos metodológicos, así como representantes de los pacientes y de las sociedades científicas y las universidades involucradas, y del Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social. En la siguiente sección se presentarán de forma resumida las recomendaciones y los puntos de buena práctica clínica para cada una de las preguntas formuladas, información que se amplía posteriormente en el capítulo respectivo.Guía de práctica clínica1-6

Performance and Operation of the CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter

The operation and general performance of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter using cosmic-ray muons are described. These muons were recorded after the closure of the CMS detector in late 2008. The calorimeter is made of lead tungstate crystals and the overall status of the 75848 channels corresponding to the barrel and endcap detectors is reported. The stability of crucial operational parameters, such as high voltage, temperature and electronic noise, is summarised and the performance of the light monitoring system is presented