Optical biosensors for probing at the cellular level: A review of recent progress and future prospects

New approaches are required to understand the complex processes taking place in the smallest unit of life. Recent years have seen an increasing activity in the use of optical devices and techniques for the investigation of the properties of single cells and also populations of cells including cell to cell communication. This article reviews relevant optical technologies to date as well as new advances in biosensor development, and goes on to explore reported applications in detection of biotargets and cellular signalling pathways inside individual living cells

Assessment of deep eutectic solvents (DES) to fractionate Paulownia wood within a biorefinery scheme: Cellulosic bioethanol production and lignin isolation

Five deep eutectic solvents (DES) were evaluated to disrupt Paulownia wood structure to produce bioethanol and lignin. The DES formulated with choline chloride:lactic acid provided the most promising result. Temperature (110–130 ◦C), residence time (30–120 min), molar ratio (1:2–1:9), and liquid-to-solid ratio (8–15 mL/g) were optimized for cellulose recuperation (93% retained in the solid phase) and lignin removal (94% delignification yield). The spent solid was used for bioethanol production, achieving up to 43.6 g ethanol/L (89.7% ethanol yield). Lignin (84% of purity) was isolated from the black liquor and thoroughly characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, TGA-DTG and SEM, while the liquor after lignin precipitation was chemically characterized for monomers/oligomers, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and phytochemical profile (highlighting the presence of 25.06, 10.21 and 2.51 mg of syringaldehyde, vanillin and 3,4-dihydroxibenzoic acid per g of initial biomass). Overall, this study show that DES pre-treatment is a promising strategy for simultaneous lignin extraction and cellulose digestibility enhancement.Interreg | Ref. S1/1.1/ E0116Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2021/46-GRCXunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481B-2022–020Agencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2019–110031RB-I00Ministerio de Universidades | Ref. FPU20/02385Universidade de Vigo/CISUGAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. RYC2018–026177-

SO(10) unified models and soft leptogenesis

Motivated by the fact that, in some realistic models combining SO(10) GUTs and flavour symmetries, it is not possible to achieve the required baryon asymmetry through the CP asymmetry generated in the decay of right-handed neutrinos, we take a fresh look on how deep this connection is in SO(10). The common characteristics of these models are that they use the see-saw with right-handed neutrinos, predict a normal hierarchy of masses for the neutrinos observed in oscillating experiments and in the basis where the right-handed Majorana mass is diagonal, the charged lepton mixings are tiny. In addition these models link the up-quark Yukawa matrix to the neutrino Yukawa matrix Y^\nu with the special feature of Y^\nu_{11}-> 0 Using this condition, we find that the required baryon asymmetry of the Universe can be explained by the soft leptogenesis using the soft B parameter of the second lightest right-handed neutrino whose mass turns out to be around 10^8 GeV. It is pointed out that a natural way to do so is to use no-scale supergravity where the value of B ~1 GeV is set through gauge-loop corrections.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures. Added references, new appendix of a relevant fit and improved comment

Evidence of paleoecological changes and Mousterian occupations at the Galeria de las Estatuas site, Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Iberian plateau, Spain

Here we present a new site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain): Galeria de las Estatuas (GE), which provides new information about Mousterian occupations in the Iberian Plateau. The GE was an ancient entrance to the cave system, which is currently closed and sealed by a stalagmitic crust, below which a detritic sedimentary sequence of more than 2 m is found. This has been divided into five litostratigraphic units with a rich assemblage of faunal and lithic remains of clear Mousterian affinity. Radiocarbon dates provide minimum ages and suggest occupations older than 45 C-14 ka BP. The palynological analysis detected a landscape change to increased tree coverage, which suggests that the sequence recorded a warming episode. The macromammal assemblage is composed of both ungulates (mainly red deer and equids) and carnivores. Taphonomic analysis reveals both anthropic, and to a lesser extent, carnivore activities. The GE was occupied by Neanderthals and also sporadically by carnivores. This new site broadens the information available regarding different human occupations at the Sierra de Atapuerca, which emphasizes the importance of this site-complex for understanding human evolution in Western Europe

Influence of Polymorphisms Involved in Platelet Activation and Inflammatory Response on Aspirin-Related Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Case-Control Study

Background: Despite the wide benefits of aspirin and its cost-effectiveness, aspirin prescriptions have been reduced due to idiosyncratic responses in susceptible individuals. Low-dose aspirin and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are independently associated with increased risk of gastrointestinal hemorrhage; however, to-date, no studies investigated the SNP-aspirin interaction effect on upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (UGIH). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the role of 25 SNPs in multiple genes involved in platelet activation, angiogenesis and inflammatory response in aspirin-related UGIH. Methods: A multicenter, full case-control study was conducted in patients exposed and unexposed to aspirin. Three hundred twenty-six cases diagnosed with UGIH were matched with 748 controls (1:3) by age, gender, health center, and recruitment date. Only adults of European origin were included. Participants were stratified by aspirin exposure and genotype [(Aspirin(-), wild-type), (Aspirin(+), wild-type), (Aspirin(+), genetic variation), (Aspirin(-), genetic variation)]. For each SNP, the Odds Ratio of UGIH and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated in each subgroup by using the generalized linear mixed models for dependent binomial variables. SNP-aspirin interaction effect was estimated through Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction (RERI) measures. Results: We observed two categories of SNPs that might modify the risk magnitude of UGIH in aspirin consumers. Seven SNPs (rs1387180 A > G, rs2238631 T > C, rs1799964 T > C, rs5050 T > C/T > G, rs689466 T > C, rs1799983 T > A/T > G, and rs7756935 C > A) were "positive modifiers" associated with an excess of risk from aspirin exposure and carrying that genetic variation (1.75 T, rs1131882 G > A, rs4311994 C > T, rs10120688 G > A, rs4251961 T > C, rs3778355 G > C, rs1330344 C > T, rs5275 A > G/A > T, and rs3779647 C > T) were "negative modifiers" and associated with a reduced risk in aspirin users (-2.74 </= RERI </= -0.95). Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests that polymorphisms in genes involved in platelets activity, angiogenesis and inflammatory response might modify the risk of aspirin-related UGIH. Further studies with larger sample size and in different populations are needed to confirm our findings. If confirmed, this might have great impact on public health, thanks to aspirin's prophylactic properties in diseases of high incidence and severity

Efectos del tamaño de camada y de la suplementación de la dieta de conejas lactantes con ácidos grasos poliinsaturados n-3

Se han empleado 2 piensos isofibrosos, isoenergéticos e isoproteicos formulados con 2 fuentes de grasa. En el pienso AGPI (ácidos grasoso poliinsatudados n-3) se incluyó un 6% de un suplemento con un 50% de extracto etéreo concentrado en AGPI n-3, a partir de aceite refinado de salmón, y en el pienso C, un 3% de grasa mezcla

Hair analysis following chronic smoked-drugs-of-abuse exposure in adults and their toddler: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Over the past two decades, the study of chronic cocaine and crack cocaine exposure in the pediatric population has been focused on the potential adverse effects, especially in the prenatal period and early childhood. Non-invasive biological matrices have become an essential tool for the assessment of a long-term history of drug of abuse exposure.</p> <p>Case report</p> <p>We analyze the significance of different biomarker values in hair after chronic crack exposure in a two-year-old Caucasian girl and her parents, who are self-reported crack smokers. The level of benzoylecgonine, the principal metabolite of cocaine, was determined in segmented hair samples (0 cm to 3 cm from the scalp, and > 3 cm from the scalp) following washing to exclude external contamination. Benzoylecgonine was detectable in high concentrations in the child's hair, at 1.9 ng/mg and 7.04 ng/mg, respectively. Benzoylecgonine was also present in the maternal and paternal hair samples at 7.88 ng/mg and 6.39 ng/mg, and 13.06 ng/mg and 12.97 ng/mg, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on the data from this case and from previously published poisoning cases, as well as on the experience of our research group, we conclude that, using similar matrices for the study of chronic drug exposure, children present with a higher cocaine concentration in hair and they experience more serious deleterious acute effects, probably due to a different and slower cocaine metabolism. Consequently, children must be not exposed to secondhand crack smoke under any circumstance.</p